Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Using "Teacher Video Selfies": A Free Resource from Harvard University

I recently returned home from China where I conducted teacher training on phonics strategies and activities for English teachers. Below is my super-professional selfie that I took with the teachers on the last day of the training.


Believe me. I don't usually take selfies with the teachers I work with. But I posted this photo because of the relevance to a concept from Harvard University's Center for Education Policy Research: Teacher video selfies to analyze evidence of your teaching and your teacher performance. The resource, entitled "Teacher Video Selfie: A self-guided module for analyzing videos of your own instruction", can be accessed here. Essentially, teachers record two 10-15 minute teaching segments, and then teachers watch their videos to analyze their performance and self-direct adjustments to their instruction. While watching their videos, teachers write notes about what they notice. Then teachers analyze their notes with guidance from the module/toolkit to learn how to effectively conduct self-observations and set goals for improvement. See the link to view the step-by-step procedure.

This resource is part of a larger free toolkit published online by Harvard to assist with using video for classroom observation. The toolkit is free and outlines a variety of strategies for successful application, including information about using video observations for professional growth, considerations for teacher and student privacy, setting up schools for effective technology implementation, and piloting and large-scale implementation. Be sure to view the complete toolkit here.

How do you feel about using video to replace in-person classroom observations? Have you had any experience watching yourself teach before? Share your experiences in the comments below.

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