Video Analysis

Molly Rozga

Within the contents of my DVD enclosed in folder of documents, I have selected 4 clips from various field placements that document my growth as a teacher. The clips are in order of my field placements and show experiences with a variety of students. The first clip is from ED 201 and focuses on technology integration with fourth graders. The first graders in the second clip are working in their reading group and is evidence from ED 215R. The third clip is from a classroom management project that I worked on during ED 321 in an eighth grade classroom. The final clip is a seventh grade classroom that I worked with through ED 315. These clips show my growth as a teacher and my refined understanding of the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure and the Alverno Education Department Outcomes of the Major. For ED 201, I worked with a charter school in urban Milwaukee. Westside Academy II houses students from fourth grade to eighth grade, and teachers work with the students to master fundamental skills and critical thinking skills. I was placed in one of the fourth grade classrooms. The video is my third lesson working with the students, and was used for ED 201 and ED 216. The students were working on a research project about different Native American nations that live within Wisconsin. The students had been researching using library books, but were interested in additional information. Working with my cooperating teacher, I developed a lesson about internet searches and a Weebly site to help them along the way, a demonstration of my ability to plan different kinds of lessons, showing my understanding Wisconsin Standard for Teacher Development and Licensure 7 and the Alverno Education Department Outcome of the Major of conceptualization. I provided the students with forms to use to document their learning and cite their sources. During ED 201, I really learned the areas that I would need to develop to become a successful teacher. One of my goals was to be more realistic about the amount of work a student could complete within a specified block of time. During the work time, most students were able to gather one kind of information, and not the six that I gave them space for. In this

Video Analysis
Molly Rozga

clip, you can also see that I am working on developing my teaching personality, blending friendliness with classroom management, something that I am making strong strides in developing. Edgewood Elementary, located in Greenfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, was the setting for the clip from ED 215R. The course allowed me to observe how literacy is taught and develop lessons using the frameworks from our literacy methods class. In the clip, I am working with one of the reading groups studying beginning, middle, and end. The students are reading the story in a round robin format, and we take small breaks to talk about strategies for comprehension and vocabulary. This lesson and video presented significant challenges for me. While I am confident in my ability to make the most of each situation, I dont think I was prepared to develop the lesson using the frameworks, so my selfassessment of this lesson was focused more on what changes I would make in the future, a performance of Wisconsin Standard for Teacher Development and Licensure 9 and the Alverno Education Department Outcome of the Major of diagnosis. In ED 321, we watched a series of videos featuring Jim Faye and his discipline style called Love and Logic. Because I have always thought of myself as a progressive disciplinarian, I was really interested to see a non-traditional approach to classroom management. In the clip, my cooperating teacher was out of school, attending a conference, so I planned to incorporate some Love and Logic into my teaching. In the clip, the students are becoming louder than was conducive to learning. I used a one-liner from Love and Logic, hoping to help the students refocus on learning, demonstrating my understanding and growth in Wisconsin Standard for Teacher Development and Licensure 5 and the Alverno Education Department Outcome of the Major of integrative interaction. While I was glad that I decided to use it, despite the effect wasnt perfect, but with practice I will get more comfortable with this approach. My last clip is from my most recent classroom experience, ED 315. The seventh graders I was working with were at Morgandale School, a K-8 school on the south side of Milwaukee. I chose to

Video Analysis
Molly Rozga

include this clip because it shows my growth in classroom management, setting expectations, and using varied instructional practice. I could have had the students read the selection to themselves, but I wanted to try using a more interactive approach. Popcorn reading, as explained on the video, is having one student read as much as they are comfortable reading then selecting another student to take over. My belief was that this reading strategy would help keep the students engaged in the story and on task. Overall, the students enjoyed reading the story this way. It allowed me to work with an informal assessment checklist of who can answer questions about the story and who could successfully receive the popcorn. This video also shows my unique approach to additional processing time, marinating. This allows students who arent immediately ready to answer a question additional time to develop their answer, making more voices present throughout my teaching. This contributes to a positive classroom environment, where all students are able to share which is Wisconsin Standard for Teacher Development and Licensure four, and the Alverno Education Department Outcome of the Major of coordination. Additionally, you will notice that the camera is placed facing a wall and does not show any students. While the parents/guardians of the students had signed the approval for Milwaukee Public Schools media policy, I didnt want to have the students on film without prior parent consent. The students had my permission slips for a few weeks before my intended filming day, but had left the slips in lockers. I believe that this decision on my part is evidence of growth in Standard 10 as I respected the wishes of the families of the students in ensuring they werent videotaped without having known about my intentions prior to filming. I have definitely grown through my experiences at Alverno, in dispositions, standards and abilities. While student teaching will provide additional challenges, I believe that my video clips and portfolio are documentation that I am ready to move on to the next step. It has been my pleasure to share these clips with you.