Running Head: SUMMATIVE VIDEO ANALYSIS 1

Summative Video Analysis

Madeline Albrittain

EDUC 614

George Mason University

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A) Lesson Context

The lesson was carried out in an independent, Catholic high school located in

Washington DC. The total school population is approximately 960 students, all boys. Eighty

percent of the student-body is Catholic. In terms of diversity, our school is predominantly

Caucasian at 77%, 10% African-American and just over 6% Asian. The school culture is one of

that focuses on high academic performance as well as competitive athletic programs. It is also

important to note that our school is 1:1 BYOD and each student brings their own computer or

tablet from home.

This lesson was conducted in a Spanish 2 level class, a class that particularly form and

grammar based; however, students also develop conversation and communication skills in the

target language. In this seventh period class, there are 22 total students, of which one student has

Hispanic descent but is not a native speaker. In terms of diversity, three students are African

American, one student is British and two students are of Asian descent. The remainder of the

class is Caucasian, all of which are in the sophomore class. One of the students is a transfer

student and has had a difficult time adjusting. One student in the class has a documented learning

difference ADHD and qualifies for extended time. In addition, at our school we do not identify

students as gifted; however, in this class there are one or two students that are gifted in language

learning. Four students in the class were in Spanish 1 Honors, but were not recommended for

Spanish 2 Honors. That said, they are far more advanced than the rest of the class. Many of the

students in the class struggle with language learning and three regularly attend extra help

sessions after school.

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The teacher desk is at the front of the classroom and the projector faces the front of the

classroom as well. Desks are arranged in five rows; however, desks are rearranged throughout

the forty minute class periods for partner and group work. There are also two standing desks at

the back of the classroom for students to use. Students usually must ask before using them but all

are invited to use them. There are usually a few students that use them weekly.

My instructional approach in this class is very form-based, as you will note when

watching the video. The curriculum requires that Spanish 2 “covers” sixteen different tenses and

thus, the class moves at a very brisk and often rushed pace. I always offer tutoring before school

and after school for students who are struggling. I usually introduce the topic followed by guided

practice. The introduction to the topic is almost always in English and given via direct

instruction. My general instructional approach is “I Do- We Do- You Do.” The last piece of any

topic covered is generally a creative, formative assessment of some kind. I try to incorporate

technology as often as I can in these formative assessments. In addition, a formal assessment is

given weekly.

B) Lesson / Unit Plan Template

Madeline Albrittain Gonzaga College High School

Grade(s)10 Spanish 2
Date: Thu, Oct 25 , 2018 Number of Students 22 Time/Period 7, 40 mins

THEME / TOPIC OF LESSON / UNIT: ​Preterite vs. Imperfect, Medical Vocabulary

As a result of this lesson/unit, students will be able to:
1. ​Identify when to conjugate in the preterite and imperfect tense
2. Explain the rationale behind which conjugation a verb receives
3. Ask and answer questions regarding medical attention and/or medical advice

Alignment with National Standards:

- Communication
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- Connections

Assessment of Learning:
Pre-teaching Assessment: The day before, students completed an exit slip demonstrating
understanding of the difference between preterite vs. imperfect and continuous/interrupting
actions.

Ongoing/Formative Assessment: Informal questioning while reviewing classwork.

Post-Lesson Assessment: ​In pairs, students will create their own continuous/interrupting actions
using medical vocabulary.

Materials/Technology Needed:
- Warm up sheet with continuous/interrupting actions
- Google Slides with objectives
- Participation Ball “Pelota”

Three Communication Modes Employed:

Interpersonal Activities: Students will be able to converse in the target language in pairs to
discuss medical problems and solutions.

Presentational Activities: Students will be able to converse in the target language in pairs to
discuss medical problems and solutions.

Daily Lesson Plan:

Prayer
Overview of Week: Announcements, Homework, Schedule
Activity One: Warm-up (Superheroes interrupting daily life)
Activity Two: Review HW while passing the ball
Activity Three: Situaciones (Doctor/Patient Skits, in pairs)

Preview for next lesson: We will continue to work on preterite/imperfect, beginning to focus
more on producing unique sentence structures and create a story using medical vocabulary.

Other Activities or Lesson Details

Accommodations made for varied learning needs: While student are working and speaking in
groups, I am constantly circulating, checking in with certain students and groups. Visual cues for
preterite vs. imperfect. 1:1 individual time while reviewing HW.
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Assessment: Students will hand in the half-sheet warm-ups so I can check for understanding. To
assess vocabulary, I will assess the dialogues on use of vocabulary and logical. In prior classes,
we have worked on pronunciation, I will also assess their ability to pronounce vocabulary words.

Homework: ​The homework is two brief VHL (online workbook) activities to reinforce the use of
clue words to identify preterite/imperfect. Students have 3 attempts on each activity, further
accommodating students who are struggling with the concept.

C.​​ ​Video uploaded to Kaltura. ​Video Analysis Chart​, also attached as file.

D. Narrative Analysis

To begin, I will start with the strengths of the lesson one of which was my interactions

with the students. One of the reasons I individually grade homework in class is to meet with each

student for even a brief moment. It allows me to gauge their understanding and gives students the

opportunity to ask questions that they do not feel comfortable asking aloud. This is one was that I

differentiate my classroom, specifically the learning environment (Reese, p. 42). During the time

that I was checking homework, students were turning to one another for confirmation or to ask a

brief question. It appeared that all students were on task and interacting positively with one

another. When Student J asked if he could say “estaba durmiendo” instead of “dormía,” he

received two fist bumps from his friends in recognition.

