Part of my video analysis

What INTASC principles did you plan to demonstrate with this video?

INTASC 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9

Describe the degree to which you accomplished your goal:

• 1- I gave them a lot of examples and used their textbooks. I also answered every question they asked to the best of my ability and seemed to satisfy their answers.
• 3- Giving different kind of examples helped with this too. I also wrote on the board to give them guidance on how to take notes.
• 5- I tried to watch students to keep them on task. I motivated them by trying to use movies and music that they could relate to or have heard of before.
• 6- I told them very specifically what I expected of them, how and when they will be graded, told them how they could reach me with questions and reminded them of the time of my prep period.
• 7- I had my entire unit planned and discussed with Mr. Cleland before I executed them. I also had all copies made and prepared early.
• 9- I knew I was recording this to reflect on my experiences so I tried to use this tool to the best of my ability. I also recorded myself doing the same lesson in two different classes to see how I adapted. I noticed that 6^th period went much better. I also consider myself a reflective practitioner because Mr. Cleland and I went over all my plans and corrected and bettered them for their next use.

What are some of your personal idiosyncrasies? What can you do about them?

I tend to use a lot of hand motions when I speak. I crack my knuckles, stretch my hands, wave them around for emphasis and use them to explain details. I’m completely cognizant of when I do it but I don’t know how to stop. I’m not even sure if it is that big of a problem. Most of the time I think it isn’t distracting and can even help my students understand some of my explanations.

I also touch my hair a lot. The only thing I can think of doing to stop it is just trying harder to be aware.

Sometimes when I teach, I repeat myself. I do this most often when I’m giving instructions. I try to repeat myself using different words than before but I still find that it can bore some students. However, I feel the need to repeat myself because I can tell some students aren’t listening and are just going to ask me to repeat myself again anyway. I don’t think it is a huge problem with high schoolers, especially because some people take a few minutes to understand anyway.

I also waste quite a bit of time on instructional tasks, which should be a no-no. However, I just don’t know how to start class and get their attention as quick as I do with taking attendance. In sixth period, it took my 3:45 to get everything settled. This is too long.

What happens to your voice in different situations?

My voice tends to get quicker (and sometimes more sarcastic) when I think the answers are obvious and part of the lecture is just for background knowledge.

Most of the time I speak very loudly and clearly. I did need to annunciate “Jimmy Eat World” better though. And I sounded incredulous when they told me they didn’t know who Jimmy Eat World was.

When I read out loud, I try to be very clear and put the right emphasis on words. I try to model what “good” reading out loud sounds like.

What did you do to set the mood or climate for learning? Would you do anything differently?

I started with instructional tasks—attendance, gathering papers, etc. I would definitely use less time because I still struggle with that.

I would have told them right at the beginning how much they were going to enjoy the lesson and tried to make it sound more appealing. Because I think overall they really did like it and would have paid more attention if they had known up front.

Analyze your questions. What do you notice in terms of quality, levels, wait time, your response to students?

I had a lot of open-ended questions. I asked things like “What kind of opinions do we see? Where at?” I didn’t notice very many close-ended questions in the video.

I also gave a lot of examples about where to look at in the print outs and asked about specific statements. I pointed out the parts of reviews that were well written and asked the students to look at those specific spots.

I tried to get their opinions into the conversation by using questions such as, “What else do you like to see in reviews?” and “Does anyone read reviews?”

My wait time was decent but I struggled slightly. Most of my students tend to answer pretty quickly but my wait time could have been longer if they wouldn’t volunteer immediately.

I could have been more careful with my word choice. At one point I used the words “positive review” and I could have meant it as in optimistic or well liked.

I also asked if they knew what different words meant, such as sporadic.

How well did you involve all students in responding and participating? Equity issues?

I obviously don’t feel like there are equity issues. Like most teachers, I have students that I tend to favorite inside my head but it is mostly because they are the ones I know I can trust to help me, answer questions, behave well, etc.

Many of my students tend to answer as much as they possibly can. In every class I have at least 3 or 4 students who feel like they always need to put their two cents in. I tried to call out some people in the video but I definitely could have done a better job. I did however try to involve some specific students like the musicians and the girls who like Mean Girls.

With what progress are you the most pleased?

I’m glad that I am familiar with ALL of my students. I know all of their names and I was really starting to get a feel for their personal learning styles by the time the video was recorded.

I feel like I’m getting better all the time with questioning techniques and keeping the students’ attention. I also encouraged them to take better notes and helped model it for them when I wrote on the board.

I also believe I am always good at finding fun, interesting examples.

What areas do you believe you still need improvement?

I needed to work on time management because I ran out of time for about 5 minutes during 2^nd period. Also, I need to not rush through lectures by assuming that my students automatically know what I know. Some of my students mentioned that I didn’t give them enough time to read to themselves although I repeatedly told them to skim the article.

Those same students also sassed me in front of the whole class, which really annoyed me. They also didn’t realize that I could hear them whisper on the camera when they said snarky comments. For example, after I said, “Pay attention!” “Jason” started whispering all over again. So I definitely needed to start commanding more respect.

Finally, I need to keep working on staying as professional and distant as possible. These students are not my friends and it is so easy to forget when I spend so much time with them.