Observing... Myself

Observations on a self-recorded video in fulfillment of an accreditation requirement.

This observed video was recorded during a lesson on "Theme," which was introduced after it became apparent via a final test that my students, surprisingly, weren't comfortable readily identifying and recognizing themes. I gave a brief Powerpoint lecture on the different elements of how/where/when/through-whom themes can present themselves in a story. Then, to give the kids practice discussing and identifying themes, I read them a couple of children's stories:


... Which is mostly all pictures, and...


... Which was cool because it's a West-African story; since Things Fall Apart , the novel we'd been reading, takes place in Nigeria, I thought it would be fun to use stories from the same area.

The first taped portion of the video includes both the powerpoint lecture and the two children's stories that I read aloud.

After the children's stories, the kids broke up into small groups to discuss Things Fall Apart; they were asked to come up with two themes and a possible "moral of the story." The second video depicts me facilitating the kids' reported conclusions from their small group discussions; after each group supplied their ideas, we launched into an all-class discussion about the book, which was also taped.

Observations during the lecture:
- I use lots of gestures.
- Beck and Haven (who were right by the computer and therefore right by the microphone) talk more than I realized... Should perhaps address that...
- I have a nice loud "teacher voice."
- Classroom management techniques:
----> "There's some side chatter, which I'm not happy about."
----> "Okay girls, if you have something to say, please raise your hand."
----> "I'll wait."
- I'm good at affirming students' responses-- "Excellent." "I like it."
- Needed to pass out paper at one point-- perhaps should have had a student do that. Oh! I did. Never mind. "Thanks for passing out the paper, Alex..."
- I use funny voices a lot-- both when reading the stories, and just periodically throughout class... Will slip into accents. Usually makes the kids laugh!
- Another classroom management technique to get them "back together" after the kids got out paper/pen, etc. for note-taking:
----> "Alright, focus up here!"
- I use lots of pictures/images in my powerpoints
- Also give LOTS of examples for the different points... Many examples from novels, some from popular movies. I tend to paraphrase the points on the powerpoint slides while the kids are jotting down notes; rephrase it in a less formal vernacular.
- I don't say "Um" much, which I thought I did! That's good.
... Do, apparently, say "You know" a lot however. Which could be improved. (At least the overused phrase acts as a formative assessment though, yes?)
- I use TONS of gestures!
- When I'm talking, the kids are really quiet. Yay! Could possibly be because they're note-taking. But that could be considered an effective management/assessment technique, methinks.
- I ask the kids to provide examples, often.
- At one point I search for a relevant quote from the book... Should have had that quote marked already.
- Classroom management technique:
----> "Justice, I'm sorry, can you wait until everyone's ready and has stopped talking?"
- I go over the main points from the Powerpoint at the end of the lecture.

Observations during the story-time:
- I allow the kids to murmur/respond/comment during the first story, which is primarily illustrated with only a few words.
- I occasionally tell anecdotes as they're relevant
- The kids LOVE the voices!
- I touch my hair a lot, which is distracting-- at least to someone watching the video! In the next video segment, I've put it back, which is good.

Observations during the class discussion:
- I hear students' ideas, will usually verbally repeat them, then validate them for what is merit-worthy, and elaborate on their ideas.
- I have each group contribute answers.
- I provide some leading questions, and then let the kids contribute from there.
- Typically, when I see a number of different hands up, I'll say, "Okay, we'll have Brandon, then Kimmy, Lara, Max, and Rakeesh." The kids then put their hands down, because they know what order they'll be speaking in.
- Classroom management technique:
----> Sometimes I use hand signals-- like just reaching my hand in the direction of a talking student with my hand/wrist flexed, like, "Stop"-- to quiet kids down.
----> "Can we stop the side chatter please?"


Overall, I think this was a good lesson. I felt I broke it up into several different parts-- the introduction, the lecture, the stories, the small group discussion, the large group discussion, and then we capped the whole thing off with some Ethiopian food. Yum! I felt I did a good job keeping the kids engaged with my hand gestures, voices, providing of and asking for examples, and kept things interesting by throwing in an occasional anecdote. Although there are a few things I could have improved upon, like having the quote ready from the book, or perhaps having the kids present their theme/moral-of-the-story ideas from up front (would have been an excuse for them to stretch their legs!), I think the lesson and my instruction was overall, pretty solid.

Blogs Come Together as Things Fall Apart (Henry's Class, Week 1)

The newest unit is structured around blogging: the kids have started reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and-- instead of writing responses via a reading journal or a study guide-- the kids are blogging.

It took hours and hours to get the blogs set up, since each one had to be done individually. But the rewards are already apparent: the kids have TAKEN OFF with these blogs!

What is it about the novelty of technology that entices them so? Students who haven't turned a scrap of paper in all year are writing insightful, creative, articulate blogs! The first assignment was to respond in some way-- be it poem, short story, analysis, or by elaborating further on an image-- to William Butler Yeats' poem "The Second Coming," from which verses, Achebe took his title. It's not an easy poem-- yet still, many of the kids who have balked at every assignment we've given them ended up writing a post, elaborating on their thoughts!

Needless to say, I am THRILLED.

AND, I required that they comment on one another's blogs-- and I've been blown away by how sweet they are to each other! They're encouraging, and kind, and bring up other points that the blog made them think about... I got the warm-fuzzies all weekend long, reading over them.

One of my primary goals as an English teacher is to instill a love for writing in my students; this blog project makes me think that we're beginning to inch towards that goal! Many kids are now posting other poems, or thoughts, or entries on their blogs. One of my new favorites was just posted today, by a ninth grade boy. It begins:

I sincerely hate the human tendency to get too scared to ask another person the simple question, “Hey, you wanna go out sometime?”

How do you not love that?

The blog project has been on my mind while reading over our assigned text for the week, from our Teaching English Language Learners book. Many of the examples of first or second-year teachers resonated with me: full of enthusiasm and a desire to teacher all students effectively, but also, not as familiar with students, families, or traditional methods of practice. We have several ELL kids in our classes, most of whom are immigrants from Africa. When writing papers, we ask these kids to turn in a first draft to my mentor teacher or myself, so that we can give them a good going over before the kids start their final drafts. In helping these kids go over their papers with a fine tooth comb, we give them the added assistance they need.

Of course, with blogs, the kids simply write to the best of their abilities, and then publish. However, what's been cool about starting this unit with Things Fall Apart, is that the other students are so quick to HONOR, and affirm the ELL students' African backgrounds. We're learning about Africa, and so these kids value the ELL students' contributions and insights. For a Powerpoint project that we're currently working on, which for most students has entailed researching Nigeria, the Igbo people, and themes of the novel, I had the ELL students create a Powerpoint that simply explained their experience. Through doing this, I hope to further affirm these students' contributions and experiences-- what a wealth of knowledge they have to provide our classes about life in Africa! Our book has spoken of the importance of validating ELL students, encouraging them, and including them as a valued part of the classroom. I hope that the efforts I've made are communicating that!