June Observation...

I really enjoyed watching myself teach!! I got to see myself from a different perspective.  Overall, I think that my lesson was well done--but there is always room for improvement.

Overall Impression of the Lesson:
Engaging Lesson: student read, constantly shared his opinion, found the answers to his own questions, used maps, analyzed primary source documents, and completed a creative activity at the end

Things I Did Well:
1. Constantly asked questions
2. Took advantage of teachable moments
3. Related lesson back to set throughout of the lesson
4. Taught behavior as well as academic material; i.e. "thank you" & "you're welcome"
5. Conversational tone

Suggestions for Improvement:
1. Make sure that I do not confuse Presidents!!
2. Could have gotten more out of the Venn Diagram activity comparing FRD to Eisenhower
3. I still talk too much
4. Need to pass out script and instructions for defense activity

I think that the best part of my lesson was the creative activity at the end where my student had to act as a lawyer in a blacklisting case.  In his client's defense he had to use concepts that we had previously discussed in class.  He did an excellent job and showed that he had really retained most of the material we had been teaching him!

The one thing that I will definitely work on is my pausing during the lesson as I think.  If I recall correctly, Mr. Amutah mentioned this to me before, but it was not until I watched myself on video that I noticed how awkward it is.  I tend to pause when I am thinking of how to phrase something or when I am thinking of an example.  Hopefully this month I can eradicate that habit!!