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In-Service Video Analysis and Reflection
Running Head: In-Service Video Analysis and Reflection
FIELD EXPERIENCE EDCI 519
In-Service Teacher Video
Analysis and Reflection
Valérie van Lier
EDCI 519: Summer 2007
Submitted December 2007
GeorgeMasonUniversity
Introduction
For the purpose of demonstrating my teaching methods and the learning environment which I try to create, I have chosen two 15-minute clips of two different periods of instruction: a spelling lesson and a math lesson.
I teach third grade at the Santa Cruz Cooperative School (SCCS) in Bolivia which follows an American curriculum. SCCS is based on an ESL immersion program model and all instruction is given in English, except for the mandatory daily Spanish classes (45 minutes per day) for all students from third grade on. Most students have attended the school since pre-kindergarten. If they arrived later, they were required to take an English entrance exam to ensuretheir ability to follow the curriculum.
The 25 students in my class are all Bolivian and native Spanish speakers, with the exception of one American girl and one Canadian girl. For all the Bolivian students, English is their second language. Most students in this classroom are somewhere between the developing to bridging English language proficiency levels (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004).
All parents returned the permission slip (Appendix 1) before we began taping. Although I asked my teaching assistant who recorded the two lessons, to focus on my teaching, I also asked her to include images of the students and their reactions, as it is an important aspect to analyze. We only had access to the camera for two weeks, so we practiced a few times before taping the two different classes from which I chose the two 15-minute clips.
Analysis of Videotape
Spelling Lesson
In the first part of this language focus lesson (Herrell & Jordan, 2008), which is not shown in the clip, I set the stage (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004) and introduced the Spelling Unit 16 of the Houghton Mifflin textbookwhich focuses on the /j/ sound as being spelled either with a j or with a g(when followed byi, e, or y). The learning objective of this lesson was for students to be able to differentiate when to use a j or a g to produce the /j/ sound.
My role in this clip is that of expert and facilitator. At the beginning of the lesson, when I ask students to think of words with the /j/ sound, they discuss the sound in different words with each other. They came up with simple words such as jar, June, January,and July but also responded with some more difficult words such as jewelry, jaguar (our school mascot), and genius.
The clip starts of with one of the students mentioning another student’s name: Gianluca. Another student respondedto this with another student’s name:Gabriel. This provided a good opportunity, or teachable moment, to connect the sound with words or names which they use on a daily basis. As I had just taught them that g only has a /j/ sound when followed by i, e, or y, this provided a perfect example of showing that the two names start with the same letter but are pronounced different due to the “i, e, or y” rule.
As I try not to adhere to one approach or method, I aim to apply different instructional strategies to reach all the learning needs in my classroom (Hall Hayley & Austin, 2004). Although the objective of the spelling lesson is for students to understand which spelling of the /j/ sound requires a j or a g, I find it equally important, especially as they are almost all ESL students, to ensure that they understand the meaning of each word and how they can use it in context. Therefore, to assess their spelling andtheir understanding of the definitions, I give them a quiz at the end of each unit. I say each spelling wordaloud twice and the students have to spell it correctly and use it in a sentence which clearly shows that they understand the definition (or at least one definition if it has multiple definitions) of the word.
As students are only taught in English and are not supposed speak in Spanish, I use the Direct Method (as cited by Hall Haley & Austin, 2004, p.37). As shown in the video, I have all students repeat the new words together and then I try to provide input (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004) while encouraging as much dialogue in the classroom as possible. I also ask the students to act out words (i.e.: jump) to check for their understanding (Total Physical Response, as cited by Hall Haley & Austin, 2004, p.47; Herrell & Jordan, 2008, p. 67) or create a visual image of the word (Herrell & Jorden, 2008). To relate the new spelling words to words which theyhave previously learned, I ask for antonyms and synonyms for the new words. Whenever possible, I try to relate the words back to an event or a thing which they experienced at school or which they can see in their vicinity, such as when we discuss the words courage (one student shares a story about when he felt courageous), judge ( the discussion about “a judge who decides what right or wrong”, “a judge who decides who wins the prize for best Halloween costume,” and “the saying ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’”) or page(the students refer to the page they are touching at that moment). Some students did take some intellectual risks in trying to define some of the words, such as when one student argues that, often, we also think that a cover of a book is beautiful but then the story is not. Finally, I always try to make a note of previously learned grammar rules when possible. For example, when we write down June and I ask them what is special about the way that June is written, eliciting the fact that it is a month and therefore needs to be written with a capital letter.
