VIDEO REFLECTION AND COMMENTARY

I. Instructional Context
This classroom has twenty-five students in ninth grade, ages fourteen and fifteen. The course
is Honors Geometry, and this lesson focuses on applications of the Pythagorean Theorem. I
considered several defining characteristics of this class when designing this lesson. First, the
students in this class have diverse backgrounds - ethnically, culturally, and linguistically. More
than half the students are African American; there are four Caucasian students, and five Hispanic
students, who are ELL students. When choosing problems for the students to explore, I selected
problems that focused on developing problem solving skills in a variety of contexts so that
students could easily visualize and relate to the tasks and were encouraged to engage,
collaborate, and share their knowledge through written, mathematical, verbal, and visual
methods. While this was an honors course, the student ability levels vary significantly, and
almost one third of the students are struggling to pass. Many of the students do not possess a
strong foundational knowledge and are lacking in algebra skills from their previous course.
The lesson design includes two differentiated activities, including an open-ended question to
help students explore the implications of the Pythagorean Theorem in greater depth and an
opportunity to create real world problems using the Pythagorean Theorem. These differentiated
tasks engage all the students, challenging each student according to his or her ability level. From
past observations of this class, I recognized that the class is incredibly determined, persevering
until they reach their goals, and would rise to the challenge of these application problems.
This classroom is structured to facilitate group interactions and learning. The desks are
arranged in groups so that the students work together in an informal way on a daily basis. The
students do not have access to technology except calculators. There is no access to Internet, and
although I could use the overhead project, the other technology in the room is not functional.

VIDEO REFLECTION AND COMMENTARY

II. Planning
When planning and implementing this lesson, I accounted for the individual needs of the
students. While I wanted to help the students explore applications of the Pythagorean Theorem, I
also understood that I would have to help students address past misconceptions and gaps in their
prior knowledge. One additional challenge was to help the students work comfortably in a
differentiated environment; because they were not used differentiation, many students were
uncertain of how to begin problems. Through guiding questions, I helped students explore these
specific scenarios while also developing long-term problem solving skills. These overarching
goals were extremely important in this lesson as well as in my teaching practice in general.
The lesson objectives were to apply knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem to solve
real-world problems and to build deeper understanding by creating scenarios. It is not enough for
students to simply learn the rote computations using the Pythagorean Theorem. These objectives
were incredibly important to these students because they are focused on mastering content
standards, but even more importantly, they challenged the students to explore situations, ask
good questions, think in terms of the problem, and develop deep understanding of a situation.
These skills will help students be successful both in future mathematics courses and in their
future professions. Overall, I want my students to develop confidence in their mathematics
abilities and find ways to apply their knowledge and logic in all areas of their lives.
A small-group format is incredibly useful to facilitate high level learning and develop
exploration and problem solving skills. Individual students think in diverse and creative ways,
and groups provide the opportunity for students to articulate and share their thinking. In order to
be most effective, group work should be carefully planned. Through conversations with my
cooperating teacher, we placed the students in groups of similar ability level; thus, we ensured

VIDEO REFLECTION AND COMMENTARY

that all students could contribute to the groups effort and have their needs met, and additionally,
I could focus my attention where it was most needed. The group status signs (thumbs up or stop),
further encouraged groups to communicate with their team prior to asking for my assistance.
Finally, calculators were the most appropriate choice of technology for these students in
this school. The calculators allowed students to explore problems that involved large, real-world
situations versus practice problems that use smaller, isolated numbers. The calculators also gave
the students a chance to review exponents and order of operations. Through this practice with a
calculator, the students built skills to solve problems in their future education and careers.
3. Analysis of Video Recording
Before the portion of the lesson that is shown in the video, students explored a
differentiated review question that focused on the Pythagorean Theorem. After a few minutes, I
selected a few students, based on their responses, to share their work. This task reinforced the
conditions of the application of the Pythagorean Theorem and provided students choice in their
application of the theorem. After the review, we worked an application problem as a class, set up
a second application problem, and then worked on the remaining problems in small groups. The
class ended as the video concluded, but we finished the worksheet, the creation problem, and a
formative assessment question in the next weeks lesson.
Overall, the first learning goal was achieved throughout this lesson. I encouraged the
students to consider the numbers and calculations in terms of the problems and explore how the
Pythagorean Theorem would help them solve these scenarios. For example, the girl with the
short hair and glasses at the center table noted that All sides are gonna be equal and suggested
using the Pythagorean Theorem. When I ask her why, her explanation is a little difficult to hear,
but she answered that the path from one corner of the park to the other becomes the hypotenuse

