Thursday, March 5, 2009

OK, a big day for me, I filmed myself teaching for the first time. I had always heard what a great learning tool this is, and I knew this to be true. I have never done this before. Why? I was "skeered". Yep, fiddle-dee-dee, if I never see it, I don't have to worry about it. Warren is a chicken, but I didn't worry about it too much, because I knew it was coming.

Some observations I had before I turned the camera on:

- I knew I would not be myself. I don't care who you are, unless you're a trained actor, and running camera makes people self-conscious. It makes me self-conscious because I know my job, ergo my means of keeping a roof over our heads and food in our bellies, is at stake with this thing.

- Since I could not get the whole class in the viewfinder, I would only be on one end of the room. I normally walk all over the place, I sometimes just plop down in a student desk and teach from there. Not this time though.

- I started the unit yesterday, but did not get beyond my intro because my class got interrupted, and I grabbed a teachable moment. It was worth it. As it was, I had to start today by reviewing what we covered in the intro yesterday.

Some observations I had while the camera was running, or before I viewed the results:

- I was teaching to one side of the room. Why? The majority of my students are on one side.

- I turned my back to the class to look at my lesson plan. Arrrgh! With the camera running, I had a brain cramp, and just blanked. Choice, totally mess up my lesson plan, or commit the faux paux of turning my back to the class.

- I took too long to implement the lesson. I tarried too long. I have to pick up the pace.

My wife volunteered to put her KTIP hat on and look at this with me. SWMBO had some great criticism for me. Some lessons learned after downloading this potential Razzy winner:

- I teach to one side of the room. I can't do too much about my room arrangement, but I can shift some kids around.

- I work too hard, and need to question (probing/leading types) the students some more.

- I need to move around the room some more and monitor the student's work. I normally do this, but with the camera running I was self-conscious about moving out of camera range.

I'm sure Dr. Gibson and/or my review board will see more faults than this. Despite the fact that I have a pork chop around my nect when it comes to SWMBO, she did have some nice things to say. She did say it was a good lesson, that I was being a good teacher. This is high praise from her, she doesn't throw compliments around like that.
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2 comments:

  1. Tara CMarch 10, 2009 at 10:13 PM

    Warren, it was refreshing to read your blog about your video. I realized that I had some of the same thoughts about my video as you had about your video. I really do not like to see myself in the first place in a picture or in a video. I am so critical of myself. I think that I look silly or did something embarrassing. My voice does not even sound like me on a video. I had the same brain freeze as you did. I had to also turn my back to the class and look at my lesson plan. All I can say is I am human! I really saw nothing wrong in doing that.

    I found it interesting when you said that you "work too hard" and should question the students more. I feel like that so many times. In "Teaching with Love and Logic", it talks about this subject. It gives the scenario of students running out of school with so much energy at the end of the school day, while teachers are exhausted and barely make it to their cars. It says the reason for this is that teachers do too much thinking for the kids.

    I agree with this. However, sometimes it cannot be avoided. My sixth graders like to be spoon-fed. Even on tests it seems like some want you to give them the answers. I have to be certain that I give step-by-step instructions for everything.

    I do believe Thoughtful Education strategies help us place the thinking and working onto the students. However, I do not think that all strategies can work with all grade levels. These strategies are so great with having students to develop their own note-taking skills as well. I am looking for alternative ways of students taking notes and I have been experimenting with these strategies. However, there are some days that I must have hands-on activities and lab investigations that require much pre-planning. Some lessons we do have to work much harder than the students. I am looking for ways to improve this. It is not because I am lazy, but it is because I believe it is in their best interests. They need to learn to think for themselves.

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  2. Warren DickinsonMarch 14, 2009 at 6:38 PM

    Tara,
    Thanks so much for your thoughtful and insightful post. L&L does give us some good ideas, as does the TE binder we all have. However putting it all into practice is another thing entirely.
    I started off with a tool kit that was pretty sparse. Thanks to our practicum and our other courses my tool kit is getting filled up with more things to use. I now have to find our how best to use them, and find out which ones work best for me.
    I have tried the "Squeeze" method outlined in our book Straight Talk, and have found it works a treat for Social Studies. Reading strategies with "predictions" just don't work so well when you are reading about the type of economy a country has.

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