JOEM+Video+Critique

The daunting task was placed upon me and my colleague to video record a lesson of ours. As if teaching for one of the first times wasn’t nerve-wracking enough, add on the weighted anxiety of knowing I’d be watching this farce. It was a lot of fun though. There are plenty of things I enjoyed seeing as well as plenty of things I would like to have gone different. Basically, there are three things I would like to cover after a brief background on the lesson itself. The first is the idea of specific objectives within the lesson matching up to the overarching standards. Next, detail of the preparation in the employment of the lesson will be covered. Finally, details of the method of assessment in gauging the understanding of the students will be examined. For the most, this should be a real eye-opener. Janelle’s and my choice choosing this to be the lesson we recorded was entirely at random. We knew the last lesson we taught would be observed by our KSP professor. We also knew that the first ever lesson we taught would probably not be the most fruitful avenue. As for the lesson itself, it was chosen through a discussion had with our cooperating teacher based on where he was with his students within the year. They were beginning a new quarter and a new unit all together, poetry. That particular week was a week of introductions. Through inquiry, we had found many of the students had not been exposed to this sect of literature. We had the opportunity to begin teaching them a whole new way to read, interpret, and understand. This particular day was spent dealing with sound within poetry; elements such as assonance, consonance, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. This began our invention process of how to teach such mysterious language. Now, the objectives of the lesson are half pleasing to me. The class started with brief overview and introductions by Mr. Goebner. I had my first crisis of time management as an educator. I remember feeling the time begin to drain away with so much to be done. We began and presented what would be covered for this lesson. Watching the video, I felt a sense of dissatisfaction within me to realize that we had not connected enough meaning to the students and the material. We did not answer that longing student question, “Why?” The importance in their understanding of the lesson was not addressed to them. The assumption that they would care enough on their own is not enough. Next, the preparation of the lesson was something we had mastered. Aside from the already present materials at our disposal in the room, Janelle and I had made sure that everything we needed was our responsibility. We began with a brief overview and active lecture on the poetic sound elements on the white board while using the Smart Board for examples. This is something we could had had a little more student involvement. Then, we moved into the portion of the period dedicated to group work in identifying the terms within a poem. The poem for the lesson was one of our choosing, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Bells.” This poem is rich in sound, making it ideal for the lesson at hand. Each group, chosen at random as the students came into class, were given a section of the poem and asked to locate as many examples of the sound terms. While reviewing the video, I realized that this could have been handed out in a more efficient time. Finally, this is where the majority of the assessment of understanding came into play. This formative assessment worked well with the activity employed. As the students worked within their groups to identify and recognize the terms focused on for this lesson, Janelle and I made our way spending an optimal amount of time with each group answering questions and guiding them to answers. This was a great time to get some closer one-on-one time with the students, making sure they were on the right track. I feel, though, in doing this, one takes a bit away from classroom management. In watching the video, it was apparent there was more wasted time with chatting than on the activity when not supervised. I think in the future this can be solved by giving a set amount of identifications fair for the time allotted for working. After giving students time to discover these elements within the poem and for Janelle and I to observe, the class came back together and analysis of the poems sound began. After reading their section aloud, each group was given the responsibility to inform the rest of the class of the elements within their section. During their participation, Janelle highlighted the elements remarked upon on the Smart Board. There are several things I would like to have changed while reviewing the video. First, perhaps a designation of roles within the group, including one as “reader” would have been ideal. This would then ensure that the student would be ready to read their section aloud to the class. Second, every group should have had a copy of the entire poem, rather than their section alone. This I realized during the lesson itself when I noticed the Smart Board was hard to view from the rear of the room. And third, I think it would have been better for the rest group to go up to the board, while the one student read their section, and highlight the elements themselves. After a while it got very monotonous. Overall, I feel that this lesson was effective for this group of students. The Academy is challenging in the aspect of strategically preparing a lesson that will keep the students engaged while providing the best opportunity to learn. This lesson was not perfect. I feel, though, that with practice and further reflection on the lesson such as this, it could be something that is quite beneficial to engage and learn from. The anxiety of view myself teach soon feel away as I became really engaged myself in learning from the lesson in a different way than the students.
 * Video Critique**