Megan Cordner Videotape Reflection Paper Mrs.

Wilsons 4th Grade Class February 13, 2013

I. Introduction The lesson that I chose to record was a geometry lesson in Mrs. Wilsons fourth grade class. Several of the students in the class were away at ACE, but the majority of the class was present. There are werent any students with IEPs/504 plans present for the lesson. I began my lesson with a Calendar Study. This is an activity that the class has taken part in all year. The calendar study allows the students to find patterns throughout the month. This was also a skill that the students were being tested on during our geometry unit. Following the calendar study, the class and I began our Shape of the Day Study. This allowed us the opportunity to talk about everything we know about one particular shape (lines of symmetry, angles, other shapes that make that shape, rays, lines, line segments, names, parallel lines, perpendicular lines, and intersecting lines). The shape of the day study serves as a great review of the skills learned the previous day, and offers an excellent way to scaffold what the students are learning throughout the chapter. Following our shape of the day study, each student received a sheet of paper with shapes on it. The class cut out each shape and performed their shape study on each shape that was given. This allowed the class to show the different characteristics of each shape and apply the skills that we had been learning throughout the week and that day. Each student was assessed on the characteristics that they listed for each shape.

II. Questions: 2, 12, and 4 The first thing that I noticed during my lesson was my tendency to hear responses from students who were eager to give them. The shy and less vocal students were not being heard during our shape of the day and calendar study. After watching this video, I realized the need to call on these individual students. For the remainder of my time in fourth grade, I made it a habit to call on the students that I didnt hear much from during the day. I allow them the chance to have a voice that was heard as much as the talkative ones. Granted, this meant a change in my wait time. I found myself having to probe them more in sharing their responses. After encouraging them during each lesson and showing them that I was just as kind as their teacher, they became more open and willing to take part in our class discussions. After taking note of my tendency to give the students who talk the most, more time to talk, I also observed the amount of time that I and the students were talking. I feel that I talked a little more than half of the time. I discovered that while my students do take part in a large amount of discussions via calendar study and shape of the day study, I still dominated the conversations. I did, however, ask many questions in our dialogue. So while I did talk more, most of my speaking was composed of questions. I realized through the video that there were moments during the lesson in which I could have led our discussions in different ways that could have been more beneficial for the students. I know that this will come with time, but it doesnt change the fact that I could have engaged the class in more in-depth conversations. I was pleased that I had encouraged the students to take part in almost half of the conversations during the lesson since the calendar study and shape of the day are driven by student discoveries.

The materials that I chose for the lesson were geared toward reinforcing the skills that the students had been learning throughout the week. The calendar study focused on finding patterns and the shape of the day allowed me to see if the students could apply what they had learned the previous day. After the students had exhausted all they knew about the shape, I would introduce a new skill. The AMSTI activity that I used required each student to apply what they had learned the past few days and what they were learning that day. I believe that I did well in choosing the materials and activities for my lesson. I only wish that I had allowed more time for the students to complete their personal studies of the shapes. By the time the students had cut out their shapes, there was only enough time to complete 4-5 in-depth studies. While this was not terribly bad, I had high hopes! The most successful aspect of the material that I incorporated into my lesson was the students capability to choose which shape they wanted to study first. They really enjoyed the freedom of choice they had. III. Conclusion A few of the best elements in my lesson were the students engagement and the discussions that we had. The class, overall, participated in the calendar study discussion and shape of the day study. I loved the conversations that we had during the lesson. When I was in school, we did not discuss concepts and ideas in an open class discussion. I loved the level of interaction that we had during my lesson. I was also happy at the overall level of engagement. I felt like I made learning fun by allowing the students to have a choice in which shape they chose to study first. After watching the lesson that I taught, the first thing that I would change would be the manner in which I called on the students. I began to make it a habit to call on the quiet and

talkative students alike. I would risk wasting a few minutes in wait time so that I could include all students in the class discussion. I would have allowed more time for the students to study their individual shapes. I would have also changed the AMSTI materials that I had. I would have provided more space for the students to record their information for each shape. This is a note that I have made for the next time that I teach geometry. I believe that watching yourself teach is an excellent way to improve your own teaching. It is easy for people to observe another teacher and record their strengths and weaknesses. It is an entirely different story when you are able to observe yourself. You find yourself asking, Do I really do that? No wonder that didnt go as planned! How many times have I used a filler word? Just like sports teams and athletes record and watch their performances to improve themselves and the team, teachers must also review their own teaching to better not only themselves, but the class (individually and collectively) as well.