Kate,

Automatic jump in points aren’t always spot on. We tell teachers to use the jump-ins as starting points for their study. They give teachers a quick way to engage in their video. Teachers can always delete or add their own jump-ins. Some teachers use the jump-ins as time markers, “e.g., something happened just before this jump in that I want to look back at.”

Susan, our two-year research study begins this fall. Over time, we hope to see teachers attend more and more to students ideas and reasoning before making instructional decisions. Research on teacher noticing suggests that this is often the case.

Hi Victor,

Thanks for your questions. This project is in its development phase. We are currently working with 10 co-development teachers who provide ongoing feedback—suggestions, problems, what’s working and what isn’t. In the second part of the project, (beginning this fall), we’ll begin a research study with three schools/ nine teachers who are all teaching the same curriculum. When teachers teach the same curriculum, we believe, they will have more to share with each other.

What are the challenges? On the technical side, getting the conversion and upload process right has been challenging. On the PD side, we find that a tight time fame is needed in which all teachers plan, videotape, analyze their video, and meet within a couple weeks. Review and discussion needs to happen while the learning experience is relevant and fresh in their minds.

Regarding teachers’ conversations, early on there is a tendency to jump directly to pedagogical decisions rather than students’ ideas. This seems to shift with time, but we’ll know a lot more once we’ve done the research.

Hi Karen, The focus on students ideas and reasoning we hope would have a positive impact on underserved learners. This innovation, however, isn’t far enough along to address that question. Our current research questions are: *Does use of the VideoReView system improve teachers’ attention to and interpretation of students’ thinking, and pedagogical decisions based on students’ thinking? *Does use of the VideoReView system improve teachers’ facilitation of discussions to promote students’ learning? *Does students’ conceptual understanding improve as teachers use the VideoReView system? Thanks for asking about the research. Sue

Thanks for the clarification Susan. Can’t wait to see how this develops.

Rebecca,
Yes, I too see the connection. This is tricky as there is vulnerability in sharing video. We focus solely on students and their ideas and reasoning. The teacher has his or her back to the camera to help maintain the student focus. The challenge is how to create a safe environment for sharing and working together on hard questions. When peers share video, the playing field is level. All have the same vulnerability and are thoughtful in their comments.

I agree, it is important to create a safe space for examining practice. I guess I’m curious how those peer conversations might influence the dynamic when it comes to more evaluative supervision. One would hope it would be a positive impact, as teachers become more skillful at analyzing and discussing practice.

Joseph,
The tool could be used in any context. The one component that is specific to science is the Science Lens. Teachers use the lens to focus on identifying student ideas and how they are reasoning. The lens tags are—
*Shares an idea related to the learning goal
*Supports ideas with experience
*Makes sense of data
*Reasons with evidence or scientific principles from investigations
*Critiques and merges own and other’s ideas
*Applies an idea to a new context

These tags might work for many curriculum areas, particularly if the focus is on student discussions as ours is. The tool is designed so that other lens could be created and implemented easily.

Thanks for sharing the lens tags. The use of the term “Science Lens” is one that I can related to and implement as we work with the teachers to practice documenting their own classroom projects as students become engaged and extend in their own thinking. The term “lens” can explain that in certain situations changing lenses works to build a different view. Could be an interesting way to build teams and cohorts as well as gain community and student group outreach. Anchoring the general term is as a “lens” allows a step beyond the teacher while also setting it as the shared view of expectations. Great project that enables growth without losing its…own focus!

Glad you were able to try out your idea. We are only using video to capture students’ science discussions as we believe this is where ideas come together. Videotaping a science activity is always revealing. We were worried about capturing sound when all students are actively engaged in small groups.