Virtual Teaching Rehearsals and Repeated Teaching Simulations: Impact on Pre-Service Teachers Efficacy

Due to the nature of in-person K-12 classrooms, opportunities for PTs to engage in a cycle of teaching, reviewing/reflecting, and reteaching is limited. Teaching simulations, unlike live K-12 classroom clinical experience, allow for PTs to practice their teaching, with the potential for repeating that experience once or multiple times to advance effectiveness. Repeating teaching simulations can be a repeat of an exact lesson taught with necessary modifications made or can be a new lesson, but with a focus on the successful implementation of a selected instructional strategy. In the repeated teaching simulations, PTs have an opportunity to practice teaching content and skills, reflect on their performance and then practice again, making necessary modifications to content and/or delivery (Arsal, 2015, Yoon, et. al, 2017). With advancements in technology, coupled with the necessity to find alternatives to traditional teaching methods due to restriction of the pandemic, virtual teaching simulations are becoming an option for teacher preparation programs and offer benefits that traditional in-personal K-12 classroom clinical experiences and peer teaching simulations cannot. This best practices presentation discusses how to implement virtual repeated teaching experiences into teacher education methods courses.