EDUC 614: FORMATIVE VIDEO ANALYSIS

Beware the Ides of March, J wake up!

The following analysis was done on a Latin II class studying the Roman calendar. Primary vocabulary revolved around the calendar days of: Nonea, Kalendae, and Idus. Correlations were drawn between the Ides of March and 9/11/01 in the United States and their significance within their respective cultures.

This was a fascinating lesson for me to watch. I am completely ignorant of how a Latin class is run even though I worked as a substitute at Boston Latin Academy many years ago. I dont know how a Latin class operates even though I have friends that teach it. This was an ideal opportunity for me as a learner and a teacher.

DESCRIPTION
Classroom setting The classroom setting is a high school Latin II class. The class is dark and appears to be in a basement with few windows. The environment is perfect for sleeping. One student, Jason, is repeatedly told to wake up and participate, but I really couldnt blame him. The lighting and environment made me drowsy and the lesson was less than sparkling. Student demographics The demographics of the classroom are somewhat multicultural. The classroom of about 20 is mostly Caucasian with mostly girls (13 girls, 6 boys). There are two African-American girls who appear not engaged (but working) and what appears to be one Indian boy. There is a girl doing the videotaping who seems to become bored about 14 minutes in when her classmates are working and starts to play games with the camera, and visit and tease her friends; Kevin and Tory. Lesson content http://roma.andreapollett.com/S7/roma-cal.htm (information on the vocabulary used in this lesson) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_IPqniaZR0&feature=related (Rome after the fall of Caesar? A fabulous way to conclude the lesson? Maybe a way to introduce the next lesson component?) The Virginia Standards of Learning that seem to be addressed here are: LII.2, LII.3, and LII.4, LII.5. (Appendix) Standard 2 states, The student will continue to use Latin orally and listen to and write Latin as part of the language-learning process. Standard 3 states, The student will develop an awareness of perspectives, practices, and products of Roman culture. Standard 4 states, The student will use information acquired in the study of Latin and information acquired in other subject areas to reinforce one another. Standard 5 states, The student will demonstrate understanding of cultural similarities and differences between the Roman world and the United States. More specifically, this lesson addresses LII.5 (1) 1. Compare and contrast traditions and customs of ancient Rome and the United States, such as those related to marriage, funerals, leisure activities, games, entertainment, and meals.

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Positives
Hook at the beginning of the lesson/relatable Dyads Explains that all cultures have dates that are relevant and paradigm shifting. Gives mneumonic for remembering 4 exceptions to the calendar rule. Group activity Technology

Negatives
Association of lesson to real life ended there. Very little for early finishers to do and those who were struggling were very teacher reliant. Nowhere for them to find answer to questions besides the teacher. Does not show relevance to any other non-JudeoChristian-Roman cultures. Class has no way to use this mneumonic in context. No way to remember it. Teacher models how she uses it. 10 minutes of direct instruction before the class has anything to do. Could have avoided that with a flipped classroom model or using this site: http://roma.andreapollett.com/S7/roma-cal.htm Uses too much time with cluttered slides which she spends time reading. Could have found a more productive way to present background information. Bulleted list of necessary terms/vocabulary that could have been built on a flipped classroom model where the kids watched a PowerPoint or video, or visited the above site. Should have had a listing to distribute to groups with the: vocabulary for their notes (including the meanings), a small exemplar calendar, and a list of exemptions. She had to keep stopping the class from working in order to explain another thing and then the instructions again. See suggestions.

Three part calendar group lesson marking: Nones, Kalendae, and Ides (1, 5, and 13th days of the month); then marking exceptions; then pointing out how to count inclusively. Lots of standard-based material.

ANALYSIS
This lesson was rich in content, and potentially interesting. The teacher started off well with a hook that was meaningful and relevant to the learners lives. All cultures have watershed events that are fundamentally life-changing. She led the students through a discussion of September 11th and the murder of Julius Caesar and then unsuccessfully ties that into a discussion of the Roman calendar. There are six main recommendations I would make about this lesson: It is clear that the teacher is interested in teaching the class about Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products (Standard LII.3). If this is going to be an ongoing objective for the class then I would recommend starting a CULTURE NOTEBOOK at the beginning of the year. The class has background knowledge on Roman culture from Latin I. Therefore, she can use these journals to solicit a creative endeavor where each class decorates the outside of their composition book based on their likes and dislikes vis a vis what they know about Roman culture. This book is added too throughout the year, or across many years, with necessary vocabulary and notes leading up to preparation for the AP Latin exam. Suffice it to say, that if a learner is taking Latin II they may just be taking that exam and why not prepare them along the way? Switch lessons like this to a flipped classroom model. She could have used most of her classroom time working in dyads and doing peer tutoring. Instead, she spent most of her class time lecturing and then having to stop and restart with instructions and guidance. Some of the students were fine and others were lost. She had lost most of the class by 14 minutes into a 28 minute lesson and the objectives were lost in the muddle. If the students had been able to view the necessary background information outside of class they could have made notes in their culture notebook, done some of their own research online and come to her with questions. As it was she was trying to explain mneumonics that were helpful to her and bore little relevance to the class as she yelled out exceptions and repeated instructions. These are obviously learners who are probably higher-education bound. Why not give them some tools? Teach note-taking in the CULTURE NOTEBOOK using Q-notes, or Cornell notes. (Appendix) She can then have the students use these notes to discuss what they know and dont know. If she still wishes to lecture in class then she could also try these and other methods in class. Ask the students which they would like to try that day. Encourage them in their metacognitive skills since they need to be more responsible for their own learning. Encourage them to come up with their own system. I was never taught this in high school; what a shame that she isnt modeling college-friendly skills!

She should make the homework meaningful. The AP Latin exam requires that students have a working knowledge of translation. http://advancesinap.collegeboard.org/world-languages/latin Perhaps the Latin Department or Foreign Language Department could make a policy regarding vocabulary and how to learn it. If it is cross-language then these students could utilize those skills no matter what language they take then next year. Make the lesson relevant to the students and their culture. Have them figure out when prom is using the ancient calendars from three different cultures; for example. Or, have them calculate their age or birthday, or their boyfriends birthday. Have them write a paragraph about something they care about using their new knowledge about Roman dates. Have them construct a Venn Diagram comparing present day and Roman calendars. She must have a review and conclusion at the end of the lesson. Tine got away from her and she had no means to check for understanding and solidify the new knowledge or check to see if it related to any background knowledge.