In the above attachment is some feedback that my mentor has sent me. It was very encouraging to hear that I am making an impact in her classrooms. Through this feedback I am learning how much the small every day decisions in the classroom deeply affect the students’ learning. It was helpful to hear my mentor’s perspective, especially because she is looking through eyes that have seen many years of teaching. This relationship is affecting the teacher that I hope to become and pushing me to grow as an educator.
Showcase Lesson #4 Reflection:
In my high school Video Production class, the focus of this class period was the use of effects and transitions in video editing. During the lesson, I had students turn their computer monitors off and gave them a place to take notes on their handout. This worked quite well because the students then had one thing to focus on. I have had challenges in the past when students take notes on their computer because that opens up the opportunity for so many distractions. The activity time also went well through the application of Marzano, Pickering and Pollock’s (2001) strategy of “Nonlinguistic Representations”. The authors write, “Nonlinguistic representations should elaborate on knowledge” (p. 74), which is why I wanted the activity time to build on what students had learned in the lesson. The students thoroughly enjoyed exploring the different effects and transitions that Premiere Elements has to offer. I was surprised to find that no one had issues applying the effects and transitions to their projects, which seems to be proof of their focus during the lesson.
The application of Marzano, Pickering and Pollock’s (2001) strategy of “Homework and Practice” did positively affect student learning. I followed the author’s advice when they state, “The purpose of homework should be identified and articulated” (p. 63). I told the students that the purpose of this assignment is for them to contemplate what they have learned in this unit and also give me feedback on places where things might still be unclear. I think that I could have made this assignment more extensive because I had students trying to get a head start on the assignment while I was still giving instructions. Students needed to know that this was work to be done at home so that they did not try to rush through it during the end of class. In the future, I think that it would be productive to add deeper and more comprehensive questions for students to answer.
During the activity time, I checked in with each student to make sure that they were correctly utilizing the effects and transitions in Premiere Elements. Altogether, I was delighted to see that students did meet the class’ objectives and did effectively apply effects and transitions in their projects.
Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: Association For Supervision and Curriculum Development.