Name: Melissa Oliver

Recording Date: September 29, 2015

Topic of Lesson: Number Stations

Videotape Self-Analysis
1. What are some of your personal idiosyncrasies? What can you do about
them?
One of the idiosyncrasies that I noticed during my video was my
overuse of very good, alright, and so. I use so in the beginning my
sentences following a transition or after a student response. I use
alright in a similar context. When a student responds to a question I
use very good as an acknowledgment that I heard what they were
saying. In order to get out of these habits, I can think of some
alternative ways to verbally transition and acknowledge the students. I
could write them down on a list and memorize and review them so that
they are fresh in my mind when I am in those situations again.
Another quirk I have is that I pull my face around a lot in my
expressions when Im talking, asking questions, or listening to a
student. I think having a mirror in the back of my future classroom for a
while will help me to better manage my facial expressions until it
becomes more natural not to be so animated.
2. What happens to your voice in different situations?
My voice becomes higher pitched and more animated when Im
instructing the students. I believe in part that this has to do with their
age because when I speak to older students I dont have such a drastic
change. When I am going around helping the students as they work in
their small groups, my voice isnt as high pitched. Also, when Im
instructing my voice is more animated as if I were reading aloud from a
childrens book. I know Im trying to stay excited and keep them
engaged so this may be related.
3. What did you do to set mood or climate for learning? Would you do
anything differently?
I had the students sit on the carpet rather than sit at their tables to
help focus their attention more effectively. Next I was clear about
making sure their voices were off and being respectful to myself, and
then later during presentations being respectful to the students who
were presenting. As I was teaching, I kept my tone of voice warm and
inviting so that students would be more willing to participate. I knew
these concepts were bigger and brand new for many of the students so
I didnt want them to feel intimidated that they may not have the
correct answers. During the work time, I had the students work in pairs
or groups of three so that they could help one another rather than

feeling overwhelmed at having to work with new concepts all on their

own. When students were having a hard time sharing responsibilities
during work time, I used encouraging language and helped them
resolve the conflict joyfully.
4. Analyze the questions you ask of students. What do you notice in terms of
quality, levels, wait time, your response to students?
I noticed that I could wait a bit longer for students to respond to my
questions before rephrasing it another way. Several times, I asked,
what I thought was, a simple question and the students werent
responding right away so I quickly restated it in other words. Also, my
response to students still contained more voiceovers than I had hoped
to hear. I used a variety in my types of questions. Some types included
prior knowledge, stretching thinking, and reasoning. I could have used
more questions at a deeper level to help students better connect the
content to real world situations.
5. How well did you involve all students in responding and participating?
Equity issues?
I was fairly intentional about making sure that all students were
included in responding. I included mostly choral counting and
responses. However, I also called on any student that had their hand
up without bias. In hindsight, I should have involved the students more
in hands-on participating. Perhaps this would have in turn improved
their comprehension, as I would have seen where mistakes were
occurring. There was independent practice of the concepts on the
carpet that everyone was able to participate in and group work
involved all students in small group to ensure that each person got at
least two opportunities to contribute.
6. With what progress are you most pleased?
One thing I noticed that I am improving is the manner in which I am
telling a student that their answer is incorrect. I try to ask if other
students agree, and if they do not, we look at some other answers and
compare them. I also use language that is not condemning but rather
redirecting. I also find that I have greater patience with students. I
believe this skill was truly refined in this placement, as I had to be able
to gain greater compassion for the fact that these students were
adjusting to a school environment, new expectations, routines, and
social setting. I had to meet them where they were at and that
required a much longer fuse. Finally, I have improved greatly in my use
of the term you guys. I have stopped almost all use of it and replaced
it with other terms that are more neutral.
7. What areas do you believe you still need improvement?

The areas that still need improvement are clearer instructions and
phrasing of questions, being specific in the praise I give to students,
and learning how to politely end students tangents to get back to
instruction. My instructions sometimes lack the clarity that students
need. I state an expectation but fail to emphasize or elaborate the
points to which they need to pay closer attention. The phrasing of my
questions is sometimes not grade level appropriate and it can often go
over their heads. I hope that this will improve as I become more
familiar with cognitive development. As I mentioned earlier, I use the
term very good much too often. Not only does it lose its value and
meaning with overuse, but the students do not get the reinforcement
they need by understanding what I specifically find to have been
pleasing and good work. I need to allow for the time to tell them what
they are doing well rather than rushing my praise. Finally, there have
been multiple times when students have gone on random, unrelated
tangents during instruction time. I am unsure how to end them politely
without running the risk of making them unwilling to share ideas or
respond to questions in the future. I want to make the students feel
valued but I also want them to stay focus. I know when one student
mentions random thoughts it can spark a whole conversation that
takes away from academic time. This is not to say that there arent
occasionally teaching opportunities in some of these unrelated
conversations, but just for the ones that could wait until later.