Recording Class for Feedback

I’m in my fourth year of doing problem based learning and it’s the first year that I feel comfortable with the pedagogical aspects. I’ve often videoed my class just to see if things happen the way I think they do. One of the hardest parts of teaching is to view things as they actually happen versus the way you imagine it. When I taught physics and viewed students doing a lab I would just assume they understood the point because I understood the point. We often just see what we want to see. Once we know the content we can’t “unlearn” it and put ourselves back in the student’s shoes. Recording the class and watching bits of it helps to keep me honest about what’s actually happening in class. Because let’s be honest, sometimes things happen so fast that I am often the worst at assessing if things went well.

My coworker Thom Gibson is a professional by every since of the word. He’s extremely talented at working with youngsters. He has a background in teaching 5^th grade so when it comes to inquiry of 6^th and 7^th graders he has tons of experience. He videos a lot of his classes and his bachelors in Audio Engineering comes in handy. We decided to collaborate on a video and highlight what happens in my class. So, here you go.