Video documentation provides a rich vehicle for learning about yourself and your students: as teachers, learners, and members of a classroom community.
Complete the following exercise within a day or two of the recorded teaching event. Your fresh memories of the lesson, including how you felt, will help you learn from what the camera saw.
Watch the complete tape at least twice.
1. Prior to First Viewing
Collect and assess student work from the lesson that was video-taped.
2. First Viewing
Watch the tape straight through, no need to take notes.
After this first viewing, write a few general comments. (i.e. something you noticed that wasn’t apparent to you at the time of the taping; your sense of the general timing/pacing of the lesson; thoughts about your voice, body language, choice of words.) Look at the things you note more closely during the second viewing.
3. Second Viewing
This time, do take notes. Stop the tape if you need to.
After the second viewing, respond to the prompts below:
A. Briefly describe the events that preceded and followed the video-taped lesson.
B.If the lesson relied on some established routines, please describe what they are
And how they were previously developed. If you are establishing any new ways
of working in the lesson, how did you prepare the students to work in the new
ways?
C. To what extent did the class as a whole achieve the learning goals of the lesson?
D. Describe any decisions you made or strategies you used to address specific
needs of your student, either as individuals or as a group (e.g., language needs,
accommodations for special needs students, or for other aspects of their
academic development, social development or cultural background.)
E. Describe any language supports you used to help the students understand the
content and/or academic language. How successful were these language
supports in terms of providing students access to curriculum content?
F. Explain if and how watching the video informed your understanding of the
student work you looked at.
4. For the Small Group Meeting
Responses to the above prompts should be turned-in to your supervisor. These count as a journal entry.
Select a short section of the tape to share with a small group of colleagues. Cue the tape to this spot.
Be prepared to give an overview of the teaching event and specifics of the clip you have selected to share. Clue viewers into things they might watch for.
During the video viewing all participants are to take notes. All participants are responsible for giving feedback after each tape. The teacher taped should be first to make additional comments.