In terms of classroom management, it is a big class and it gets noisy very quickly. I try not to raise my voice and prefer the technique of putting my index finger to my mouth and raising my other hand in the air. Most students respond within 5-10 seconds. There are a few students who consistently ask for a bit more attention. While watching the video, I noticed how these students often receive the attention from me whereas some shy students, who quietly raise their hands with a story to tell, are not always noticed as quickly by me, and end up being overlooked and disappointed.
Most of the students seem engaged in the lesson, but some students (the stronger English speakers) seem a little bored and distracted with the exercise. For the students who still struggle a bit more, I think I give ample time for students to answer me, but at times I seem to move on a little too quickly and not take into consideration enough that they need more time to collect their thoughts.
Before we started to complete the exercises in the practice book, I had copied the same format on the white board to ensure that all students could follow the practice book without feeling too rushed if they didn’t hear an answer.Although some students could do the exercises in the practice book alone, I did this as a whole class exercise and while guiding the participation (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004), I tried to call on all the students. Especially when I saw students starting to go off task I would call on them so they would regain focus.To ensure that students from all proficiency levels would understand the instructions, I try to differentiate whenever possible. For those who still struggle I concept check frequently to ensure understanding. The students who are more proficient I askto elaborate with different examples and using the words in sentences.
At the end of each unit (one unit per week) I make an A3 size poster with the sound, vowel pattern, or consonant cluster related to the spelling words in that unit and hang it up in the classroom above the white board to ensure that the students have access to them all year. When doing writing exercises I encourage them to look at the words and use them. To include the parents I write the spelling words on our class website and ask them to discuss the words that week whenever possible, but I am afraid this is often not done very often as most students speak only Spanish at home.
Math Lesson
This lesson followed up a three separate lessons I had done about tally marks, line plots, bar graphs, and pictographs. In the previous lesson I had explained to the students that they would be working in groups of five to produce a poster which exhibited the three types of graphs based on data which we would collect.
The 15-minute of this clip starts out at the beginning of the lesson in which they would make posters. I had already put them in groups (of five) beforehand and given them the materials which they would need to make the poster. The learning objective is for the students to be able to produce graphs using data while working in cooperative learning groups. Cooperative learning is beneficial to English language learners because it enhances verbal communication and should allow students from all English language proficiency levels to interact according to their own ability (Hall Haley, 2004; Herrell & Jorden, 2008).
To model the assignment and scaffold instruction (Hall Haley, 2004; Herrell & Jordan, 2008), I had prepared my own poster to facilitate understanding and give the students a visual of what was expected fromthem. I had collected data from other teachers about their favorite flavor of ice-cream and then used the data to make tally marks and create a line plot, a pictograph and a bar graph on a poster size piece of paper. The pictograph had pictures, ice-cream cones, which represented the amount of people.
Again, I use the Direct Method(Hall Haley & Austin, 2004), but I try to limit the teacher talk (Richards and Lockhart as cited by Hall Haley & Austin, 2004, p. 213) time spent on instructions and focus on the time which the students will work together in their groups. The lesson also uses the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA) approach(Hall Haley & Austin, 2004, p.44) as math is its primary content, yet the accompanying academic language skills are developed simultaneously (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004). Although I was pleased with the idea of the students working in small groups and using what they had previously learned in context, my instructional delivery appears rushed. I concept checked the students’ understanding of my tally marks and pictograph, but did not do so for the line plot and the car graph.
When trying to collect data in class about six favorite colors of the students, I had not anticipated that 19 out of 25 were going to choose blue. To make up for the lack of data on the last three colors, I made some up on the spot about the color preferences of other teachers and students in the other grade 3. As a result, a lot of data was created which was double the amount which I had provided in my example.
