Nguyen Thai Ha's reflection

The practicum trip at the Foreign Trade University (FTU) in Hanoi left a strong impression on me, particularly in terms of the expertise and professionalism of FTU’s lecturers and the enthusiasm of their students. Spanning four days, the trip included a range of activities designed to provide postgraduate students with practical experience in teaching and research. Among these, I found the class observation, microteaching, and seminar sessions especially beneficial.

Participating in the class observation and microteaching was particularly meaningful for me. With a background in English linguistics rather than English language teaching, I am always eager to observe experienced educators and engage in teaching practice myself. During the class observations, I gained valuable insights into how lessons were structured, from the lead-in to the main activities, and how time was managed efficiently to maintain lesson flow and student engagement. I was especially struck by the lecturer’s smooth transitions between main activities, group work, and individual tasks, as well as her skillful classroom management, which is an area I continue to work on. The use of questions, visuals, humor, and interactive techniques to maintain students’ motivation and involvement was inspiring. The observation prompted me to reflect on my own teaching practices, what has worked, what has not, and what can be utilized for my specific context, thereby contributing significantly to my professional development and my microteaching performance.

The microteaching experience also proved extremely beneficial, largely thanks to my supervisor's guidance and my team members' support. I was fortunate to collaborate with individuals who were not only supportive but also experienced in the field. This environment allowed me to develop my assessment skills and gain insights into lesson planning while planning for the demonstration and observing the microteaching. Due to time constraints in the microteaching, our group had to carefully decide which activities to include or omit, which deepened my understanding of lesson flow, activity selection, and especially, technology integration. In particular, I was introduced to two interactive platforms, Mentimeter and Quizizz, that collect student responses and present them through instant polling. These tools not only captured students’ attention but also provided immediate feedback to the teacher, allowing for responsive instructions and more informed assessments. I believe that incorporating such technologies greatly enhanced the interactivity and appeal of the lesson. In addition, one area of improvement highlighted by my supervisor was my classroom monitoring during group discussion. Despite being aware of the importance of supervision to prevent off-topic discussions or imbalance in participation among group members, I failed to apply this effectively. Nevertheless, the constructive feedback helped me recognize this weakness and served as a valuable learning opportunity. Overall, the class observation and microteaching activities significantly contributed to my growth in lesson planning and classroom management.

Regarding the seminar, the session that captivated me most was the use of the AI-powered tool NotebookLM for synthesizing academic sources. The presenter effectively demonstrated the tool’s advantages in streamlining the research process. NotebookLM simplifies citation management by allowing users to upload and organize multiple documents in one place. Also, its feature to quickly summarize lengthy texts and extract relevant information across different sources saves time and improves comprehension. I found this tool particularly helpful, as it allows users to quickly revisit and verify source content efficiently, thereby enhancing the validity of their academic writing. I believe that NotebookLM can greatly assist researchers in managing and interpreting complex information from various sources.

In conclusion, the practicum trip offered numerous valuable insights. This experience has allowed me to improve my professional skills and deepen my understanding of both teaching and research. I feel inspired by the dedication and expertise of my supervisor and FTU’s lecturers, and I am now more motivated to continue improving my teaching practices.

Here is my contribution to the practicum:

1. Microteaching

Discussed the content of the lesson plan.
Revised the lesson plan.
Printed handouts and other necessary documents.

2. Workshop

Synthesized articles’ abstract.

3. Seminar

Took photos during presentations.

4. Others

Planned group 4B’s gifts for the supervisor and FTU’s lecturers.