- To what extent were your students actively engaged in their learning? How do you know?
- What was your intended objective for this lesson? Did your students meet this objective? How do you know?
- What were specific procedures and teaching strategies you used in the lesson to support student learning? Why did you choose these procedures and strategies?
- How did you ensure fairness, equity, and access for all students?
- How would students apply the information from this lesson to their worlds outside the classroom?
After you've completed your observations and have discussed them with your partner, please post comments about the experience on this section of our blog.
Enjoy the experience!
Well, it’s true. The camera does add at least 10 pounds! Or maybe it’s just time for another diet. Anyway, Katie and I taped each other teaching math the last couple of days. It’s been awhile since I’ve watched myself teach, but it’s always an eye-opener. Having the discussion questions was helpful in knowing in what direction this activity was headed. It was also interesting to watch what the students were doing. While I tried to make sure the students were engaged in their learning, it was fascinating to be able to focus on all the students at once to see who was actually trying to learn something, and who was going through the motions. It was fun to discuss teaching methods and styles with another teacher. I can see the value in this type of activity. Keeps the complacency away!
ReplyDeleteHave no fear Brenda, that was just MY back side walking in front of the camera when it was filming :) Though the teaching atmosphere was “normal” and comfortable to Brenda and I, I still found myself very nervous in front of the camera. It is not every day that you get/have to pick apart yourself, in both positive and negative ways. I enjoyed having the questions on the blog ahead of time so that I could really zero in on what I should be looking for when I reviewed the lesson. After reviewing the lesson, I was very surprised at how disengaged the students were when I was trying to review the previous day’s math lesson to build upon the new lesson to be presented. Is this how they are everyday? It wasn’t until I had the students get out individual white boards and walked them through the guided lesson that I felt I really had my students engaged and actively learning. This just reiterated the fact that students don’t want to listen; they want to “do.” I know there are times that students just have to listen to learn, however I feel that the best learning takes place in a hands-on, student-centered classroom. When I let the students be part of their learning, the environment changed, the enthusiasm was evident, and good learning took place.
ReplyDeleteI feel that my lesson went well! It seemed that my students were actively engaged for the majority of the time. We did this lesson at the carpet, not in our desks. I feel that they stay more focused when sitting closer to each other and closer to me. They were all participating and answering the questions asked. There were many strategies that I used throughout the lesson. As we all know, what works with one may not work with another! I see a lot of that in my room. After viewing the video, I think I did a great job of implementing those different strategies to accommodate the different learners in my room.
ReplyDeleteI was able to videotape myself (so I was not in front of the camera!!!) as I did my lesson. It was easy to do because the children spend a good part of their day in centers and we are more like facilitators during that time so there is very little teacher direction. Here's what the room looked like. I had several "lessons" going on at once. Some preschoolers choose to work on patterns, some made their U's (with markers, stampers, however they wanted to make it) for the game we were going to play a few days later, some were watching a webcast about Mark Teague (illlustrator of How Do Dinosaurs.....), some worked on colors (three year olds with Mrs. Christof) and others were sorting and grouping different colored noodles. I walked around and helped each child as they needed me. Since the children choose their own activity (they do have to make it to each center sometime during the week), it was pretty easy to engage them. I agree with Katie: "when I let students be part of their learning, the environment changed, the enthusiasm was evident, and good learning took place." Yep, I really see that in preschool this year! It was also nice to team up with Heather and Laura and "see" into their classroom and see how they get their students (1st and 2nd graders) engaged and the nice activities and creative ways that they did it!
ReplyDeleteI would have rather done this on a cassette tape (without video)! The lesson went well. This is a class that needs daily review and often spaces off if it is spoon fed. So we divided the review areas of a graphic organizer and worked first in small groups. This way, I could walk around and actively engage the quieter students to contribute. Later, as a class, we recorded the information into the GO, with other groups contributing information as well. My objective for this lesson was to review involving everyone in the class (not just a few brave souls). Real world application didn't apply, unless you count student participation in the review process and readiness for reading.
ReplyDeleteTaping made me more conscious of the teaching process. I was already watching a bit more closely than I am sometimes to see if each one was engaged in the lesson, because I knew the tape was recording it.
ReplyDeleteThe class was less free with their chatter since Glenda was taping, so we actually went along better than usual with this group of students, all of whom seem to have a comment for everything.