VIDEO REFLECTION AND COMMENTARY

of a right triangle. After I moved to the next group, she continued to share her work and
reasoning with her group. The students were not able to create their own problems in this video
segment. Instead, students achieved that learning goal in varying degrees in the next class, from
problems modeled after the examples, involving intersections and ramps, to entirely new
problems, including baseball diamonds and bridges.
The lesson design and execution allowed me to achieve learning goals while addressing
misconceptions of groups and individuals. For example, many of the groups had trouble
visualizing the wall and the television in problem four. When I had conversations with the group
of ELL students sitting out of the camera frame and the group in the middle, I encouraged them
to review the language of the problem and pointed out the multiple dimensions to be considered,
using hand gestures to provide a more concrete expression of the problem. Additionally, I
addressed individual issues with concepts and technology. The girl with the scarf and the gray
sweater in the far left group asked for help with her calculations. After reviewing her work, we
figured out that she used the square root function instead of the square function. This student had
previously told me of her lack of confidence with math, so this group work time allowed us to
review conceptual misunderstandings in a positive way. Finally, the thumbs-up or stop signs
provided a method to facilitate group work. Although the students did not immediately use the
signs and kept raising their hands, I reminded them to consult their groups through questions
such as Did your group agree with you? Students used the signs frequently the next week.
The ability levels vary greatly among students in this class, but I made a point to tailor
my instruction to the students needs. For example, the group at the far right corner of the video
is extremely advanced. They solved problem two incredibly quickly, so we discussed common
Pythagorean triples, such as 3, 4, 5 and 5, 12, 13. On the other hand, some groups struggled to

VIDEO REFLECTION AND COMMENTARY

begin. The center group was initially intimidated by all the information given in problem three,
so I suggested drawing a picture and reviewed what scale meant. The group in the near left
corner lacked focus, so I prompted them to share their thoughts and work with me.
The interactions of the center group provide strong evidence for the benefits of group
work. The girl with the short hair and glasses emphasized important details to her group
members and fostered a team environment so that the boy in the group actually moved physically
closer to communicate more efficiently with the group. Additionally, the group off camera
communicated their reasoning and thinking at high levels in their dimensions of the television
and the wall; they quickly corrected their misconceptions, and the camaraderie of this group was
evident and contributed in a positive way to the mathematical thinking and success of the group.
Although the students were not familiar with structured group work, most of them thrived
through these small-group interactions and exploration of application problems. With some
guidance, they began to collaborate and express their reasoning and analysis verbally and in
writing. The class discussion provided a model and structure for the groups to emulate during
their small group interactions. Individual assessment would have also been helpful, and I
incorporated it as an exit slip in the next class.
Calculators made the problems more accessible to the students, especially since the
problems involved large numbers. The technology aptitudes varied widely in this class. Some
students were proficient with the calculators while others struggled. In the follow-up lesson, one
group in particular impressed me. Although their calculations presented an answer, they
determined that it could not be correct because the length of the side was greater than the length
of the hypotenuse. Clearly, this group used their calculators as tools but continued to analyze and
evaluate how the answer connected to the problem.

VIDEO REFLECTION AND COMMENTARY

4. Reflection
Reviewing this lesson was invaluable to my growth as an educator. I taught this lesson twice,
and this recording shows the second class. In the first class, we worked the entire second
problem as a class, but in the next class, we only discussed the set-up before moving to group
work. This strategy was critical because the students transitioned better and had much more
group discourse than the first class. The class discussion provided them confidence and built
their determination to solve the problem and tackle the challenges in the next problems.
Although the students are used to sitting in groups, they are not used to intentionally working
with their peers. More often than not, I would see the students working individually or
disengaging completely from the assignment. One of the significant successes of the lesson was
when I saw student move closer to their group mates in order to work together to solve the
problems. Not only were the students working at the same tables, but they were also exchanging
thoughts and explanations about the material.
While there were many successes in the lesson, there were also a few things I would change.
Most importantly, I would plan and incorporate more questions. Sometimes I am so eager to help
the students develop an understanding of the situation that I provide more prompting and
explanation than necessary. I would also check in with each group more often. At several points
in the lesson, some groups that were not focused and needed a verbal reminder to refocus.
In the next class, my most significant adjustment was my emphasis on questions. I prepared
more questions in advance, such as Could you represent this length on your paper? and Have
you seen a television hanging on a wall? I also posed more questions to the entire group,
initiated group sharing, and checked in with groups more frequently. I hope to learn from every
future lesson and continue to make adjustments and improvements.