The K-2 team at Dye had been applying the architecture of a mini-lesson around reading and writing instruction with great success. Ms. Fields and Academic Coach Jonica Fisher were searching for a way to share this success with the 3-5 teachers. They decided to use their Flip Video camera to capture a brief video segment of 2^nd grade teacher Brenda Estes delivering reading instruction using the architecture of a mini-lesson. The architecture is composed of:

 

Connection-Remind students of what they’ve learned/been taught yesterday (or recently).

 

Teach-Explicitly tell them what you are going to teach them and demonstrate what they are going to do on your own work or a shared text, such as the class read-aloud.

 

Active Involvement- (sometimes called Active Engagement) Scaffold the learning by providing an opportunity for students to do what you modeled, either by themselves, or with a partner.

 

Link- Make an association to the ongoing work they’ve done and remind them how they should use or try what you taught them in their independent work.

 

This architecture of a mini-lesson can be used across subjects and grade levels.

 

Knowing that behaviors change before beliefs change, Detra and Jonica wanted to share the architecture in a way that would influence teaching behaviors in grades 3-5. Releasing teachers to observe other teachers is one form of professional development but it can be difficult to manage and generally impacts only the observer. That’s when they decided to use the pocket sized digital video camera to show rather than just tell about the architecture of a mini-lesson. Their first challenge was finding a K-2 teacher who would be willing to have their mini-lesson captured and shared with staff. Brenda Estes volunteered to have a reading mini-lesson videoed and viewed by the entire staff. Professionally produced videos used for staff development often cost hundreds of dollars and illicit reactions such as “Those students are different from our students.” A video of teaching that occurs in the classroom down the hall eliminates many variables and allows the segment to be viewed knowing that teachers are watching a colleague who has the same students they see every day.

 

During one of Dye’s weekly professional learning community meetings the entire staff viewed the 14 minute video and then discussed the elements of the architecture they observed. The previous week Detra and Jonica introduced the architecture which allowed the staff to view the video and discuss the four elements they observed. Brenda was comfortable sharing the video with her colleagues knowing that they were observing architecture of a mini-lesson and not critiquing her teaching. No retakes were needed because of careful preparation and planning between Jonica and Brenda. The students were informed about the video and encouraged to ignore the camera which they did.

 

Brenda saw the video for the first time with the entire staff of nearly thirty teachers. Detra and Jonica led the staff through a protocol to safely discuss what was observed. Brenda found the experience to be very valuable. She had an opportunity to watch herself teach and to reflect upon her practice. Teachers focused on the positives and any concerns she had about “being critiqued” quickly vanished. Her colleagues had an opportunity to view a colleague teaching the same children they teach. The following week the discussion focused on classroom management strategies needed to deliver an effective mini-lesson. Teachers were then encouraged and supported to implement the architecture. Principal Detra Fields described a noticeable shift in thinking that the video produced. “When teachers saw one of their colleagues using this strategy, they said we can do it. This wouldn’t have occurred with just the principal telling them about it. This allows us to build capacity using our own resources.”

 

What was the feedback from teachers? “It was beneficial to see not just to talk about it (the architecture). I have a greater understanding of what to do.” Teachers have reported that they have been able to reduce teacher talk and engage students more effectively after having observed the video and practiced using mini-lessons. Detra Fields, Jonica Fisher, Brenda Estes and the Dye teaching staff are already thinking about the next time they can incorporate video into their professional learning.