Ian Brangan

Self Observation

Subtitle: Cat Videos are ‘Awesome!’

The Self Observation Project Subtitle ‘Cat Videos are Awesome’.

Project Objectives: ● Demystify teaching of the curriculum

● Promote teacher sharing

● Teaching Training Bank

● Reflect on our teaching

● Alternative observation types

How do you like to teach articulation of sounds to your students?

‘reflection is a skill that is

best fostered with

colleagues’ Lana

Danielson 2009

‘the true journey to discovery

does not consist of searching

for new landscapes but in

having new eyes’ Marcel Proust.

‘because of their ability to reflect, great teachers know not only what to do, but also why’. Constantino &

De Lorenzo 2001

‘there’s nothing

happier than a pair of

spotty socks’. Jon Snow.

POSTERING

Comment on the approach to drilling here.

Self Observation:

The Nature of Observation and why teachers

dislike it…...

Chris Wilson: Schrödinger's Cat Thought

Experiment & parallels to ELT observation.

Think of the ways we can minimise the effects of

observation?

Can you see parallels with how observation affects those involved?

Filming Teaching

How many of us have filmed our classes? How did it feel?

Ideas for minimising the stress factors……..

1) Leave the camera running til you forget about it.

2) Allow the teacher as much autonomy as possible.

3) Have different foci. e.g. Focus on Teaching/Learning.

How do you think this teacher felt about self observation?

Comment on the teaching of pronunciation here. Is the concept question a good one?

Pronunciation Teaching clip 1:

Focus on Teaching.

Having observed yourself teaching, how do you feel about the activity you choose?

How did your students cope? Did they get a language upgrade?

Comment on your teaching of pronunciation here? My question

asking Young Hee to describe the teeth placement was not a good

concept question because, naturally, she doesn’t have the vocabulary

to describe the placement of the teeth and lips etc. I should have

asked a more closed concept question like ‘are the top teeth

touching the lips or the tongue when you make the /f/sound?’

Did you use phonetics symbols or elicit words with the same sounds? How did that work?

Was time devoted to drilling? (if so what type of drilling?)

Did you use a recording or you own voice as the model? If so, how did it work?

How did your students cope? Did they get a ‘language upgrade’?

Pronunciation Teaching clip 2: Focus on Learning

Having observed yourself teaching, how do you feel about the activity you choose?

Comment on your teaching of pronunciation here and of how you related it back to other parts of the language (

vocabulary, grammar etc)?

How did your students cope? Did they get a ‘language

upgrade’? Young Hee and Jin both do so well from a receptive point

of view. They both got the structure ‘has been +ing’ although /i/ in

living is a difficult sound for them. Young Hee really gets the

connected speech elements in /həzbɪn/. You can clearly see in the

clip her attempt at English rhythm as she moves her head to the

stress timing.

Did you use phonetics symbols or elicit words with the same sounds? How did that work?

Filming Teaching

Rosie Tanner in Holland advocates letting teachers choose the clips to show and

presenting them to a peer as a safe, alternative developmental observation.

Benefits include….

a. planning tends to be more thorough

b. it’s akin to action research

c. there’s empirical evidence to look at together

d. can rewatch from different points of view (c.f. templates)

e. you may be suprised by peer reaction

Was time devoted to drilling? (if so what type of drilling?) Was it effective?

Template for Self Observation of a Pronunciation Teaching clip.

How did the students react? Did they get it? Did you give them a language upgrade or did you perhaps let them away

with mispronunciation?

Did you use phonetics symbols or elicit words with the same sounds? How did that work?

Was time devoted to drilling? (if so what type of drilling?) My objective was to focus

on the pronunciation of past modals. From a receptive point of view I wanted them to

treat ‘should have’ as one item /ʃʌdəv/. I focussed on choral drilling to help them

get their tongues around the sounds. I was very happy with their enthusiasm for

drilling and trying out sounds. Interestingly, when i showed it to other teachers

some felt the style was a little like the choral drills you might expect in large arenas

in Communist China which suggests they are not advocates of choral drilling.

Question to self..was the pace too fast?

Did you use a recording or you own voice as the model? If so, how did it work?

Practical notes on filming

1) It is not easy to watch anyone else teaching for more than a few minutes.

2)You can watch and rewatch yourself if you have a reason to do so. (templates)

3)Make sure teachers film enough footage.

4)Ask them to trim clips to 2 to 3 minute segments.

5)Timetable days when equipment is available for use.

6)Provide deadlines as with other forms of observation.

7)Provide basic training in using the camera (positioning, sound etc).

8)Provide basic training in trimming & uploading clips of teaching.

Different levels of reflection

1) Treat self observation like any other form of observation.

2) Be clear that it’s a developmental observation.

3) Agree focus. I have found it useful to limit the focus so that teachers are generally exploring the

same teaching issues. Teaching Pronunciation was our latest focus.

4) Lesson plans should be written as with other forms of observation.

5) Templates for reflection with suitable criteria should be shared from the start.

6) A feedback session, possibly with a peer should be set up soon after the observation.

7) Agree action points and a timeframe for implementation should be agreed and submitted by an

agreed deadline.

8) Capturing empirical evidence of teaching allows for different levels of reflection. Merely watching

yourself leads to situational thinking but you may also decide on a plan of action points to be

implemented over time. In my case I’ve developed an interest in alternative types of drilling and

planning & saving IWB work.

Teacher Training & A Teaching Portfolio

Alpha College Bank of Teaching Clips /Teacher Induction

and for In House Development.

Teachers have all filmed themselves / Teacher

Development Sessions.

Teachers’ role in self development is more active.

Individual Training Logs.

A Teaching Portfolio with Teaching Clips.

How does Rachel’s self filming help her students to

get more involved in the project ‘Hidden Dublin’.

Final Reflection on the Process

So who else has experience of self filming classes? I’d love

to hear about your projects and share experiences or

slides. I can be contacted at ian@alphacollege.com

My film director friend Martin and The Mirror Scene

www.telegraph.co.uk › Culture › Film

Self observation can be ‘REDRUM’ as little Danny writes in

the mirror in the film The Shining 1980.

Perhaps this teacher has been spending a little to looking in the mirror of self reflection?

Over to you on the filming...it’s your move….