Video+Critique

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** Instructional Video Critique ** ** Strategies to Improve Transitions and Time Management (Grade 6-8) **

It was extremely evident that the teacher from the video, Wendy Hoff, was a veteran teacher. She composed herself with confidence and ease while teaching, which let her students know that she was comfortable with her role as the teacher, as well as with the subject matter that she was teaching them. The video highlighted on how she decided to focus on using transitions more effectively in her classroom, where she wanted herself and her students to become more aware of how much time it should take to complete any given activities. With the proper guidance and opportunity, she soon began to see great promise in her students’ abilities to manage time and take more ownership of their learning.

I was impressed with Wendy’s approach to teaching children classroom rules and expectations. One of her many strengths was that she provided the proper explanations, expectations, scaffolding, and opportunities to practice for her students to succeed. She felt that once her students knew the rules and routines of her classroom, they were at ease with her and with the way that things were each day. She set the rules early on and her students soon understood those guidelines and knew how to follow them. Wendy made it very clear that students need to receive thorough explanations on expectations, as well as time to practice and apply their new knowledge. She used a timer as a way to keep students focused on a given task, so that students knew that they had a certain time limit to complete their jobs and when it went off their time was up. This caused her students to truly become aware of their responsibilities each day and take more ownership of their learning.

I was also impressed with Wendy’s thought process on how students should learn. She discussed the importance of providing the necessary amount of support to her students, but she also discussed how students also need to be “front-loaded” a bit- they needed to struggle a little and problem solve throughout the learning process. To Wendy, learning isn’t beneficial if the learner is always being spoon-fed new things. She believes that her students will never truly apply themselves and begin to take the initiative to think critically on their own if they are not challenged a bit.

Wendy Hoff discussed the importance of setting strong expectations and taking the time to fully explain these expectations to students. I feel that she did not display any weaknesses as an educator because she displayed strong classroom management skills throughout the video. Her transitions were seamless because she presented clear expectations and her students respected her, which showed that she had taken the time to get to know them as people and learners. Her instruction contained all necessary lesson pieces and was delivered flawlessly. She provided necessary feedback and interacted with her students easily throughout her lessons. She also displayed professional qualities like using appropriate voice tone, speed, and enthusiasm. I was extremely impressed by Wendy’s ability to reflect, which is one of the most important qualities in being an effective educator.

In conclusion, veteran teacher Wendy Hoff displayed many positive qualities that allowed her students to grow as learners. She focused on using transitions more effectively in her classroom, where she wanted herself and her students to become more aware of how much time activities should take, so that they could manage time more efficiently and take more ownership of their learning. She attributed this to respecting her students and realizing that there needs to be a stronger balance of “give and take” each day. She set her sights on focusing more on the student activity of the day and being okay with allowing students to display more flexibility. In the end, she realized that success in the classroom revolved around communication- she needed to explain where they were going as a class and how they were going to get there. With students understanding and seeing the big picture, a knowledge of the curriculum was evident and understood by all. She emphasized the importance of respecting one another, which was evident throughout the educational video. She explained that no matter what grade you teach, it is critical to develop a strong sense of respect and communication with your students. I will certainly take her sense of respect for her students and her ability to communicate and set clear expectations into account each day in my kindergarten classroom. In saying this, I realize the necessity to allow a great deal of time at the beginning and even throughout the school year, so that I can properly establish my expectations. Overall, I will remember the prominent role respect and reflection plays in order to learn each day in the classroom.