Video Reflection: An Analysis Sara Zavadsky

Within the contents of my DVD of my teaching, I have selected 5 clips from all of my field placements that document my growth as a teacher. The clips are in order of my field placements and show experiences with a variety of students where I demonstrate various instructional practices. The first clip is from ED 201 and focuses on technology integration in a 7-8th grade Science classroom. In the second clip (ED 215), 9th grade Physical Science students are working collaboratively with one another on a project and they present this to the class. The next clip is in a 6th grade Science class where students and I are discussing concepts learned the previous day in lab in my ED 321 field. Next, I am working with an ELL student, that I have paired with a peer, to teach a lesson for my ED 396 field. The final clip from ED 315, is a 10-11th grade Chemistry class. The collection of these clips show my growth as a teacher and my refined understanding of the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure and the Alverno Education Department Outcomes of the Major. For ED 201, I worked at Browndeer Middle School where there was a diverse student body. I was placed in a 7-8th grade Science classroom. The video is my third lesson working with the students and was used for both ED 201 and ED 216. The students were learning about matter, molecules, and the structure of an atom. Once the students had the basic understanding of the structure of an atom, they had the opportunity to incorporate technology into their learning to better understand how to construct an atom. Using the SMARTBoard, the students built and created models of atoms. The SMARTBoard allowed the students an interactive discovery into

building atoms. Using technology in this lesson allowed the students a chance to explore and learn about the structure of an atom in a tactile way. Sometimes scientific concepts can be difficult to understand and conceptualize because the concepts are abstract. By using the SMARTBoard I was able to give students the opportunity to visually learn by constructing and building the atoms, which demonstrated Wisconsin Teacher Standard # 3, and 7, and the Alverno Education Ability of Communication and Conceptualization. I feel that I have grown a lot since this field especially with my classroom management skills. In the video clip you can see that there are students walking around, talking, and raising their hands without my acknowledgement. South Milwaukee High School was the setting for the clip from ED 215. Here, students were given a task to work in groups to construct a town ran only on renewable energy resources and then they presented to their classmates who were voting on which proposal would be considered for the final design of their new town. This clip shows me interacting with the students and facilitating their learning while I take a step back and allow for peer learning and collaboration to happen. I challenged the students to get in front of the class and present their town proposal to give the students an opportunity to practice their communication skills. From this field I learned the very valuable lesson that I do not always have to be in front of the classroom doing the instructing in order for my students to learn. Students like to be challenged in different ways and like to feel that they can be in charge of their learning. I was able to better manage the class in this type of setting which shows growth from the last clip. I think that this video clip demonstrates Wisconsin Teacher Standard # 4, and 5, and the Alverno Education Ability of Conceptualization, Coordination, and Integrative Interaction.

In my ED 321 field I was challenged in a very different way which helped me to strengthen my classroom management skills even further. I was placed at Oak Creek Middle School in a 6th grade Science classroom. Here the most valuable lesson that I learned was that authentic, real world applications are the lifeblood of teaching, especially when teaching science. Students need to feel that there is purpose in their learning and they need to be excited to learn. While students were learning the basic science concepts covered in a 6th grade Science classroom, they always had looks of amazement and wonder on their faces which always grounded me as a person. Thier excitement and wonder has stuck with me to this day and taught me that no matter the content that you are teaching you better make it your job to be just as awestricken by it and share that with your students. Since this field I work very hard to bring fun, excitement, wonder, and discovery into all of my lessons. Wisconsin Teacher Standard # 2, 3, 4, 6, and the Alverno Education Ability of Communication, and Diagnosis are demonstrated in this video clip. For the video clip of my ED 396 experience, I am working with an ELL student (and peer) at Carmen High School of Science and Technology, a charter school located on Milwaukees south side. In the video clip I read instructions aloud, have the students read aloud, use manipulatives and model for them, allow them to communicate with each other as they work together, and allow them time to process and think; which demonstrates Wisconsin Teacher Standard # 2, and 6, and the Alverno Education Ability of Conceptualization, Communication, Diagnosis and Integrative Interaction. I think that if I were to teach this lesson again I would have sat in a desk as well and we could have formed a triangle with the desks. Although I was sitting in front of them I felt like it was too formal and made them feel a little uncomfortable. I

wanted them to gain more confidence in their learning abilities and I think this could have been done better had I been a little less formal in my approach. My last clip is from my most recent classroom experience, ED 315. The 10-11th graders I was working with were at Carmen High School. I choose to include this clip because it shows my growth in understanding how to design learning experiences that best relate to the characteristics of individuals and groups; Wisconsin Teacher Standard # 2, and 6, and the Alverno Education Ability of Conceptualization, Communication, Diagnosis and Integrative Interaction. During this field I had the chance to work with many (about 80% of my class) ELL and ESL students which taught me invaluable lessons about my teaching and my abilities of being an educator on a daily basis. Modeling everything that I did and using analogies became so important in teaching these students, and I am so thankful that I refined my skills of incorporating these techniques into all of my teaching. It seems silly now that I look back on the experience and think that I did not understand how to better teach these special students. This has strengthen my ability to teach in every classroom, at any age. I have definitely grown through my experiences at Alverno, in understanding the Wisconsin Teaching Standards and Alverno Education Abilities, and in learning what it means to develop the whole child. I know that student teaching will allow for my to grow even more as a teacher, but I believe that I am ready to take on the challenge and move on to the next step. It has been a pleasure to share my teaching with you.