Video Reflection 1: Body Language

Date: 8/26/2022
School: Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School
Grade: 6th
Class: Beginning Percussion
# of Students: 6
Cooperating teacher: Joel Gittle
https://youtu.be/mFF895B9k9o

I think overall I’m doing a pretty good job with my body language, but there’s definitely room for
improvement. As a new teacher, a lot of the gestures and physical movements I do aren’t conscious, so for
some things I wasn’t aware of them in the moment. But hey, that’s what these reflections are for, right?
Hand gestures are interesting to look at because I spend so much time playing on the instrument, showing
them how I’m doing it and trying to call attention to specific things. I seem to be doing some hand
gestures while I talk, which I think naturally accompanies the physical demonstrations I’m trying to get
across. I also have a bell mallet in each hand; at a few points in the video I use them to point, either at a
specific part of the instrument or at a student I’m about to address.
My facial expression is pretty neutral throughout, which in hindsight I see as both a strength and a
weakness. I don’t want to be openly fazed or lose my composure while I teach, so in some ways it’s
beneficial that I default to that kind of demeanor. However, these kids are new to these instruments, new
to band in general, and I don’t think I’m getting across the level of enthusiasm that I hope to instill in
them. As an observer, I think my external stoicism and slight rigidity implies I feel more comfortable than
I actually do internally. Even though it’s a small room, I’m really not moving very much, and my posture
looks a little closed off. It would be a good idea in the future to consciously try and break out of my shell.
On a more positive note, I think I’m doing a good job with eye contact. When students speak (assuming
it’s their turn to speak), I try to not only listen to what they have to say, but show them that I’m listening
by being visibly attentive. In the video I’m scanning around the room pretty frequently to find their eyes
as I explain things, and I think it’s working. Even when I’m writing on the whiteboard behind me, I can
see myself being aware not to keep my back to the students for too long.
In summary, the body language habits that I most want to address and fix are my posture and
general stiffness. Concerning my setup in the room, my slouch partially has to do with the height of my
bells and the entirely horizontal music stand in front of me, which I use to hold my teaching resources like
the method book. Other than that, it’s also caused by my internal lack of comfort and confidence. To fix
these things, I’ll give myself written reminders and more conscious effort into standing upright. I will also
have to rethink the way I set up equipment in the room such that their placement doesn’t incentivize me to
look down too much, while still allowing the students to see my hands when I demonstrate certain things.
As I get more comfortable with teaching, I imagine I’ll naturally loosen up over time. However, I should
still try to consciously apply these strategies in order to address these things.
Video Reflection 1: Body Language
Date: 11/2/2022
School: Lee Elementary School
Grade: 3rd
Class: General music
# of Students: 19
Cooperating teacher: Gretchen Hartsook
https://youtu.be/7C__AjOcWaA

When watching this lesson I couldn’t help but think back to the first reflection I did, back when I
was in my first two weeks or so of student teaching. Even though the students are different and I’m not
quite comfortable yet with this new age group, the difference in my posture and demeanor is, frankly,
night and day. This particular lesson that I’m teaching has to do with a basic overview of the percussion
family of instruments, having students play a simple rock beat on their bodies to challenge their
coordination, and aurally identifying those beats in popular songs. The set-up of the room is the same that
my CT uses and I’ve changed very little about her arrangement in the classroom. As such, my approach
when “taking her place” in front of the class is somewhat determined by her regular set-up and how I’ve
observed her do things. Students are lined up in three rows of chairs facing the front of the room, with an
assigned seating arrangement. I am using my her computer set-up to connect to the projector and display
my opening presentation, so frequently I am sitting down at the table in the front of the room. The
faux-drumset activity also requires tapping feet on the floor, so I have to sit down whenever I demonstrate
for the class. However, I also frequently stand and move around the front of the room, either to show off
the instruments I’ve gotten out, point to something on the screen, or write notation on the whiteboard
behind me. I feel this mixed approach of standing and sitting, combined with natural movement on my
feet when appropriate, results in an engaging presentation (especially for younger kids, who likely have
shorter attention spans than the older kids I taught prior).
I feel I’m making effective use of hand gestures while I talk, either for emphasis or clarity. I am
doing a lot with my hands during the presentation, from writing on the whiteboard to playing the rhythmic
patterns on my body, and I think my transitions between these things were fairly natural. Watching the
video, I seem to have avoided the awkward “what do I do with my hands” phenomenon, probably because
I always had something to do or hold. This isn’t super significant and I wasn’t conscious of it at the time,
but when I was holding a marker or sticks I liked how I used them naturally with my hand gestures, such
as pointing to students who had their hand raised. My posture is more upright than before, even when
sitting, and I look more relaxed than almost any other time I’ve recorded myself so far. There were
moments that I think my movement on my feet may have been distracting, but I think it was warranted
with the activities I chose and might have made it more visually interesting for the students. I also think
my facial expressions don’t come across as strongly as I think they do, which is a consistent theme in
these self-evaluations. Lastly, I don’t think I made perfectly effective use of the whiteboard; the notation I
wrote was probably too small to easily see from the back row, and sometimes I would stand in front of my
own writing without thinking. That’s something to be aware of in the future. Overall I’m coming off this
reflection much more positively than I expected.