Video Assignment Reflection

*Note: I decided to record myself teaching during one of my formal observations, so both my
cooperating teacher and clinical supervisor were present. Because of this, I have included
comments made by both observers in this reflection. Comments made by my clinical supervisor
were made during my post-observation conference directly after I taught the lesson. Comments
made by my cooperating teacher were made during the same conference, as well as during the
later viewing of the recording.

The Lesson
My lesson was based on multiple previously taught lessons on commonly misused or
mixed up homophones. This lesson focused on helping students to differentiate between its
and its. I first taught a mini-lesson on the difference between the two words. I then prompted
my students to complete a worksheet where they had to fill in the blanks in a story with the
correct words (its or its). During this time, I was able to give support to students who needed it.
In many of my methods courses, we have discussed appropriateness of using worksheets or
handouts while teaching (many teachers do not find them to be useful, as they are often given as
simply busy work). In this case, I do believe that using a worksheet to aid in instruction was
entirely appropriate, as I did not use that worksheet as my formal assessment. Instead, I used it as
a sort of formative assessment that allowed me to see where students were having issues and
with what, and to further correct those misconceptions with the entire class. When students
finished their worksheets, we went over it as a class. Later, I prompted them to come up with
their own sentences using both its and its, and students were later able to share those
sentences with the class. Then, students participated in a dictation spelling test of five sentences
using those words that enabled me to evaluate their learning and guide future instruction based
on their other spelling mistakes.
I believe that this lesson went very well. There were definitely some misunderstandings
about the difference between the two forms of the word, but I did my best to clarify and the vast
majority of my students used them accurately when formally assessed. In the end, the majority of
my students displayed a solid understanding of the material covered throughout the lesson. I did
a good job of questioning my students and asking questions that matched the instructional levels
of the students I was posing them to. I also did a really good job of managing my class, as well
as managing the time it took to complete each activity and transition from one to the next. My
students had a difficult time understanding some aspects of the material I was teaching, as the
English language is full of contradicting rules. I failed to identify one of these misconceptions
early on, and I now know that, moving forward, I need to do a better job of listening to what my
students are trying to tell me and correcting these misconceptions earlier on. Also, about a third
of my class did not respond well to a task they were given toward the end of my lesson, and there
was a lot of tension between those students involved. Looking back, I recognize the error in
judgment I made here when I decided to continue on as normal, and that I should have adapted to
the situation by using other resources in the classroom to finish the activity.

My Teaching
In having the opportunity to view myself teaching a lesson, the thing that struck me most
was my apparent composure. When I am being observed, regardless of my confidence in my
teaching ability, I always feel very anxious and flustered while carrying out my lesson. I hate
being watched and feeling as if I am being judged, so this makes me nervous and I always feel
like I am rushing through my lessons and stumbling often. When I was able to watch myself
teaching, I was so surprised to see that I looked very calm and collected throughout the entire
lesson even when I was asked more difficult clarifying questions by my students. This
observation really puts me at ease. Hopefully, I will remember this in the future and be able to
quiet my nerves when being observed. Something else that stood out to me in a positive way was
my ability to present the material in different ways to best meet the needs of my students. When I
was walking around the room monitoring students as they worked to complete their handouts,
two of my lower-performing students were very confused, and I stopped to help each of them
individually. One students was able to better understand the material once I explained to her that,
if you can replace its with it is, then you have to add an apostrophe to the word. This
explanation did not make sense to my other student, but she was able to understand once I wrote
it up on the board and physically replaced its with it is. The visual projection of the trick I
had taught really helped her to understand the difference between its and its. I oftentimes
see things in black and white and have a difficult time relating to perspectives unlike my own, so
it is really reassuring to see that, in action, I am able to recognize the needs of my individual
students and adjust my instruction accordingly. Being able to observe myself teaching showed
me that I am very good at managing both my time and the time of my students. I was repeatedly
checking the clock and giving my students countdowns to keep them on track throughout my
lesson. I also recognized that I do a good job of asking different types of questions to assess my
students learning during and after each activity to assess their understanding of the material
being taught.
Although I thought my lesson went quite well overall, I definitely did make some
mistakes. Because of the limited amount of time we had, I asked students to share their
individually created sentences with their table groups. Then, they were to work together to
decide on which two sentences they thought were best to share with the class. A few of my
groups had trouble with this and began to bicker about who wrote the best sentences. We had
done activities similar to this in the past, so I didnt think it would be an issue. However, I now
understand that when this freedom seems to spur tension between students, it would probably be
best to stop the behavior by choosing students to share by other means, such as picking names
randomly from our cup of popsicle sticks. Also, a few students had trouble differentiating
between its and its, because a word followed by s usually signifies possession, but in this
case it does not. I told students this, and also emphasized the importance of looking at its each
time they write it and asking themselves if they could replace that word with it is. If they can,
they always have to add an apostrophe before the s. On the worksheet, there was a sentence that
said No, ______ mine. A few of my students argued about the answer to this problem. Because
the word mine was in the sentence, and that word signifies possession, they believed that the
answer should do the same. I misunderstood their position on this, as it was difficult for them to
describe why they were confused, and I simply reemphasized the importance of seeing if the
word could be replaced by it is. I now know that, in the future, I need to work harder to
understand where my students are struggling and why as soon as those issues come up so that I
can redirect their thinking and help them to better understand the material before they carry on
with that misconception.

