Week 8 Reflection - Video Analysis Reflection

1. Describe instances in your conversations in which you (or your critical friends) posed questions that provoked further questions, the exploration of other perspectives, the deconstruction of practice, beliefs, etc. Include the question(s) and the responses that were provoked.

In my conversations with critical friends about the videotaping assignment, I found we were constantly deconstructing the way in which each other taught in the videos. All of us found that we had different methods of teaching and helping students learn. We were constantly asking one another “why do you do things this way” or “do students learn better this way?”

Also, we deconstructed the body language of fellow interns throughout the process. For example, the other interns noticed that I very often used large hand gestures to illustrate points and lead students to answers in a Socratic fashion. It is useful to have this sort of feedback from other interns as critical friends because it allows us to get a second opinion on what we are doing as professionals.

2. How did this conversation require you to be open-minded, responsible, and wholehearted?

This conversation definitely requires one to be open-minded because each teacher has his or her unique styles of incorporating the latest pedagogical techniques. In addition, the techniques displayed by other interns may clash with what you believe in your philosophy of education in particular.

Next, it requires one to be responsible because a student teacher must definitely aid his or her fellow interns in their pursuit of fulfilling the ten characteristics of a novice teacher. If one sees behavior or teaching styles that could be improved by certain suggestions, it is imperative to make those suggestions in order to make all interns great teachers.

It requires interns to be wholehearted because we must provide feedback in these sessions which is truly valuable. As Professor Barrett said – it isn’t helpful to say “it is good” to someone’s video. To truly analyze the work of another student teacher, one must give honest, wholehearted feedback. This is the only way that we can help other improve their practice as well as be helped ourselves.

3. How did you:

• Examine, frame, and attempt to solve the dilemmas of your classroom practice; I looked to my critical friends to help my identify key problems of my classroom practice (not that I have a large number of problems – more that my classroom could be enhanced by bringing in multiple perspectives from other pre-service teachers.
• Become aware of and question the assumptions and values you bring to teaching; Again, I looked to my critical friends and discussed with them what they thought our values were. We might not have agreed with each other’s assumptions, but it was nonetheless a useful exercise.
• Become attentive to the institutional and cultural contexts in which you teach; I have sought to become more aware of the cultural context of my PDS by looking to outside research sources. I have found a number of useful sources (including the most recent census). I have, however, been unable to gather all the data that I wish. I will continue to search for important details on cultural contexts.
• Take part in making changes to your practice; Through this video reflection, I have looked to make changes to my practice by accepting advice from my critical friends.
• Take responsibility for your own professional development - This exercise in general (videotaping, viewing, editing, and reflection) provides for ample opportunity to change my practice and take responsibility for my own growth.

4. We want for you to reflect on what you learned from studying your own teaching. You might consider some of the following prompts ( you do not have to address all of them) as you think about what you learned, what supported your learning, what more you want to learn. Be as specific as you can about your learning.

I learned that teaching is a profession that requires thoughtful reflection and open-minded debate about the usefulness of other teaching strategies. Seeing multiple strategies in action is a monumental help for a beginning teacher. In addition, I also learned that the context in which one is placed has a very marked effect on the types of instruction that one does. Different sorts of contexts demand different types of teaching. What works for one group of students will not at all work for another group. It’s all about knowing your students (and particularly, understanding what they can and can’t handle). Next, I believe that teaching is always connected to particular events: especially that of student learning. All teaching should be driven by student-centered learning and designed intelligently so that it fits with certain learning strategies that are consistent with the types of learners that exist in one’s classroom.

From studying my own teaching through this video reflection, I was able to identify possible factors for change so that I can help my students learn.