Associated Lesson Plan
Spring Semester Video Analysis Assignment Reflection Questions
Would you want to be a student in this class doing this activity? Why or why not?
The first 15 minutes of my class was focused on reviewing the reading the students had done over the weekend. We are about halfway through Things Fall Apart and so far my students are really enjoying the novel, partly because the language is much easier to understand then past texts we’ve read, and partly because the story itself is new and interesting for them. In the classes before this, they have been very excited to talk about the novel and the development of the story and the characters. There was some significant advancement in the plot for the reading they had to complete so I thought there might be some strong reactions from students. We were having a fairly lively discussion about the novel in the first 10-15 minutes, but I also wanted to make sure that we were able to talk about the details of a group presentation project that was coming up and answer and student questions. As the conversation died down, I passed out a graphic organizer that would help students guide their analysis of their specific chapter. While the initial discussion of the novel was very energetic and impassioned, there was also a lot of back and forth dialogue about the chapters as students were filling out the organizer. There are several students who like debating different aspects of the book, and who like questioning and challenging some of the conventions of the unit, like viewing the main character as a tragic hero, so they often are able to draw other students in the class into the discussions.
How do you look and sound in the video? Comfortable, nervous, guarded, excited . . .
I think that I sound relaxed, but also still authoritative. This class is often able to begin and sustain short discussions of the text on their own, so I usually will ask an initial broad question and then let then share their reactions and ideas. I can easily ask additional questions and prompt different lines of thinking, but they typically are able to pose their own questions and others usually try to offer answers. I also look and feel comfortable because I know this group of students very well and I know that while I often have to remind them to speak in turns and let others share their ideas, they will listen and respect that.
What are you doing in this lesson? (Giving info, lecturing, explaining, scaffolding, chores, questioning, answering, coaching, modeling, demonstrating...) Is this what you think you should be doing?
I am initially posing broad discussion questions to guide a conversation about the reading. As I do that I am giving information about the chapters and about the presentations the students will have to do with a group. As I pass out the graphic organizer, I am continuing to give information about the presentation project, while also explaining the chart and their next task. Occasionally as students share their ideas, I will make connections to the questions they will have to consider for their presentations, modeling the ways that they will have to analyze their assigned chapter.
What are the students doing? (Attending, chatting, creating, writing, arguing, laughing, independent work, group discussion, listening, asking, answering, negotiating, disrupting...) Are they doing anything you didn’t know or expect?
A majority of the students are engaged in the discussion at the beginning of the class. There are many hands in the air and when a student shares a response or idea, there is often chatter from others students out that comment or about that point in the reading. Most students feel comfortable debating back and forth with one another about aspects of the reading, and other, quieter students still occasionally share their thoughts. While there is a lot of talking among students, for the most part, they are talking about the reading and sharing what they think with their friends and the people sitting next to them. Although I would ideally like to get all of the students to actively listen when another student makes a comment, I think that their level of energy surrounding the reading is productive and engaging even if I can’t get them to stop talking sometimes.
What differences do you see between your Fall video and this one? What can you point to as evidence of improved practice, AND what still needs attention?
Both of my videos focus at least partly on class discussion on a section of reading. I think what helped focus the class in the Spring video was the graphic organizer with questions to guide their analysis. In the Fall video I was writing on the white board and asking most of the questions and reviewing most of the information, while later I tried to give students the opportunity to take responsibility for those tasks. I still think that keeping an entire class engaged and listening during a full class discussion is difficult and that I something that I struggled with in each video.
Would you want to be a student in this class doing this activity? Why or why not?
The first 15 minutes of my class was focused on reviewing the reading the students had done over the weekend. We are about halfway through Things Fall Apart and so far my students are really enjoying the novel, partly because the language is much easier to understand then past texts we’ve read, and partly because the story itself is new and interesting for them. In the classes before this, they have been very excited to talk about the novel and the development of the story and the characters. There was some significant advancement in the plot for the reading they had to complete so I thought there might be some strong reactions from students. We were having a fairly lively discussion about the novel in the first 10-15 minutes, but I also wanted to make sure that we were able to talk about the details of a group presentation project that was coming up and answer and student questions. As the conversation died down, I passed out a graphic organizer that would help students guide their analysis of their specific chapter. While the initial discussion of the novel was very energetic and impassioned, there was also a lot of back and forth dialogue about the chapters as students were filling out the organizer. There are several students who like debating different aspects of the book, and who like questioning and challenging some of the conventions of the unit, like viewing the main character as a tragic hero, so they often are able to draw other students in the class into the discussions.
How do you look and sound in the video? Comfortable, nervous, guarded, excited . . .
I think that I sound relaxed, but also still authoritative. This class is often able to begin and sustain short discussions of the text on their own, so I usually will ask an initial broad question and then let then share their reactions and ideas. I can easily ask additional questions and prompt different lines of thinking, but they typically are able to pose their own questions and others usually try to offer answers. I also look and feel comfortable because I know this group of students very well and I know that while I often have to remind them to speak in turns and let others share their ideas, they will listen and respect that.
What are you doing in this lesson? (Giving info, lecturing, explaining, scaffolding, chores, questioning, answering, coaching, modeling, demonstrating...) Is this what you think you should be doing?
I am initially posing broad discussion questions to guide a conversation about the reading. As I do that I am giving information about the chapters and about the presentations the students will have to do with a group. As I pass out the graphic organizer, I am continuing to give information about the presentation project, while also explaining the chart and their next task. Occasionally as students share their ideas, I will make connections to the questions they will have to consider for their presentations, modeling the ways that they will have to analyze their assigned chapter.
What are the students doing? (Attending, chatting, creating, writing, arguing, laughing, independent work, group discussion, listening, asking, answering, negotiating, disrupting...) Are they doing anything you didn’t know or expect?
A majority of the students are engaged in the discussion at the beginning of the class. There are many hands in the air and when a student shares a response or idea, there is often chatter from others students out that comment or about that point in the reading. Most students feel comfortable debating back and forth with one another about aspects of the reading, and other, quieter students still occasionally share their thoughts. While there is a lot of talking among students, for the most part, they are talking about the reading and sharing what they think with their friends and the people sitting next to them. Although I would ideally like to get all of the students to actively listen when another student makes a comment, I think that their level of energy surrounding the reading is productive and engaging even if I can’t get them to stop talking sometimes.
What differences do you see between your Fall video and this one? What can you point to as evidence of improved practice, AND what still needs attention?
Both of my videos focus at least partly on class discussion on a section of reading. I think what helped focus the class in the Spring video was the graphic organizer with questions to guide their analysis. In the Fall video I was writing on the white board and asking most of the questions and reviewing most of the information, while later I tried to give students the opportunity to take responsibility for those tasks. I still think that keeping an entire class engaged and listening during a full class discussion is difficult and that I something that I struggled with in each video.