Observer Input
Both my cooperating teacher and my clinical supervisor expressed how impressed they
were with the layout of my lesson, my differentiation displayed, and student reception of the
material taught. My cooperating teacher really appreciated how I gave my students constant
reminders about how much time they had to complete each activity, as this was something I was
told I could improve upon following my previous formal observation. She also noted that the
time I gave students was great, and that I did a good job of making transitions smooth (there was
no lost time). Another positive comment was that she noticed all students were engaged
throughout the entire lesson. My clinical supervisor loved my classroom management, as she
stated that I was firm but respectful in redirecting students, I made good use of nonverbal
management, and I made all students aware of my expectations of them. She also let me know
that my questioning was really great, and that I did a good job of asking different types of
questions that corresponded to the differing instructional levels of my students. I was also given
a few things that I could improve upon in my teaching. Just as I did, both my cooperating teacher
and my clinical supervisor commented on the arguments that occurred in a few of the table
groups. They thought that I should have further interjected when this happened and instructed
them to do something else. Also, my observers let me know that I failed to understand why my
students were misunderstanding the difference in possession between the two words being
taught. They thought that, had I understood this confusion at the time, I would not have had an
issue with giving students the additional support they needed to fully understand the material.
I definitely agreed with all of the comments, both positive and negative, made by my observers,
because I made many of the same observations myself in reviewing the recording. Also, my cooperating
teacher and I have gotten to know each other so well as people and as teachers, so I really do respect her
opinion. She is an amazing educator, and having her opinion of what Im doing in the classroom is so
helpful. Listening to the perspectives of both my cooperating teacher and my clinical supervisor on this
particular lesson helped me to understand the significance of being observed by others, because
what I see when I'm teaching is not always indicative of how effective my lessons are.
Oftentimes, having an extra pair of eyes helps me to see issues that I am not able to while I am
focused on teaching.

Protocol: Gathering Observational Data from Visual Recordings with a Partner

In viewing my video through this particular protocol, I was able to really slow down a
moment in time and look at what I could do in the future to further take advantage of learning
opportunities in my classroom. Because this protocol is so detail-oriented and really encourages
you to take note of everything you see going on in the classroom, I decided to focus on a small
portion of my lesson rather than the full 45 minutes that was recorded. Also, I chose a portion of
my lesson that was very calm and quiet with little activity, because I wanted to see how much
detail I could pull out of such a seemingly one-dimensional moment in time. In viewing this
portion of my video through the protocol lens, I was actually able to see quite a bit. My students
appeared to all be on task during this period of time, as they were all looking at and filling out
the worksheets on their desks. I had many students ask questions during this time, although none
of those questions had to do with the material we were covering. The questions they were asking
had more to do with the type of handwriting I preferred or what they should do if they finish
early. Because I know my students rarely have any qualms about raising their hands to ask
questions when they are confused about material, this shows me that my students were
understanding the material well enough to navigate the worksheet they were striving to complete.
One thing I noticed about my body language while observing was that, when I was
answering questions or helping students individually, I made sure to lower myself down to their
level. This is something we have talked much about in my methods courses, as getting down on
the level of our students helps them to feel more comfortable when talking one-on-one with us,
so I was really pleased to see myself doing that. Had I not been using this protocol to view my
recording in such detail, I probably never would have noticed that. Using this protocol also
helped me to realize that just because my students are quiet doesnt always necessarily mean that
they are all understanding the material. There are always going to be a couple of kids who have
difficulty asking for help or raising their hands in a silent room when it may feel as if they are the
only ones not understanding something. I feel that I could have, and can in the future, use this
quiet working time when I am simply monitoring to go up to individual students and ask
questions. I could have gone up to each table and had a few students explain to me how they
answered a specific question and why on their worksheet, or had them teach me the difference
between the two forms of the word we were covering. Doing this would help me to better gauge
where students are in the learning process and where, if at all, they need clarification or extra
support.