They asked good questions and seemed to want information for the Independent Study Process that we are doing. I feel this process will be useful for their entire lives as they become interested in topics, or face assignments in school and beyond, and want/need to assimilate information.
Jean is gone, I'm just going to post MY IMPRESSIONS now before break. Will confab with others later. My impressions: it was very tough watching myself. I'm very critical of my tone of voice, my appearance, my mannerisms. The lesson, reciprocal teaching, was ok, but slower than I wanted it to be as kids tried this. It is a very rough road first time through. Will get better the more I use it since they will snap to action. And ME? I am working on presentation skills. That part was amazing to learn after all these years!
ReplyDeleteI had Joanie Greve tape my class. I know that my students really liked to be taped so they behaved very well which helps! I think my class was actively participating but to be honest, I designed the lesson to be very hands on. This showed me that I need to try and plan my lessons as though I think I am being observed. With a small size class I don't think I miss too much of what the children are doing. I can see the benefit of video taping a class to see how many children really are not actively involved in the lesson. I feel my students were on task and eager to complete the activity. I agree with Laurel, I don't like watching myself! I could have done a better job of moving around the room more to communicate with all of the children. I was focusing on the needy children so I could have made a better attempt to praise the good kids who I know are usually on task.
ReplyDeleteIt was good for me to see my lesson afterwards. I was very frustrated with my students throughout the lesson because it is something that we have been doing with our Scholastic Newspapers all year and I felt that it didn't go well at all. We break the paper into sections. Students are paired with a partner(high/low). Each group gets a section of the paper to read, create a graphic source that will help teach about their section, and they present the information they learned to the class. As I was teaching, I had a student that was very distracted and refused to be redirected. This made me feel like the whole lesson was a flop as we worked through it because I felt that this student was distracting his classmates. However, when I watched the tape, I was able to see that things weren't nearly as bad as I had believed them to be. The student's partner did an excellent job working with him to stay on task and the rest of the class wasn't off task like I thought. Students were actively engaged and my objectives were met. If I had not watched the tape, I would have gone on believing that this particular lesson was a total flop.
ReplyDeleteWatching a video of yourself can be a painful experience. But it is always enlightening. I am usually aware of mannerisms that I don't like to exhibit, and try to take pains to avoid sarcasm, e. I am usually successful, but notice that comments sometimes creep in where and when you don't want them.
ReplyDeleteAs for the students, they were attentive and engaged, and executed musical passages within their realm of experience.
I am generally my worst critic, and I was happy to see that our musical lines were better on tape than what I thought I heard live. That's something to remember for the student's critic. Also, I believe I could have communicated better non verbally with the students.
A bit of an eye opener, but really about what I expected to see.
I don't like to have my picture taken, and this was no better. Interesting that the first thing many of us noticed was the 20 (or more) pounds that we should lose, or that we already lost and refound. Anyway, Anton reminded me that was not really the purpose of the assignment.
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, my students were engaged. Anton taped German 4, so it is a small group-8 students. We spent most of that time acting out a couple of episodes in a mini-detective story. I used to have the students simply take turns translating the story out loud. I found that many students started spacing off, lost their place, etc. Acting it out has proven to be much more effective. A couple of students read in German and the other students show their knowledge of the material, by doing what their character is doing in the story. I can still see if they understand the story, but they enjoy it much more--no more falling asleep.
As others have mentioned, it seems the more hands-on we can be, the more effective the activity seems to be.
My lesson actively involved all of the students.
ReplyDeleteThe lesson was with the 7th graders. They were starting to sew on their main bodies of their aprons. I have a group of 8. Because of that small size I am able to view who is not paying attention. First, I demonstrate what the skill's objective is. Then, the students must complete that skill independently. This is the first lesson in which the students begin sewing directly on their apron. Prior to this lesson they have already learned the parts of the sewing machine, how to thread it, and the names and how to use their sewing tools. I consider learning to sew a life skill. I am delighted when lessons, such as this one, turn into a success.
It is easier to watch a video of yourself then it is to have to take a student to the AEA and sit behind a two way mirror and have your class watch your lesson. I was taped doing a Reading Recovery lesson so it was one student and myself. They aren't usually distracted when we are doing a lesson except when we do word work at the white board and I have other letters on the board. They want to play with the letters and find other things to touch. What the student does at the lesson for that day drives what I am going to work on the next day. My student met his goal which was to have fluent reading and using strategies we have worked on with past lessons.
