SED 600
Video
February 20, 2007
Dean Papadakis
I had my t.a. in physics class videotape me on two separate lectures. The lecture was on
Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation and the second was on discussing homework
from a circular motion worksheet.
The strengths that I noticed about my presentation were that I . .
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Spoke slowly and clearly to my students
I used several examples to teach the concept of the day that I believe were helpful
to my students in seeing how the problem was done.
I asked several students randomly for their responses to the questions they had as
homework, which I believe helped them to keep engaged.
I used a little bit of technology with the flexible camera which projected worked
out solutions on the wall mounted t.v.
Some of the weaknesses I noticed or things that I should have done differently
include:
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Spending too much time on just one particular concept.
Using more visual props would have made the lesson more engaging.
If I had used a small video clip from a laser disc or from the computer, this would
also have made the lesson more interesting.
Having random students come up to the board seems to keep them on their toes
and to help keep them engaged.
How do I know if students are learning or not?
When doing an example problem on the board, and then having students try the
same problem, helps the student to know if they are understanding the concept,
when they compare their answer to the one on the board. Also, if I give my
students a short practice quiz with just 1 or 2 problems on it, that they have to
solve as if it were a real quiz, this first of all puts a little pressure on them and
let’s them know that this is serious. Secondly, if I collect the quiz and check it
right away while they are doing something else, I will know right away if most of
the students are “getting it”. This practice quiz is not worth any points but just
allows me to assess their understanding. I did not do this on this particular day,
because of the limited time, but it is a very good thing to try.
Of course, giving my students frequent, but small quizzes on the next day
following a lesson, is a way for me to have evidence that my students are learning
or not.
Included in the dvd, is a segment of taking my students out to the softball field and
experimenting with a solar bag. It was interesting to watch which students were engaged
and which were watching and which students were not engaged..
This has been a very useful exercise for me, watching me teach. I thought I did an okay
job but was a little disappointed in myself and so I want to do a better job, now that I
have watched myself.
Dean Papadakis