Lauren Sammon

4/4/2015
Video Reflection
Creating and Maintaining a Positive Learning Environment
Mrs. Stearns has already created a warm, positive learning environment in her classroom,
so it has been relatively easy for me to maintain the positive environment during my transition
into teaching. During this lesson specifically, one way I helped maintain this environment was
through my respectful interactions with the students. I maintained a positive demeanor
throughout the lesson, even in a few moments I felt a little overwhelmed. For students who
shared aloud, I respectfully listened to the response, and provided positive feedback. I tried to
lead students who went astray with their responses in the right direction, instead of telling them
wrong and moving along.
When I watched myself over, I felt proud of most of my interactions with the students. I
felt I was respectful with their thoughts and encouraged their open sharing of ideas. However, a
couple times I motioned for students to put their hands down, without giving a proper
explanation of why. I think I did this naturally, because I have observed my cooperating teacher
doing this same hand motion to tell students it is time to move on. However, I forgot to explain
why I wasnt taking questions/comments during those points. I should have explained that I
wanted to make sure they had enough time to do the activity after the read-aloud, and thats why
I could no longer take questions.
I also made hand motions or called a student by name when there were some disruptions.
At one point, toward the end of my lesson, my cooperating teacher, Amy, stepped in quickly to
talk to two students who were not paying attention. After the lesson, we discussed how I have

felt the same way, wanting to intervene when she was teaching, to correct misbehaviors. We both
discussed how it is difficult to see those behaviors when you are instructing the whole group.
Instead of reprimanding the students in front of the whole group, I sent the rest of the
class one by one back to their seats with the activity. Once these two students were the only ones
left, I asked them why they thought I held them behind. They explained it was because they were
talking during the read aloud. Then I shared with them how it hurt my feelings, and explained my
expectations for their future behavior on the carpet. This was a strategy Ive read about, and have
observed in other teachers, and was able to practice it effectively.

Planning for Instruction

In my planning of this lesson, I tried to incorporated technology through the use of the
Promethean board. Amy had explained how she hasnt been able to use the Promethean board as
much as she would have liked to yet, because it wasnt properly installed with the correct
materials. Since then, we worked together to get a technician with Chesterfield county to install
the proper programs. I was able to use the Promethean board in this activity to show the students
different images on the screen.
When I was planning, I tried to incorporate what students had been learning about during
their reading instruction. Students had just finished a unit on making inferences. One of the
targets of this lesson was to show students how Ben Franklin helped established the first public
library and volunteer fire department. Instead of just telling the students this information, I
showed an image of a fire department and one of a library, and asked students what they could
infer about Ben Franklin based on those images. I was so impressed with their responses! The
students made so many good connections and inferences about Ben Franklin. Even better, so

many students were raising their hands to volunteer answers. My cooperating teacher was
impressed, both with my initiative in adding in the inference activity, as well as the intelligent
responses the students gave.
To address the inferences and talk about the contributions, I read aloud two pages of an
otherwise difficult book to read aloud. These two pages specifically described how Ben Franklin
established the first library and fire department. I wanted to make sure students were given
several moments of exposure to this information, because there was a specific question about this
on their large unit benchmark assessment. I knew the original book I read aloud only briefly
touched on this information, so I planned in the inference activity and quick reading of the other
book in order to reinforce the information.

Engaging and Supporting

One way Ive learned to help students connect to their prior knowledge during instruction
is through a hand signal. When students hear something they recognize, they show that they
remember by using the hand signal. When I read something aloud that I knew we had previously
talked about, I encouraged students to think about what they remembered by doing the hand
signal myself.
One of the standards that has been the easiest for me is developing rapport. It is apparent
when I watch the video back of myself. I love listening to the students responses, and
encouraged each students to share. One of my biggest struggles has been knowing when to move

on, because I do like to make sure each and every student has a chance to share aloud, but at the
same time, want to make sure I am managing time effectively. Amy mentioned how she noticed
that I did call on several different students, and how I helped support struggling learners.
I also think I was able to effectively support students in developing their thoughts and
responses. However, as I mentioned before, a few times I noticed I asked students to put their
hands down with a hand motion without explaining myself. If I was teaching over, I would have
made clearer expectations for student responses. One way Ive noticed my teacher doing this
when she doesnt have enough time to reach every student is by telling them she only has time
for questions, not comments.
I have researched the importance of wait time and was able to effectively do this at
some points during the lesson. However, at other points of the lesson, I simply asked a question
and took the first response, instead of properly waiting for students to think. I have observed my
teacher explaining that she will give friends a moment to let their brains work, which is a
strategy I will try in the future.

Assessing Student Learning

Throughout the whole group instruction, I was constantly informally assessing the
students. I did this through listening to a variety of student responses, and through the hand
signals. I also frequently asked students if they remembered, or had learned certain pieces of
information before and asked for responses. The hand signals allowed me to easily see when
students clearly remembered something, and also when they were not so sure about something. If
many students were not signaling, I knew to explain further.

I used the formal, summative assessment that would be used later in the week to help
guide my instruction. I knew certain pieces of information the students would be tested on, so I
made sure to provide exposure to those bits of information in a variety of ways. While students
were working on the activity, I walked around and monitored the room, further observing the
information students had gathered. I did this by informally observing them, as well as talking
with them.

Developing as a Professional
I have developed greatly as a professional through this experience. In small ways, from
watching myself on camera, I was able to see the things I did well. Especially in the ways I
supported and encouraged students through discussion and by helping them work through their
ideas. I am extremely reflective, and am aware of the importance of reflecting in order to
improve. Through this experience, I was able to reflect on aspects of the lesson I would improve,
as well as areas I need to work on in my overall teaching.
This video also helped me realize the things I do well. After a lesson, I usually always
focus on what I could have done better. I hardly ever acknowledge the parts of the lesson I did
really well, even though I write about strengths of the lesson. The strengths I discovered that I
typically write about in my daily reflections are more toward what the students did well, rather
than what I did well. By watching myself, I was able to actually see the things I do well. It
provided insight to areas I should reflect more on in the future to help me improve, as well as the
things I should continue to do because I was able to see how effectively they worked in the
lesson. This experience has made me a better educator, and gave me several things to reflect
about!