ReplyDeleteWhen I video taped my students were on their best behavior...not always the norm. I tried to teach the same way I always do and although I know I try to animate my lessons to keep my resource room students motivated, I was still surprised at all of the quirky things I do when trying to get a concept across. I do think I try to put real life examples into my lesson if people are struggling, and try to relate things to them in their "language". I have come to the realization though that I give a pretty sad interpretation of talking the kids' "language". It usually amuses them though and gets them to pay attention...even though they think it's kind of wierd...or should I say "lame"?
ReplyDeleteThe video supported what I've known all along...I have quite a few students with attending problems! I had a lesson that was very hands on with manipulatives, working in small groups and high interest (they enjoy doing problem of the day in math). The students that attended to my introduction of the problem, question to be answered and directions of what to do, did a great job of staying engaged in the activity and solving the problem given to them. Students that didn't attend at the beginning, had a difficult time staying on task and knowing what to do. Even when I walked around the room and helped to redirect those off task, as soon as I left, they were off again. We've worked on listening skills since Day 1, but the video shows we have a long way to go!
ReplyDeleteMy students were taped during a Reading Lesson--making and breaking words. All students got their own magnetic board with individual letters to build words. We practiced orally taking the sounds of words apart and putting the letters on the board for those sounds. This helps students become aware of how to spell words so they can begin to write messages, lists, sentences, etc.. They love to use the boards and everyone was moving letters. However, I know as I am teaching and it was confirmed from watching the video, some students who have trouble staying on task also have trouble actually trying to find the letters to spell a word. They want to just rearrange letters instead. I did see where a few students told another student which letter they were supposed to have on the board. So, that interaction was good! I like this activity because it enables all students to get a turn--no one gets ansy having to wait for the others. I also had students who were wanting to substitute letters to make another word!
ReplyDeleteStudents engaged, objectives met, learning all around!
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ReplyDeleteI was video taped teaching a math lesson, a lesson on place value which is a difficult concept for my students! I started the lesson out reviewing the previous days materials using a bingo game. The students were actively engaged during this activity and seemed to enjoy the game. Then to introduce the new material, I had a hands-on group activity using the base ten & one manipulatives. They had to build a number and then find that number on the hundred chart and mark it. The biggest hurdle I have is keeping all my students engaged for extended amounts of time. They all have short attention spans and as I help one student, the others really seem to become disengaged. I felt this was true during this activity, too. After the guided practice activity, I had them complete their assignment as I walked around to assist and redirect those who needed help. The same student that was not attending to the beginning activity really struggled to complete the assignment. Since I only have 5 students for math, we usually complete the assignments in a group, but during this lesson, I wanted to try having them work at their own pace and on their own. After watching the video the thing that I found most interesting was how the students can complete problems when they have the attention of an adult (even if we are just standing by them) but as soon as we walk away from them they lose that confidence to complete problems independently. I was amazed at how some of them were content to just sit and wait for me to give them a prompt to go on to the next problem. I would like to see them gain some confidence and be a little less dependent on Paula and me to help with their work, especially when they really do ‘know’ how to do the problems. Overall, I feel my objectives were met and learning took place!
ReplyDeleteDebb says:
ReplyDeleteI felt like my students were actively engaged in their learning during the lesson. Every day, I try to do a few short examples on the board about the new concept and then I have students use a white board to do practice problems. I usually assign two problems to start and the then walk around to see if they are getting the concept before assigning more. As students finished and showed their ability, then I individually assigned a few more. Most of the students were attentive for the first few examples on the board. There were about 3 students who needed prompts to stay on-task and pay attention. I really noticed that it made a difference that I walked around the room. Students seemed to stay much more focused and work harder as they saw me approaching their desk. I went through the examples and we did 5 practice problems on the white board. At this point, I knew that most students were ready for the homework portion. It was obvious the students who I needed to key in on during their work time. I have strange mannerisms sometimes when I teach. It is weird to watch yourself on video. I think that I became much more conscious of trying to be fair and call on a variety of students. I called on a few students who didn't have their hands raised and they would remind me that they didn't have their hand raised. I found this to be funny! I reminded them that that was ok, and repeated the question. I believe the students were engaged plenty and my objectives were met. I still felt that it was hard to get around in a timely manner to everyone to see how they were doing. These "down times" are when I start to see more talking and distractions going on in the room. I am thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to implement a peer helper program. After a few problems, maybe I could assign someone to be a peer helper to a small group of students. Maybe this would help with some of those "down times."