I asked the students whether my poster was particularly nice in an attempt to elicit that it was rather boring. However, to be polite, many started saying that it was nice, so I had to make a face implying that it was all right for them to say it was not. I told them they had to create beautiful posters, but at the same time I gave them a time limit that was slightly unreasonable considering the data. To allow them to use my poster as an example, I attached it to the whiteboard.
Once the students were allowed to start, it quickly became clear that some studentshad not understood the instructions. Some students thought they had to create their own data. I asked all the students to drop their pens and watch me as I explained that they had to use the data which was already on the board.
The class became quite loud and I asked the students to tone it down by speaking in their whisper voices. As I circulated around the groups and moved in to each group separately to guide them, the other groups felt less watched and often switched to speaking Spanish.
In terms of assessment they were given one point for each of their graphs if it was clear, logical, and neatly presented. In the next lesson, they could receive bonus points by plotting given coordinates on the grids, which they had learned in a previous lesson as well. These were also already placed on the whiteboard and can be seen on the recording (red and green ones).
As for differentiated instruction, this lesson reached out to students who are more kinesthetic and who enjoy cooperation and competition. The multiple levels of English proficiency were addressed by providing illustrations which complemented the instructions.
Reflection on Videotape
Spelling Lesson
Although I learned a tremendous amount by watching myself teach, I learned even more about my teaching from watching my students respond. It was interesting to see how quickly careless mistakes are made which can detract from the students comprehending the instruction.
During the spelling lesson, at one point I had accidentally written the short a sound on the board when I should have written the long a sound. Although I tried to make a point about spelling June with a capital letter, as well as the other months and proper nouns, I think it looked confusing once I started writing down common nouns, such as jewelry with a capital letter on the board as well. The second time I even accidentally wrote it with two l’s. Towards the end of the lesson when discussing which word belongs in which group of words I fail to ask why.
This lesson did lend itself to the three learning styles: “global, analytic and integrated” (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004, p.33). The first part of the lesson focused on grammatical details. Auditory and kinesthetic learners were accommodated through discussing the spelling words and acting them out. Some spelling words were discussed in an abstract way for the intuitive/random learners. However, for those who prefer sensory/sequential learning the problems as outlined in the practice book were followed through one by one and modeled on the whiteboard. Finally, by completing the exercises closure was reached.
However, the lesson was very much focused on class work and individual exercises. Some of the exercises I could have let them do in small groups or with a partner first to accommodate those students who enjoy competing against or cooperating with their classmates (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004).
In terms of involving the parents, this lesson encouraged me to translate the spelling words in Spanish and write a short explanation of the spelling and phonemic objective of the lesson in Spanish, with help of my assistant, on the website. I think many parents do not take a lot of time to look at our class website because they do not understand it. Perhaps if more of it is translated it will help them understand better what their children are doing in class and empower them to ensure that their children practice the words. An added benefit could be that they might learn some new English words as well and learn together with their children.
Often I try to coordinate content lessons with the technology teacher. At the moment third grade students are learning how to use Microsoft Word and insert pictures from the clipboard and Internet. To accompany this particular spelling lesson, the technology teacher used one lesson in which the students had to type the spelling words and one sentence using the word (to practice their typing skills and prepare for the quiz). Then they had to insert a picture to represent each word.
The learning objective was achieved, but the students will need to practice using the spelling words more and realize when to use a g or j for the /j/ sound. To encourage them seeing the difference, we made a big poster on which we continually added words we came across with the /j/ sound using g or j.
Math Lesson
The math lesson could have been improved if the initial instructions or input given (Hall Haley & Austin, 2004) would have been concept checked before the groups set off making the posters. In terms of the tally marks representing the data concerning the favorite colors, I should have limited the choice to three colors, to reflect the example given. I could also have limited the choice to less obvious colors which would create more even distribution. By putting up the poster and the tally marks the students were given the opportunity to refer to the examples and data easily, but the whiteboard was already quite crowded. Neither of the two examples was displayed as clearly as they could have been. Next time, I would display them on an easel in the center of the groups. Finally, given that the exercise required three different types of graphs, it would have been better to divide the students into groups of three so that they would have been able to divide the work up better and maybe collaborate more effectively.