Use video technology to see patterns in students’ learning you couldn’t see before:
“You learn a lot about your teaching. But I also think the payoff is for the kids, too. I feel like you can actually help those kids that you maybe would have missed or that fall through the cracks. I think that's important, too. Because that's why we do our jobs, is for the kids.”
“There are students that I, maybe wouldn't have noticed that they weren't understanding by being quiet. Maybe I just would have continued on and not noticed that. And now I feel like watching the videos I'm aware of those quiet students. And they're always in the back of my mind through each lesson to make sure that they're with me.”
“That whole idea of being able to rewind a conversation and listen for different things at different times is amazing. Because as a teacher, when a conversation is going on—say you have a 15-minute time slot. You have 20 children. You want to help them make meaning. You have so many other things in your head, like, are they behaving? And how many people are participating, and am I wrapping this up in time to start math next. There’s so many things going on in your head, that even though one of them is trying to listen for what children understand, it can be hard to really dice out deep understanding from words that sound like they’ve kind of got it.“
“Before I was asking myself ‘Do they have the right idea?’ Now I ask, ‘Why are they thinking that?’”
(Meeting with Colleagues) “To bring that case to [colleagues] and say, here’s where I’m uncertain of what the understanding is. Or, oh my, they seem to have this misunderstanding. What should we do about it? Really keeps the focus on not just getting through the curriculum, but here’s where the student understanding is, what’s my next step based on what their understanding is?”
“Something about looking [again and again at] video for depth of thinking made me better able in the moment to listen for it as well. I felt like I was growing as a listener to children right in the moment for depth of understanding because I had so much more practice with it in a less rushed setting. So I feel like it's skill building.”
(Meeting with Colleagues) “I think it's been really nice to have other voices talking about my students. You know, it's everyone's best thinking working on your kids’ learning, and that's kind of nice.“
(Using the Science Lens Tags) “I had so much more easily visible data available to me about what children were actually doing-- what tasks they were actually performing mentally. Whether they were backing up [their ideas] with evidence or with experience was a really big one for me. An aha, because most of them, even when I did have them put their notebooks in their lap and talk to them about evidence, were most frequently referring back to their experience. So that showed me a place where I could help them understand better the role of evidence in their thinking.“
“I plan [science discussions] more—almost the way I looked at that [VideoReView planning] sheet. Thinking about the objective and what kids will think beforehand. And how I can help undo those misconceptions. So I feel I think more about the objective first. And then what they're going to think. And then also trying to pose more questions to see what they do think before I actually dive into that content. Because sometimes they know already what I want to teach them. And sometimes they are really, really off base. It's helped me to think more about that side of it. Whereas before, it was like, OK, we're going to start and just get through the lesson. So I feel like now, I think more about, OK. What will they know?”
“A big way that [the VideoReView program] changed my planning was it was easier for me to think about coming back to those ideas that I thought we struggled with a little bit. Whereas before—like in good teaching we know we need to come back to those ideas. But in my mind, I always thought it had to be another lesson on the topic, and oh no, I have to come up with like another experiment to get them to understand.”
“When we're teaching and being in the moment, there's no time to really stop, and really, genuinely think about what students are saying. Because I feel like we're constantly looking at the clock. I feel videotaping them has given me time to think about their responses. And how to effectively respond to what they're saying. And to help them better understand what we're doing, or even challenge them. And also, to notice children that aren't engaged, and how to meet their needs.”
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