Mr. Green and I did a team teaching exercise over the 1920's and the specific topic was the Scopes Monkey Trial.
ReplyDelete* To what extent were your students actively engaged in their learning? How do you know?
Mr. Green portrayed the role of John T. Scopes a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee who was arrested and fined for teaching evolution which was prohibited by Tennessee Law. He had the kids attention because he was discussing a controversial topic and as Scopes did, he gave a narrow version of its purpose that went against some biblical views.
* What was your intended objective for this lesson? Did your students meet this objective? How do you know?
The objective for this lesson was two-fold. First, they were to learn the significance of this event compared to the expected norms of 1920's society from a historic perspective, but also the scientific question of how human like began, possibly some arguments that can be made in either direction for creationism or evolution. We both felt the objectives were completed because many people not only responded in discussion, but we also had a court case in which Scopes was put on the stand and students were either lawyers, or on the jury.
* What were specific procedures and teaching strategies you used in the lesson to support student learning? Why did you choose these procedures and strategies?
Students had been presented the information in history class, and they read about it on their own. Now, we wanted it to come alive in this role-playing activity. We chose this idea as part of the Iowa Core Curriculum to get students involved and to have them be able to voice their opinions.
* How did you ensure fairness, equity, and access for all students?
All students had an opportunity to agree or disagree with the lesson taught by Scopes and reactions during the court case. All students had the opportunity to learn the case before hand in class and time to read about the case on their own.
* How would students apply the information from this lesson to their worlds outside the classroom?
In the 21st century skills, one thing the Social Sciences want students to achieve is to be able to understand the complexities of our constitution. How much freedom does the 1st amendment allow? What role can or does religion play in controversial topics in a public school setting. Students learn to accept individual differences, question science, and possible religious doctrines, and the role a government may place on people's freedom of expression. Learning tolerance in a multi-cultural society with many different races, religions, and personal beliefs is the goal that all social studies teachers and the ICC want to see as a goal for active learners in school and into adult life.
It was a fun activity and the students enjoyed the opportunity to share their differences in a relatively discrete fashion.
Rick Meisner
Rick already outlined the project, so I'll pipe in with my comments.
ReplyDeleteSince this was a history class, I came in with the science content only. The goal of the lesson was to of course present information, but also to try a new method. This got the kids thinking on one side of a debate or the other.
The last portion of the lesson involved a trial where John T Scopes was on the stand. It was a little fun for me to defend a topic that I do have some knowledge about, but frusterating also because there was some emotional involvement too.
The debate over a hot issue is something that the kids will carry into their future. Specific knowledge about the mechanisms of evolution, I doubt that they remember it today. I'd like to try this lesson again and maybe dress up next time.
When we received the assignment, I was very apprehensive about it. I don't like the idea of being on camera. So after setting up a date and time with Debb, I was dreading the day. But to my surprise, after a few minutes of her being in my room, I forgot she was here. The lesson went well, and I liked how I could watch how I teach and how the students interact and work. After all the worrying, it was a very rewarding assignment.
ReplyDeleteTo what extent were your students actively engaged in their learning? How do you know?
ReplyDeleteThe students were all following directions and moving throughout the gym.
What was your intended objective for this lesson? Did your students meet this objective? How do you know?
The objective was to get the students heart rates up and have fun, while warming up for the next activity. I try and vary my warm-ups and incorporate large muscle groups. I know the students were warmed up because they were starting to perspire. Along with getting warmed up they were laughing and having a good time.
What were your specific procedures and teaching strategies you used in the lesson to support student learning? Why did you choose these procedures and strategies?
Physical Education is a lot about giving a direction then observing the response. In this activity the students were given a direction then they had to follow, while racing their partner.
How did you ensure fairness, equity, and access for all student?
The students picked their own partner and in doing so they picked and individual who was close to their own ability.
How would students apply the information from this lesson to their world outside the classroom?
Due to the increasing number of overweight/obese adolescents and adults; I try to incorporate different stretches, warm-ups, and abdominal routines to my daily classes. I want the students to be able to take what they have learned and use it on their own time.