Video Reflection

Video Reflection Two

Theresa King
November 14, 2014
EDUC 540
Drexel University

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This reflection was based on a lesson that I created and completed regarding Shermans
March to Sea. This was an add-on lesson for the students. I had given a lecture earlier in the
week on the major battles fought in the Civil War and briefly mentioned this event. I thought I
would emphasize the total war concept for the students since this took place so close to where
we currently are. In this lesson, I wanted to try out the concept of using a jigsaw teaching
technique that I learned so much about. This is one goal of mine to implement in my own
classroom, along with many others. I also wanted to make sure that I used all the feedback that I
received this far in my student teaching experience. Then lastly, I wanted to measure myself
again based on Danielsons Framework domains of planning and preparation, classroom
environment, instructional delivery, and professional responsibility.
I had numerous goals that I wanted to complete during this lesson. One goal was to
practice a jigsaw technique. One teacher that I observed often was an AP teacher. He offered
me great advice on his teaching style, which was to have the students teach themselves. The
students seemed to enjoy this and it was effective. Throughout my courses, I learned that this
was a technique called a Jigsaw method. This technique was mentioned often and I wanted to
practice it. Since my lesson focused on this technique, I was able to accomplish this goal of
mine. Another goal I had was to somehow relate this historical event to the students lives today.
Again, throughout not only this course, but other courses, Ive learned another technique to
engage the students was to incorporate how the lesson plays into their lives. This goal, I was
able to accomplish also. The subject, on it being relatable to the students due to the location was
an easy way to accomplish this, and I asked a discussion question on how Shermans March to
Sea has an effect on their lives today. Another goal I had, was to incorporate as many learning
styles that I can. This is another goal I accomplished. In my lesson, I covered spatial (visual)

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learning, linguistic (verbal) learning, auditory (music, sound) learning, logical (reasoning)
learning, interpersonal (group) learning, and intrapersonal (individual) learning. I accomplished
this goal with the videos, primary documents, group work, discussion questions, and individual
paragraph writing.
My cooperating teacher and university supervisor both have provided me with quite a lot
of feedback regarding to how I am conducting my lessons. One that was mentioned early on in
my student teaching experience, was that I need to have enough material to complete bell to bell
instruction. This has been an ongoing focus for me throughout my time in the classroom. When
I was creating my lesson, I kept this in mind by adding in the paragraph writing for the students
to complete during either in class or for homework. I also received feedback from my
cooperating teacher that I need to make the material a little bit more rigorous for the students. I
had created a review game from another lesson where the questions asked were not as difficult as
the test questions were. Because of this feedback, I wanted to make sure that the primary
documents used and the questions I asked would encourage higher order thinking for the
students. I also had this in mind while creating my lesson and choosing which documents to use.
Another form of feedback I received from my university supervisor, was to word my objectives
as being something more measureable. From prior lessons, I wrote the objective as the students
having an understanding of the material. It was explained to me though, that there is not a way
for that understanding to be measured. This was something that I took into account when I was
writing my objectives for this lesson.
Danielsons Framework includes four different domains which includes numerous
components depending on the domain. My goal in my last videotaped lesson was to at least
reach the developing aspect of each component; this time though, I would like to progress

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beyond that and at least consider myself in the proficient in each component. Planning and
preparation is the first domain in Danielsons Framework. I wanted to make sure that I showed
knowledge of the content used, the instruction was planned based off of my knowledge of the
students, the lesson was challenging and met the students needs, that I used the resources
properly, the lesson was clear and sequenced properly, and that the assessment was designed
well and that it met the needs of my objectives. Regarding this domain, I would consider myself
distinguished. I knew that the students worked well in a group setting, so I wanted to plan a
lesson with this component in it. I also expected that the students would be confused on the
grouping/pairings, so I tried to make it as easy as possible by grouping them according to their
desk position. I also provided students with questions to answer from their perspective, all
aimed to help them gain their expertise and to encourage higher order thinking. Those questions
helped meet the needs of all learners, helped initiate student led instruction, and provided me
with an assessment tool. The second domain revolves around the classroom environment. The
components of this domain involve creating an environment of respect, encourage and expect
student learning, ensure classroom procedures are still being kept, manage students behavior,
and ensure the physical space remains appropriate for learning. I again would consider myself
distinguished in this domain. I achieved this aspect by continuously walking around the
classroom to make sure that the students interaction remains positive, respectful, and conducive
to learning for everyone. By walking around, I was also able to manage poor behavior in a more
subtle manner. I also took advantage of the classroom organization. I grouped the students by
columns to learn their perspectives and the used the rows that they were in to determine who
they were going to teach their perspectives to. The third domain of Danielsons Framework is on
instructional delivery. In this domain, I was to focus on clearly communicating the expectations

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of the lesson, encourage discussion, ensure the students were engaged, assess the students
throughout the lesson, and show flexibility when things do not work. I again would consider
myself distinguished in this lesson. I explained what was expected for the students to do in this
lesson, to become experts and teach their perspective to their peers. I also offered a class
discussion after everyone learned each others perspectives on Shermans March to Sea. During
the class discussion, I used the Think, Pair, Share technique to help further student engagement.
I also used the class discussion and paragraph writing to further assess students understanding of
the lesson being taught. I especially showed that I was distinguished in the demonstrating
flexibility and responsiveness domain, I think I changed minor things in every class to improve
on the lesson. With the first class I discovered that I needed to give the slaves perspective to the
high level students because the dialect was somewhat difficult to understand, in second period I
discovered that I should assign locations in the class for the students to teach each other, then
finally in third period, I discovered that it was best to have all the students move to the seats
closest to the front of the room at the beginning of class. The last domain in of Danielsons
Framework involves my professional responsibilities. Out of the components that I can practice
with the lesson, I was also distinguished in this aspect. I continuously reflected on what things
worked and what did not work throughout each class period. I also graded the paragraphs that
were completed in class and logged them into my schools grading website.
In conclusion, this lesson was a good lesson. I discovered that the students were not well
practiced in this teaching method, the Jigsaw method, at least not for a whole lesson. Because of
this, I had to closely monitor the students so that they remained on task. But even with the
closely monitoring, I was able to accomplish my personal teaching goals, apply the feedback that

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I have been given, and finally accurately measure myself in accordance with Danielsons
Framework.

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Danielson, C. (2014). The framework for teaching evaluation instrument (2013 ed.).
Www.danielsongroup.org.