Sarah Smith

UTL 640E, Haug

11/20/15
Observation 7
Observation #7: Visual Recording and Self-Critique Reflection
I recorded my 9th lesson, for this lesson I had taken over the whole
block even though my introduction to the lesson and telling the
students school-wide announcements isnt shown on the recording. I
was teaching about organization patterns in non-fiction articles that
the students had been reading in class for the previous two weeks.
The beginning of my lesson went well, and the students were
listening to my mini-lecture on organization patterns, while also
contributing when I asked for examples of each pattern. I think when I
was able to take student answers and elaborate on them to show them
how that would be a whole pattern for a text was one of the more
relevant sections of my lesson. Ive been working on my pacing in each
lesson, and I did a better job at the beginning of this lesson, even with
a more extended class discussion than I was anticipating. I was paying
attention to time and giving clear time deadlines for activities. Another
thing Ive been consciously working on is my clarity in delivering
instructions, and while I have been getting better each lesson, in this
lesson I had a few moments of clarity, for example, when I was
explaining the organization patterns chart and when I circulated the
room to each group to explain things individually. I also am pleased
with my personality that came out in this lesson, because I think thats
one of my strong points in teaching, that I am able to connect with the

Sarah Smith
UTL 640E, Haug
11/20/15
Observation 7
students on a personal level, which keeps them interested, and
sometimes grabs the attention of the students who are harder to
engage.
So while there were highlights in this lesson, it also taught me a few
things about my classroom management skills and thinking on my feet,
because once I had put everyone in groups and explained the activity
again, the lesson started to break down. Reflecting on the video, I
realized that I shouldnt have let the students go into an activity when I
hadnt fully checked for understanding by doing a model together or
going step by step through the process I wanted them to do. (I actually
taught this lesson again and we did a model together, which helped
the lesson and the students understanding quite a lot.) I noticed I am
also still having difficulty establishing myself as an authority in the
classroom that the students completely respond to, because my
discipline style is much less forceful, but not lax, so I think the students
get confused if I am actually asking them to do something or just
giving a suggestion. Once I realized the students were having difficulty,
I was visibly grasping for a solution, and while I dont think the
students completely realized I didnt know what I was doing, going
back over the video made me see that I was trying really hard to figure
out what to do to help them understand how these organization
patterns work, and that I was having trouble figuring it out.

Sarah Smith
UTL 640E, Haug
11/20/15
Observation 7
Even though my video isnt of 8th period, when I taught this lesson
again later this day, I was able to reflect on the problems I encountered
teaching 6th period, and my second lesson of the day went much
better.