Video Analysis - Word Problem Cues

Planning - During the planning section of this video Tracy reflects on how her student solve word problems. She notes that many students see two numbers in the word problem and then add them together without knowing why they did that. She wants to teach her students that they need to read the problem and then explain why and how they got their answer using pictures and words. She is going to do this by having student do two problems and then reengage the students and have the students work on the problems again. She then is going to have to students work on the last two problems on their own to see if they use their critical thinking to solve the last ones. I think that this is a good strategy to do to teach these students.

Lesson - During the lesson Tracy demonstrated a lot of good teaching skills that I noticed. At the beginning of the lesson Tracy had the student sit on the carpet and review word problems from the other day. She had student's answers to the word problems. Some were correct and some were incorrect. She had a discussion with the students about what they saw and how they think they got the answer. I thought it was a good strategy to have to students talk in partners and then talk as a whole class. I also liked that Tracy never gave the answer to the question, she always had the students figure it out for themselves. She prompted them to get the right answer. Then Tracy had the students go back to their desks and get their word problems back. She first had the students talk in partners about what they did and how they got their answers. This was good because this forced students to describe why they did what they did. If they didn't know why they did it then this allowed them to try to think why they might have done that and if that was right. Tracy then gave students a pen to allow them to make corrections on their papers. She also wanted them to make corrections on questions 3 and 4, which they had not talked about in the whole class. This would show if the students are understanding how to do the word problems and can use their critical thinking skills. I liked how she walked around the room and helped students, but still never giving them a straight answer. I liked how she used demonstrations to help her teach. I thought it was a good idea to have the worksheet where they couldn't erase. 

Debrief - During the debrief the Tracy discussed what she thought went well and what she thought didn't go well. After hearing what she wished would have happened it makes sense. She wishes she could have shown more of the posters so that students could see different ways of answering things. She would have also liked more time because she ran out. The things that went well is that the students were willing to participate. This is very important in a class so that you can understand as a teacher what the students needs help with and what the student understands. The students participating made the class go very well. Tracy also explained her rationale for picking the answers for the posters. As a teacher you need to explain why you do what you do. 

Reflection - I thought this video was good to watch. It showed an example of a good teacher teaching students on how to go through the process of word problems. I liked the introduction and the debrief because you got to see what the teacher was thinking before and afterwards. I was able to see how she planned the lesson and if it ended up the way she wanted it to. This shows a good example of what I will have to do as a teacher. In the debrief she reflected upon her lesson and reflecting on lessons is very important so you know what to do in the future and where to take the lessons next.