Assignment: Videotaped Lesson

Watching myself teach was instructive, if a little painful. Aside from the petty things (not liking the sound of my voice, etc.) there were a good number of things that I was vaguely aware I shouldn't/should be doing that I'm now determined to fix. First up: I speak too fast, yet also with too much hesitation and to many "um's." What Ben said about brevity--teachers have a limited number of words for the year that can reach their students and first-years using those up in the first month--seems to ignore a bit of how teaching personalities can vary, but it also rings true in my case. If I restate something two or three times, without being asked to by my students, I waste instructional time. If the students don't understand, they will/should raise their hands and ask me to explain. And if I speak slowly, I can choose my words more carefully the first time, my students will process what I say better, and I may not have to repeat myself at all. It comes back to the idea of taking the onus off of me to do all the work, I guess.

Second: I was too hestitant, too inconsistent, and too accommodating with discipline procedures. I should've gotten everyone who spoke out of turn, instead of the one or two necessary to calm the room down once talking had gotten somewhat out of hand. And if they protest having their names on the board, I shouldn't answer them at all, but just add checks for continuing to talk out.

And last: I must do a better job of explaining the directions for assignments. This one was fairly clear (write a business letter to one of these two people about one of these four topics) but even still, I spent a lot of my walk-around time answering basic questions. My explanation of the letter assignment wasn't as clear as it could have been and I didn't model an example for the kids. I'm still getting used to how much further you need to break things down for middle-schoolers and it was clear that I overestimated what they could pick up from written and verbal directions without an example.

What I did well: I looked enough like a teacher, even if I didn't speak like one. Generally speaking, posture, moving around the room, and physical presence were all positive. Speaking volume was adequate, though I could stand to vary everything a little more, to keep kids on their toes. I didn't exactly know what to do with my hands, but I imagine that will come with better planned lessons. Best of all, I seemed very helpful while the kids were working individually. Not too surprising, since one-on-one interaction is what I enjoy the most and feel most comfortable with, but it's good to know my strengths.