Video Analysis - Grade 4 (#1)

The purpose of the activities portrayed throughout the videos was to encourage student learning through their own findings. The teacher was there to guide the students in the correct paths, but she stated that her main goal was for the students to find things out for themselves. In this type of environment, both the teacher and the students are learners of the material. Of course, the teacher knows the material well already, but goes about the activities in ways that encourages student involvement and thinking. The teacher spent much of the time having the students explain their reasoning for the answers that they had come up with and always had them "digging" for more information. Questions upon questions were thrown at the students in hopes that they would encourage more analyzing of the material.

(Orchestrating) : How do you determine whether group work is appropriate?

In the first scene of this section, the teacher is working with the students in groups. I feel that the type of activity that they were doing in these videos was very good for group work because each student could learn from another. I enjoy activities where I am able to teach students in groups because I feel that I am able to reach more of them directly. Unfortunately, it may take a little bit of time before the students feel comfortable working together. It was stated that if this activity were done eight months ago that the outcome and flow would have been completely different. I determine if group work is appropriate by how comfortable the students feel together and also how comfortable to students feel towards the material presented for the group work.

(Questioning) : What kinds of questions predominate in your classroom? Single answer? Short answer? Explanation?

The kinds of answers that predominate in my classroom would be short answer. Having short answer questions gives the students the opportunity to always give their reasoning for the answer that they have come up with. Single answer questions I feel do not get the students involved into the material quite enough. Short answer questions also leave the window of opportunity for a two-way discussion involving both the students and the teacher.

(Evidence) : When during a lesson do you check to see what students have learned?

Periodically throughout a lesson the teacher should check to see how the students are coming along. It is always nice to pose questions to them to make sure that they understand the objectives and are on track to complete the lesson correctly. Towards the end of the lesson it would be smart to have a class discussion that includes the students thought processes as they came to their conclusion. Also, it would be beneficial for the students to talk about what they were having problems with and how they eventually found a way around that barrier.

The overall use of the video was very beneficial for me. There was much information throughout the clips that I can see myself including in my own teaching someday. Including the hands-on visualization of the bands toward end of the connections portion was nice to see as I really enjoy activities such as that. Students were able to see how the variables worked, were able to show how the variables worked, and they were able to talk about how the variables worked. There was a little bit of each learning aspect incorporated into the lesson and proved to be very effective.