Melissa Farias

EDSC 591

Video Analysis

Teaching Video Analysis

Mr. Ormsys eighth grade mathematics class consists of 36 students, majority male. The
class lasts 44 minutes, and the activity for the day was expected to take the entire time. On this
given day, students were instructed to work in groups of three or four, which consisted of
students of different learning levels, to complete ten graphs and ten questions. The first learning
goal was that students will graph by using the slope and y-intercept or by making a table and
plotting the points found. The second goal was that students will analyze and compare their
graphed lines by answering the questions provided. After completing these, students were
expected to begin a quickwrite about what they learned from the activity.
Students were put in groups based on ability level. Mr. Ormsy made this clear with the
comments he made while visiting groups. When visiting Brandons group, he said, Brandon, do
me a favoryou can pick either Ashley or Nickeither way, I want them to teach it to you
Brandon was put with Ashley and Nick because they are higher level than him and could assist
him with the activity. Also, he again showed this when he visited Chris group, Chris, make
sure you help Ben out hereI sense Ben is getting a little lost, and then says to Ben, this is
your chance to ask not only Chris, but also Raymondget some help from them. And one
other time when he says to Robert, Im sure [Nick] could help you. Youve got one of the
smartest kids in class right here. Ormsy suggests that he is grouping students based on ability
level, expecting them to help out the lower level students.
If he were to do this lesson again, instead of grouping students in pods, he should group
them in pairs. It seemed that these lower level students were getting lost in the bunch. This is
shown when Robert says, hes tried to explain it once, but Im not so sure. The larger groups
can be overwhelming, and students are more likely to shut down if they do not understand. They

Melissa Farias

EDSC 591

Video Analysis

can still be grouped according to ability level, putting lower kids with higher kids, but in pairs
they are more involved and can ask more questions.
While students were working on their graphs, the teacher was visiting groups and
answering questions. Only one group was graphing by using the slope and y-intercept. This was
evident when the camera zoomed in on the student work and when Ormsy was discussing
plugging in numbers with all but one group. The one group that used slope and y-intercept
understood the idea of starting with the y-intercept, but needed a reminder of how to use rise
over run to get to the next point. This is shown when the teacher says, one means I rise one and
I go across onetherethats it. You could see the students understanding after this one
example was shown to them, but still got lost when the slope was not a fraction because they
didnt see the run part of slope. In essence, all but one group understood graphing with slope
and y-intercept, because when given a choice, they chose to use a table.
If Ormsy would give this lesson again, he should give instruction that students must use
the table method on the even problems and the slope-intercept method on the odd problems.
This would give them a chance to show both skills, and would help the teacher determine any
misconceptions students may have. If the one group that was using slope-intercept was getting
confused and having to be retaught several times, I could only imagine how the other groups
would have done. It would have been a good time for Ormsy to see students using what they
have learned and really gather their progress.
Most groups were using the table method, the other learning goal. The higher level
students were doing really well with this. They knew to use multiples of the denominator of the
slope when picking their x-values, and they understood how to plot the points. Some groups
made silly errors like copying down the problem wrong or adding/subtracting incorrectly. For

Melissa Farias

EDSC 591

Video Analysis

example, when Ormsy is talking with one group as says, zero minus ten would be? and the
student replies with ten. He then has to explain that it is negative. This happened several
times with many of the groups. The one other thing that Ormsy kept having to tell them was, do
me a favorput a one next to [the graph]. Students were not labeling their lines, so it was hard
to determine which graph went with which equation. So, as far as using the table to plot the
points, the class overall met that learning goal, but some students were left behind and many
students were making mathematical errors.
If Ormsy were to do this again, I would suggest he model a problem. Students would be
less likely to make silly mistakes if he took the time to go through a problem both visually and
verbally with the class. During this time he could emphasize negatives and how they affect the
equation and the graph. This is a common mistake, and modeling could have solved this
problem of him having to repeatedly tell every group that they are adding incorrectly.
The last goal was not met, as students did not have time to do the last ten problems. The
reason they did not have time was because of having to get their graphs approved by the teacher
before moving on, and because of the mathematical errors that were made over and over again.
The groups were also too big, so students were not comparing answers and getting the job done
quickly. If Ormsy were to do this again, he should have a timer and give students set times on
set problems, ensuring that he get to the ten analysis questions and the quickwrite. He could
even give less problems, as ten was taking such a long time.
Overall, the goals that Ormsy seemed to set were not met. The activity seemed to be
going well, and students were working hard, but in the end, they were making errors and the
majority of them did not understand slope. This is critical when graphing linear equations. After
this activity, it would be a good idea to reteach, using a different approach.