Reflection
In the fall of 2015, I was placed at Rocky Mountain High School to complete my first high school practicum. I was in a videography class twice a week for 14 weeks and immediately felt at home. This school reminded me of the high school I attended as a student. When it was time to start thinking about student teaching, my cooperating teacher mentioned the possibility of working with him in videography, short film, and TV production. I was flattered that my cooperating teacher saw potential in me but I was nervous to commit because I had no prior experience in video. I said “yes” and prepared for the challenge.
My first weeks in the classroom, I did the same projects that the students were working on and watched several tutorials so that I could gain a better understanding of the video editing program and help the students. It wasn’t long before I felt comfortable with the software to the point that students would ask me technical questions that I could answer or work through with them. There would be times that I didn’t know the answer to a question but I turned to my cooperating teacher or the internet to solve the problem. As the term continued, I had the opportunity to teach some fun lessons to the students in short film and videography including making a movie trailer and a documentary. TV production creates the school’s video announcements that air twice a week. Due to the fast pace of this class, students are often working or editing constantly. Fortunately, I was able to offer my input on many pieces and organize some of the shows.
My cooperating teacher has set-up a phenomenal program that has been altered throughout the years. Teaching a subject that I was unfamiliar with was challenging but I am walking away with a surplus of information. I now have a better understanding of how students learn and how students use their time when working independently. I have learned that students are very interested in the subject of videography and that they love watching examples. I have found that when students watch examples, they come up with better ideas and are willing to try and replicate what they have seen by taking risks. One of my biggest take-aways from this term is learning to use wait-time effectively. At the beginning, I was not waiting long enough for students to process the question and formulate an answer but towards the end, I let the awkward silences happen and students started answering.
Working as a student teacher can be difficult when you are in an established program. Making changes is hard but in my own classroom, there are certain things that I might change. The first is making clear guidelines for grading assignments. We did not use rubrics for this class but rather graded based on meeting the requirements and creativity. For some students, this was confusing because they were unsure about how their grade was calculated. I think this could be clarified with a checklist or rubric on some projects. Another thing I might change is the amount of time the students interact with each other. More often than not, students are alone on their computers with headphones in. I think students would benefit from more collaboration with their classmates and bouncing ideas off each other. When students are finished with their projects, we have screening days where we watch the finished videos and critique them. This term we tried a new form of critique. We used an online app called “Padlet” that allows students to type their feedback about the film and post it to a virtual bulletin board. This app was actually very successful but the down-side of it was that the students would post their feedback and then we would not talk about it. In my own classroom, I would integrate more communication among the class during the “Padlet” activity.
Throughout this process, I have learned to take risks and to not be scared to teach subjects that I am unfamiliar with. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work in a classroom like this that is seen as non-traditional in the arts. I believe that teaching this subject has given me an advantage and is something that can set me apart from other teacher candidates in this growing world of technology.
My first weeks in the classroom, I did the same projects that the students were working on and watched several tutorials so that I could gain a better understanding of the video editing program and help the students. It wasn’t long before I felt comfortable with the software to the point that students would ask me technical questions that I could answer or work through with them. There would be times that I didn’t know the answer to a question but I turned to my cooperating teacher or the internet to solve the problem. As the term continued, I had the opportunity to teach some fun lessons to the students in short film and videography including making a movie trailer and a documentary. TV production creates the school’s video announcements that air twice a week. Due to the fast pace of this class, students are often working or editing constantly. Fortunately, I was able to offer my input on many pieces and organize some of the shows.
My cooperating teacher has set-up a phenomenal program that has been altered throughout the years. Teaching a subject that I was unfamiliar with was challenging but I am walking away with a surplus of information. I now have a better understanding of how students learn and how students use their time when working independently. I have learned that students are very interested in the subject of videography and that they love watching examples. I have found that when students watch examples, they come up with better ideas and are willing to try and replicate what they have seen by taking risks. One of my biggest take-aways from this term is learning to use wait-time effectively. At the beginning, I was not waiting long enough for students to process the question and formulate an answer but towards the end, I let the awkward silences happen and students started answering.
Working as a student teacher can be difficult when you are in an established program. Making changes is hard but in my own classroom, there are certain things that I might change. The first is making clear guidelines for grading assignments. We did not use rubrics for this class but rather graded based on meeting the requirements and creativity. For some students, this was confusing because they were unsure about how their grade was calculated. I think this could be clarified with a checklist or rubric on some projects. Another thing I might change is the amount of time the students interact with each other. More often than not, students are alone on their computers with headphones in. I think students would benefit from more collaboration with their classmates and bouncing ideas off each other. When students are finished with their projects, we have screening days where we watch the finished videos and critique them. This term we tried a new form of critique. We used an online app called “Padlet” that allows students to type their feedback about the film and post it to a virtual bulletin board. This app was actually very successful but the down-side of it was that the students would post their feedback and then we would not talk about it. In my own classroom, I would integrate more communication among the class during the “Padlet” activity.
Throughout this process, I have learned to take risks and to not be scared to teach subjects that I am unfamiliar with. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work in a classroom like this that is seen as non-traditional in the arts. I believe that teaching this subject has given me an advantage and is something that can set me apart from other teacher candidates in this growing world of technology.