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development of our students’ praxis and self-efficacy in mind. In the peak of the
pandemic, our local public school partners shifted to a hybrid classroom model in
which approximately half of the students attended class in person while the rest
logged in remotely. With social distancing and room capacity restrictions in place,
we had to develop creative alternate opportunities for our students to engage in
teaching opportunities and find ways to provide targeted feedback. As such, our
instructional team explored the idea of implementing microteaches to supplement
the reduced time in field. A microteach is a lesson taught in front of peers for the Dr. Paula Jakopovic
purpose of practice and peer review, including written feedback. In our program, is Assistant Professor
the microteach was also observed by an instructor who provided additional written of Early Childhood and
Elementary Mathematics
feedback. at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha. Her
Shifting the Structure Mid-Pandemic research interests include
In fall 2020, our instructional team decided to facilitate five microteaching teacher preparation,
opportunities spread across the 6-week field experience. In these opportunities, instructional coaching,
students facilitated a portion of a planned lesson to a group of peers and received STEM education, and
the recruitment and
feedback from both an instructor and the peer group. Our team selected each week’s retention of mathematics
topic to ensure students engaged in similar concepts and disciplines while allowing teachers. She serves as
each student the choice of grade level and targeted learning objective for his or her co-principal investigator
plan. and senior personnel on
Our teacher preparation program uses the Interstate Teacher Assessment several National Science
and Support Consortium (InTASC) performance standards to guide instructors’ Foundation grants aimed
at the improvement of
observations and feedback as they evaluate each student’s overall performance during mathematics teaching
the practicum experience (Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], 2013). in both K–12 and higher
These standards, constructed by the CCSSO, outline what teachers should know and education. She is also the
be able to do to ensure all PK–12 students reach their potential and are college and current associate editor of
career ready. With an awareness that our students had limited mastery experiences the Journal of Mathematics
within which to demonstrate these competencies during the condensed practicum Education Leadership.
paulajakopovic@
experience, we focused each microteach on a different performance standard. unomaha.edu
Students facilitated opportunities for their peers to engage with the learning objective
during 15-minute microteach presentations. While each student presented, his or her
small group of peers actively participated as learners and took notes to assist in
providing meaningful feedback to the presenter at the conclusion of the microteach.
After each presentation, both the instructor and participating peers offered targeted
feedback. We encouraged each participant to provide both positive and constructive
feedback centered on the designated performance standard. Although peers provided
solely verbal feedback, the instructors gave both oral and written feedback. After the
reflective conversation, each student also engaged in self-reflection, documenting
aspects of the lesson that went well, identifying things to consider, and setting a goal
for moving forward.

Reactions to the Initial Implementation
At the close of the semester, we asked students to complete a written reflection
about the microteach experience and interviewed each of the instructors to examine
what worked well and to solicit areas for improvement. Students and instructors
both identified varied aspects of the microteach experiences that were beneficial.
Both students and instructors agreed that mastery experiences to engage in
targeted practice planning for and implementing the InTASC standards (CCSSO,
2013) was beneficial. Both groups pointed out that these opportunities resulted

Schools Fostering a More Equitable World 27