TPA Activity 4: Teaching Video (10 min) Reflection

How did you monitor student understanding?

More than once I asked for student understanding, asking if there were any questions as well as
asking students to reiterate the instructions given for the lesson. However, when walking around the
room it was evident that not all students grasped the numeracy element to the lesson. Therefore, I
needed to work one-on-one with those students. During this time other students veered off task and
began disrupting the class with increasing noise level and inappropriate use of phones. It is evident
from the video that whilst I was working one-on-one with particular students, I did not have control
over the rest of the class and their behaviour.

I attempted to keep an eye on the time during the lesson, giving students time updates on how many
minutes are left of the lesson, encouraging them to use their time effectively and wisely.

What strategies did you use to address the needs of the whole class and specific needs of individual
students?

Each lesson I like to hold the door open for the students as they enter and welcome them by name. I
believe that this is a nice way to enter a classroom and helps to create a social space where students
feel comfortable and valued, also helping to develop a stronger relationship with the students.

Over the past four weeks I have been working towards creating a routine where each lesson the
lesson outline and instructions are displayed step by step on the board so that students know the
expectations and lesson summary every time enter into the classroom. This helps with the students
that struggle with change or are unsettled by not knowing what is happening during a lesson.

The students that were not sure where they were up to or didn’t understand the task/instructions
were encouraged to come up and speak with me. I have a good relationship with the students now,
so coming up and confronting me about their progress is not as intimidating as it was in the first
week.

What did you learn about your planning and teaching from viewing the video?

I learnt that my introduction needs to be slowed down and broken up into more processable chunks. I
tried explaining the numeracy behind ruling up your page into a triptych design. In my head it made
sense, however, when spoken to the class it was fast and confusing. Therefore, in future, I will aid my
numeracy teaching and instruction with more visual aids (i.e. powerpoint/images/teacher
demonstration).

What worked well and what might you work on in the future?

My movement around the room was consistent and fluid, addressing each student and their progress.
At the beginning of the lesson I like to draw students’ attention to the white board where the
instructions are so that they know to refer to the board when they are not sure what they are meant
to be working on.

In future I need to slow down my introduction and break down my instructions even further, because
from the video it was evident that not all students understood my teaching at the beginning of the
lesson.