One More Hurdle Cleared

I finally finished my certification video. To become permanently certified in NY, teachers must submit one 20-30 minute video showing their teaching. It must contain at least 10 minutes of direct instruction, and at least 10 minutes of non-whole-class instruction (cooperative learning, etc.). There can be no editing or breaks in the recording. And there are a host of other rules. It costs about $150 just to sign up for the video exam.

I paid my money and got my materials two months ago, borrowed a camera, set it up in the back of my classroom, and self-recorded a lesson. The tape would have been fine except for poor sound quality - you couldn't hear what I was saying during the cooperative learning activity because the children were all discussing the assignment with each other.

Due to this and that - no good reason - it took me a long time to actually watch that video, so I only found out a few weeks ago that it was unusable. Then, I was in the middle of a series of lessons that weren't particularly tape-worthy (they wouldn't provide the correct combination of types of instruction and fit neatly into 30 minutes). I didn't want to interrupt the flow of my lessons unless absolutely necessary, so I waited until last week and had my roommate come in and use her newly-minted skills as a broadcast journalist to tape a lesson. I watched it today, it's fine, and I transferred it from mini-DV to VHS just now.

Tomorrow I will have to run it to the post office and will probably pay overnight or two-day rates to make sure it arrives at the state DOE by Friday, the deadline. It's funny: I thought I had so much time when I first signed up, but I'm still going to get it in just under the wire.

Watching myself teaching is an interesting experience. I definitely look better when I am interacting with small groups, guiding them through the lab. I tend to keep my arms bent at waist-level and use a lot of gestures to add to what I am saying. I'm a big user of "gonna."

Thanks to this exam, I now have two videotapes of myself teaching. I think videos of real teachers doing real lessons could be very helpful for students in teacher ed. programs. In every real lesson, there are strengths and things that could be improved. Watching yourself teaching on tape is a way to see yourself in action, to refine your practice, as athletes and performers often do.