Nicole Loraas

494: Portfolio
22 March 2015
Video Evaluation One
1. What are my strengths?
a. I am good at helping students be successful when they are called upon by
pointing to the numbers and counting out loud with them.
b. I have a good teacher voice. I speak loudly and firmly, but still gentle.
c. I state my expectations and what I am looking for. For example when I ask
a question I state, Raise your hand.
d. I use attention getters or call backs; such as 1, 2, 3 eyes on me! 1, 2,
eyes on you!
e. I dismiss students by tables as a behavior prevention technique.
f. I use demonstrations and the lesson set up, I do, we do, you do.
g. I demonstrate the behavior I expect as a behavior prevention method by
raising my hand when I ask a question to model how I want the students
to raise their hands, instead of shouting out.
h. I attempt to get students to think critically about the problem by asking if
they observe any patterns in their problem solving.
i. I keep unwanted behaviors to a minimum during whole group instruction.
If a student begins to chat I just slip in their name while I am instructing in
order to regain their attention. Also, students have learned what my
expectations are of them.
2. In what areas do I need to improve my instructional delivery?
a. I wish to improve how I get students thinking deeply and critically about
their work by extending upon the reasoning with the how and why.
i. I need to extend on asking students if they notice any patterns in
the math equations. How they noticed the patterns? Why are there
those patterns? Also, I will explain and model why there are
patterns to the students.
b. I wish to include more positive reinforcement.
i. I notice that when I state things such as, I love the way Joey is
sitting quietly and waiting for directions! that students respond
more quickly and I capture their attention easier.
ii. Positive reinforcement often prevents unwanted behavior and
captures students attention quicker than asking students to be
quiet and pointing out unwanted behaviors.
iii. Positive reinforcement also lets students know what behaviors I
expect and when they are doing a good job. It also keeps a more
positive learning environment because there is less negative
reinforcement, better student-teacher relationships, and more
learning time because of quick transitions and attention getters.

c. I wish to improve my student engagement by adding more hands on

student learning opportunities during instruction.
i. Instead of just doing whole group instruction and then independent
learning activities/ worksheets, I hope to add learning activities
during instruction to keep students engaged.
ii. By adding learning activities during whole group instruction
students will be more engaged and will also obtain deeper
understanding and more hands on learning during instruction.
3. How will I improve my teaching effectiveness?
a. I will improve my teaching effectiveness by:
i. Asking students how they found the answer and why that is the
correct answer?
1. This strategy allows students to self-reflect on their learning
and to think critically about their problem solving. This also
helps student retain information because they grasp a better
understanding of their problem solving strategies and how
and why their strategies work.
ii. Providing more positive reinforcement.
1. I will recognize student behavior when students are following
directions, listening intently, raising their hands, and being
respectful to others and during instruction. By recognizing
positive behavior and providing reinforcement students will
understand what behavior is expected of them and continue
to perform positively because they are being recognized for
it. This positive reinforcement will also help minimize
unwanted negative behaviors because students will notice
that positive behavior is being pointed out and not negative
behaviors. Positive reinforcement is also a quick way to
capture student attention and maintain an effective learning
environment.
iii. Adding engaging activities into instructional time.
1. By adding hands on learning activities into whole group
instruction I will maintain student engagement throughout
the whole lesson. These activities will also help strengthen
student understanding and allow me to observe if students
understand the lesson material or not. I could add activities
into instruction by giving students individual whiteboard to
solve problems on and check their work while I solve the
problem aloud on the main whiteboard. I could also provide
student with base ten-blocks or counting chips to solve
problems manipulatively and check their work while I solve
on the main whiteboard.