Video+Critique

Video Critique The teacher in this video showed highly effective strategies for teaching. She worked hard on making her classroom suitable for her students and she asked for an outside person to help her reflect on her teaching. Reflection is a key strategy for teaching. Teachers that reflect on their lessons are making a conscious effort to improve their teaching. There were a few areas that this teacher could work on, however, overall she uses effective strategies. The classroom was set up with desks that were pushed together. The students were sitting with a partner. This is a good set up for students to be able to work together. They can also work alone in this set up if needed. The teacher told the students her expectations for the class period at the beginning of class. This told the students exactly what they needed to do during the class. She broke the students into partners. She made sure that the students get to work with different partners at different times by having them have clock partners. This way she can tell them to work with their six o’clock partner one day and their three o’clock partner the next. This way students get to vary who they are working with and the teacher can make sure students are paired appropriately. When students gave a response to a discussion question the teacher responded and praised them. This was her way of showing positive reinforcement. She met with different students as they were working with a partner to help them if they needed help. She was constantly walking around and monitoring the entire class. She used eye contact with her students. She showed enthusiasm in her teaching and she was dressed appropriately. When the students were working the teacher made sure to let them know how much more time they had to work. This allowed the students to pace themselves to make sure they finish on time. The teacher had a few things that she could work on. She explained the directions to the students, however, she only explained it with words, she did not do any modeling of what she expected. Modeling would have made sure that students knew exactly what the teacher expected them to do. Another area the teacher could improve was the questions that she asked. It is important to ask critical thinking questions that can generate several responses and not be one sided. The students answered the question about hiring the girl who had run on sentences, however, the real response for that question should have been that the girl should not be hired. The teacher could also incorporate more technology into her lesson. There was also no assessment shown in the video. I think that I could use the o’clock partner idea in my classroom. This was an interesting way to make sure that students switch partners and I wouldn’t have to pick new partners everyday we get partners. The students would automatically get their partner that they needed. I think that it is sometimes difficult to use partner groups because you need to figure out what kind of groups you want to form: same ability, different ability, etc. It is important to group students according to the kind of activity they are doing. It is also important to be cautious with group work because you still need to make sure the students are still getting the information they need. Overall, the lesson that was observed was effective and the teacher used effective strategies when teaching.