Videotape Analysis and Reflection Statement

Name: _____Laura Schuley_______________

Date of Video(s): ________11-11-14______
Brief lesson description: ___warm-ups and literacy________
Address the following items in detailed statements. Use examples and illustrations from the video.
Planning:
1. What were the goals/objectives for this lesson as stated in your plan?
My goals for this lesson were to have the students sing all warm-ups with great breath support and tone
quality. I also wanted the students to be able to echo translate patterns with minimal errors and focus
more on thinking before singing.
2. Describe the overall degree to which you accomplished your goals.
I thought overall that the students did extremely well. I had to make several reminders of using good tone
quality and always focusing on breath support, but when they were reminded, the sound was much
better and the students could tell. I think that a good majority of the choir remembered to use good tone
and breath, but they never all remembered at one time. The students also did much better at echo
translating the patterns than in previous weeks. I was happy with how the lesson went.
3. What additional standards were addressed in this lesson that meet the ELL, Reading, or
Exceptionality standards studied this semester? How are these standards manifested in your plan?
I made sure to have two different ways to explain each exercise so that the students could follow my
instructions, or follow my model. I think this helped because there are a lot of sensory learners in this
choir. Several students do not understand what I want from them until I model it. This is not only
beneficial for the students with a learning disability, but for the entire class.
Execution of the Plan:
1. What are some of your personal idiosyncrasies? How can you address them as you grow as a
teacher?
In a middle school setting, I am much more reserved with my personality and definitely have more
insecurity. I tend to over talk and over explain what I want from the students, but really do not say
anything important in that time. I think I need to take more time, breathe and make sure that all of the
students know what I am asking of them before beginning the warm up.
2. What did you do/not do to set the tone for learning? Would you do anything differently? If so,
what?
I had a short conversation with the students prior to starting our lesson. I then went on to have them
stand up and stretch out the days worries and get focused for singing. I think this helped because these
students are very chatty, so getting them moving and all their giggles out helped when I was asking them
to listen and repeat.

3. Focus on your questioning. What did you notice in terms of the quality of your questioning?
Frequency? Levels? Response/feedback to students? Cite examples.
For this setting, I thought my questioning was at a high level. I was stopping and asking specific questions
like What was that pattern we just sang A: a triad. I had several examples of me modeling, and then
asked the students what I did differently and which was better for a choral singer. I think having the
students think and answer these questions helped them relate to the information better, and also helped
them apply it to their own singing.
4. How well did you engage ALL learners in this lesson? Would you change anything about the
participation? If so, what would you do differently?
At the time, I did not notice that I did not have all singers engaged at all times. This is a bad mistake that I
need to fix and FAST! Sharon observed that at some points, a few certain singers were not singing. I think
this is because the majority of the class knew the exercise, but just a couple did not know what we were
doing. I did not scan the whole room and see that these few students did not know the exercise. Other
than this specific exercise, I had the students moving with the exercises as well as doing hand signs to
engage something other than their voices.
5. Discuss the incorporation of the new standards in your instruction.
I incorporated the singing standard and the listening standard into this lesson. The students were singing
every exercise and focusing on good tone and breath support. The students listened to my examples and
echo or echo translated them back to me. Both incorporations of the standards went well.
6. What are your greatest strengths in the delivery of this lesson?
I have a great demeanor with the students which I think helps me relax and present the material more at
ease. I also had a good vocal model for all exercises presented in this lesson. My ear for detection error
was also a great asset in this lesson. I was able to tell when the students did not get the correct solfeg
patterns, and made sure that I went back and did the pattern again so that they could be successful and
correct.
7. What areas in this lesson need attention and improvement?
During some of the solfeg exercises, I went way too fast for the students to be able to sing them correctly.
I realized this error, but I just could not slow myself down! I also realized that I am not warming the
students up high enough due to my own insecurities with my higher range. I think that if I use the piano
next time, I will be able to take them higher without having to use my voice to help them.
8. On a scale of 1 (weakest) to 10 (strongest), rate your overall effectiveness as a teacher in this
experience. Defend your rating with examples.
For this lesson, I felt that I was at an 8.5 for effectiveness. I definitely could have been more confident and
held them to a higher standard of singing. The students were also not completely engaged 100 percent of
the time. I think that I could have done a better job of keeping the class together, overall making it a
better learning environment.
9. For Videos 2, 3, and 4: Discuss your growth over time in the areas listed above.

In a middle school choral setting, I believe that I have grown exponentially. In my first middle school
placement, I was very shy, never wanted to teach, and was timid in front of the class. I never gave
feedback and dreaded having to go to my placement. Now I feel much more comfortable in detecting
errors and making the students do it again if it was not to my satisfaction. I feel that I am much better
equipped to teach in this setting now. I have a much better questioning sequence and really focus on
having the students understand why we are doing the exercises. Overall, I feel more confident, but still
need more work to be ready to teach at this level.