When I first learned that we were going to have to videotape ourselves teaching, I was very nervous. On some level, I knew that viewing this videotape was going to mean I’d have to change some aspects of my teaching, and I wasn’t entirely ready for that. However, I did not expect that viewing this tape was going to be so incredibly helpful. By videotaping myself and analyzing it afterwards, I was placed in the shoes of my students. I imagined how I would feel if I was a student in my own classroom.  Though this way of viewing myself was not the most flattering or complimentary, it provided great insight on what I need to improve to become a more effective teacher.

            For the most part, I met all my learning objectives in the lesson. My main learning objectives were that the students would identify the characters’ motivations and development in the play, and describe the events that took place in Act 1, Scenes 1 & 2.   The first learning objective was achieved in several places in the lesson. By evaluating previous predictions made the day before, students were able to begin to understand different qualities and traits of the characters. This activity not only provided a basis for future discussion regarding the characters, but it also will help the students gain insight into why a character might behave as certain way later in the play. In addition, students discussed character motivation and development toward the end of the lesson when they discussed the influence of Hal on Falstaff (and vice versa), and Hal on King Henry (and vice versa). The second learning objective was also met in the lesson during the “Somebody Wanted But So” activity and during the word play activity. In the “Somebody Wanted But So,” students were asked to summarize events in the play in one sentence. In the word play activity, students looked at different ways that Shakespeare uses words to convey his meaning. This activity involved both learning objectives; in the conversation regarding the context of the word play activity, the students needed to summarize the events that took place in Scene 2, and in doing so, they were able to see the relationship between Hal and Falstaff and how it affects each one’s character.

            I think I could have done a better job of transitioning between activities in this lesson.  Many times, I would end an activity and move on to the next by saying “Okay, now we are…” I feel like beginning the direction with a word like, “okay” was not a professional way of speaking, and contributed to the lack of authority I had with my students throughout the lesson. Many times, transitions were rocky and did not seem to correlate with the activity before it, excepting the “influences” activity that took place after the word play small group discussion. The transition between the small group work and class discussion in the word play activity did not go well at all. One group was finished long before the other one, and therefore the group members were sitting doing nothing for ten minutes while waiting for the other group to finish. I did not handle this well as a teacher. I think that this was partly because I was afraid that if I did not give the one group enough time to look at the passage and answer their questions, they wouldn’t get the material. I also think it was partly because I was worried that my lesson would not take up the whole class period.  However, as a teacher, I should have given the group that had finished early something to do in the meantime, perhaps read the next scene of Henry IV aloud together, or brainstorm questions that they could ask the other group. I should have also limited the amount of time the second group had to work. I felt that the transition between the word play activity and the “influences” activity did go well, however, because the two topics were related. We moved from describing elements of Hal and Falstaff’s relationship to discussing the influences between Hal and Falstaff and Hal and his father. While I did have enough time to close the lesson, I did not ask the questions I had prepared beforehand to assess student understanding. Instead, I reiterated what the homework was, and reminded them that their questions were due the next day. In retrospect, I should have asked the questions I prepared because they would have been a good indicator of how much the students learned in the lesson.

            I think that the reason I didn’t ask the questions at the end of the period stems from my lack of confidence in myself in asking the questions. I believe that my questioning techniques are most likely the weakest part of my lesson. Firstly, my voice intonation when asking questions is completely wrong and often misleading to the students. When I asked a question, my voice took on an almost apologetic tone, which could have resulted in the students deciding not to participate. I would also begin questions with the words “Do you think…” While this type of question might be good some of the time, when it is used all of the time, it makes the question very weak.  I need to be more direct with my level of questioning.  While I felt like I used sufficient wait time while teaching, when I was viewing the videotape, I only actually waited for a couple seconds before giving them the answer. This was especially apparent when we were evaluating predictions. I asked the class a question, waited 3 seconds, and then told them where they could find the answer. This not only was an insufficient amount of time to fully answer the question, but also communicated to the students that they did not need to participate- that if they chose not to answer questions, I would just give them the answer.  I feel like my strength in questioning is that I develop good and well thought out questions ahead of time, and integrate them well into my unit.  However, my weaknesses lie in my voice intonation while asking the questions, coming up with good follow-up questions, and asking leading questions. Often, I would ask a question with a specific answer in mind; therefore, when a student would say something unexpected, I would become flustered and not know how to respond. While I feel like my initial questions are good, after I received the student’s response, I often did not follow-up with a strong question that would enhance their learning.

            While I didn’t have any specific problems with classroom management, I think this was more due to the fact that the class size was so small (six students that day) than anything I did as a teacher. I would say that the overall climate of my classroom was fine, although perhaps a little boring. One issue of classroom management that I definitely should have addressed was when one student got up and left the classroom without telling me. One of the other students even noted it, asking, “Did he just get up and leave?”  What I should have done was realized he was leaving the classroom and stopped him beforehand, or at least ran out after him to see where he was going. This was a huge mistake that I realized right away, but still didn’t do anything about. I think part of the reason this occurred was because I wanted to be accepted or liked by the students. The student who left was an influential student in the classroom, if not the class leader than very close, and looking back, I think that on some level I was afraid that if I stood against him, the class would turn on me. I know that that is not the stance a teacher should take, and I need to get over this fear that the students won’t like me.  I think this fear really impacted the effectiveness of my teaching in many ways, but especially in this instance of classroom management.

            In terms of organization with classroom routines, I think I was pretty well prepared. I had all the handouts and materials ready and waiting. However, I think I definitely needed to be clearer in the area of giving directions. I knew what I needed to say, but I think my nervousness affected the way I gave directions, and this distracted the students from receiving the whole message. My directions were full of “ums” and other fillers that make it difficult to discern what I’m actually saying. I don’t think this stems from not having prepared what I was going to say, but rather from nervousness that makes me forget what I was going to say. I would also often start saying one thing, then change my mind and phrase it a different way. While this might make sense to me in my head, watching it on the videotape indicated that it made my directions very unclear and confusing. I will say, however, that my directions became more clear toward the end of the lesson, when I was explaining what they needed to do for the “influences” activity and when I was telling them what they needed to do for homework the next day. However, there still is a lot of work I need to do in the area of communication.

            Good communication is key for an effective classroom. I feel like a lot of my problems with communication have to do with my voice, as well as the level of nervousness that I’m feeling at the time. My voice throughout most of the lesson was way too soft. When compared with some of the students, it was incredible how low my voice really was. Usually when I was reading from the text or got excited about something, my voice would become stronger and louder; it was when I was asking questions, giving directions, and giving feedback that my voice lacked strength and volume. By taking control of my voice and making it louder and stronger, I will have a more demanding presence in the classroom, where students will want to pay attention and listen to me. Some of my idiosyncrasies also played a part in my inability to establish a presence in the classroom. For example, I noticed I have a tendency to bite my lip. This conveys a sense of nervousness or uncertainty, which is not good in a classroom where the students trust you to teach them. I also not only had an apologetic tone to my voice when asking questions, but I even apologized to one student when she got an answer wrong! Finally, I also had a tendency to turn my back to the class when writing on the board. Biting my lip is a habit that I will have to stop in order to communicate a sense of authority in the classroom. The apologetic intonation in my voice, as well as my voice level, is something that I will need to work on in the coming weeks and during student teaching, especially because I didn’t even know that my voice sounded like that. Finally, I can stop turning my back to the class by either trying to write sideways, or asking the students a question that they can be thinking about or answering while I am writing on the board.

            This lesson was definitely not one of the best lessons I taught.  By watching it on the videotape, I was a little discouraged, but also very enlightened, especially because many of the things I didn’t even realize I did. I think the major issue that will need to be overcome when I become a teacher is my insecurity regarding whether the students will like me or not. In my own experience, there have been teachers that I didn’t like very much, but they were extremely effective in helping me learn the material. While this does not mean that I should be a strict and angry teacher all the time, it does mean that I shouldn’t be afraid of making the students do things they necessarily will not like. I think that if I overcome this insecurity, then the rest of my issues with teaching, namely my voice level and overall communication style, will become more effective on a whole.