Another strength of this lesson was adapting to individual differences in the lesson.

Incorporating the preterite song and the hand motions for kinesthetic learners. This is one of the

ways I differentiate the process of learning the content (Reese, p. 42). In the video, I was able to

visibly see students doing the hand motions for preterite and imperfect. Some students didn’t

participate but those who did, it was clearly helping. Virginia also commented on this in the

critical friend feedback. According to Jensen (2005), there is a strong connection between
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cognitive processes in the brain and movement (p. 62). This stimulating activities have

“documented significant gains in attention and reading” (Jensen, 2005, p. 62). I also incorporate

and reference the preterite song whenever I can to reference prior content. As Lemke and

Coughlin (2009) mention, “tapping into prior knowledge is a highly effective teaching strategy”

(p. 54). As you see in the video, students are whistling the song and I whenever I sing a lyric

students remember and often say, “oh yea, I forgot.” Constantly referencing the song and

something so familiar helps guide students through one of the most challenging tenses, preterite

versus imperfect. I also use hand motions as way to formatively assess student because if

students are able to show me the interrupting action, it shows me they are understand which

tense belongs where.

Next, I will discuss areas for improvement for my Spanish 2 level instruction, particularly

the use of technology and use of the target language. To begin, this particular period of

instruction had an extremely poor use of technology as it was not used to enhance instruction. At

the beginning of class, I pulled up the homework and announcements on the projector. Overall,

the lesson lacked an emphasis on student-centered technology. However, there were various

opportunities to use technology to enhance and improve student learning which I will discuss

later on.

Technology offers a more participatory and interactive ways for students to engage in the

curriculum (Lemke and Coughlin, 2009, p. 54). When lessons are implemented using

technology, learners are able to attend to the growing emphasis on the 21st century learner. In

this particular lesson, there were many ways in which I could have adapted the lesson to use

technology in a more meaningful way. This could have been accomplished with more thoughtful
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planning. For example, including participatory learning where students are asked to collaborate

using technology or use technology to engage in an authentic exploration of the content (Lemke

and Coughlin, 2009, p. 56). One way in which I could have adapted the lesson in content is if I

had the students create visual examples in English using the preterite versus imperfect. I could

have modeled this activity and then students could have explored different ways to represent the

preterite and imperfect, creating their own example sentences. As Richardson (2013) notes,

putting learning first “suggests a transfer of power over learning from teacher to student -- it

implies that students discover the curriculum rather than have it delivered to them” (p. 12). In my

lesson, the curriculum was very much delivered to the student and the learning was

teacher-centered. Although students were indeed participating in the class, the teacher was

directing and re-directing the attention of the class. During some instruction, I use nearpod.com

to make the direct instruction more engaging. This class period could have been an opportunity

to implore this more interactive teaching tool.

Although the students were engaged in the content, asking and answering questions, the

material discussed was not in an authentic environment. The examples chosen by me were rigid

and lacked meaning. Granted, this is day two of the introducing the material and it is more

challenging for students to make meaning out of a new concept. That said, I think there were

plenty of opportunity to create meaning and engage in authentic materials. Richardson (2013)

emphasizes learning in real-world contexts as a transformational change that can take place in

the classroom (p. 12). Doctor/patient dialogues would have been a neat opportunity for students

to explore, using technology, the differences in health care or indigenous healing rituals in

Spanish speaking countries. I could have also used technology by having students film this skits
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instead of presenting them in class. However, I took a more rigid approach, having students

create mini doctor/patient skits to be presented. Similarly, the use of the target language was also

something that I need to improve upon. In this class in particular, it is very challenging to

maintain conversation in the target language. As I mentioned on my video analysis chart, the

instructions weren’t clear on the warm-up because I gave “Part 2” of the directions in Spanish

and students finished the first part very quickly. If I had a more advanced student repeat back the

instructions in English, I would still be challenging that student and maintain the target language.

Overall, the instruction was successful and students demonstrated to me that they understood the

different uses of preterite and imperfect. However, the lack of the target language will eventually

impact student comprehension in the target language and have effects long term in their language

learning.

One student did particularly well in this lesson, Student J. He seemed to be particularly

engaged and thinking critically about the material, as seen in his question about combining the

use of imperfect and progressive tense to “estaba durmiendo.” This is a very complex structure to

be thinking about and he received kudos from his classmates as well. I also think Student J

responded well to the kinesthetic component throughout the lesson. I can be sure to include more

interactive pieces in the lesson. Like my critical friend mentioned, I should also include more

movement, having students come to the board more and encourage students, other than myself,

to write examples on the board.

One student, Student Q seemed to struggle in this lesson and I do not think I scaffolded

instruction enough to fit the needs of this learner. For example, when I asked him a question, it
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was unclear what I was looking for and he asked for clarification. I could have spent more time

with him 1:1 making sure his affective filter was low and he felt prepared to participate in class.

Self-Reflective Narrative

Considering the changes from my formative lesson plan, my second lesson plan better

involved different learning styles and I spent time with each student in the class. Each student

received feedback in class and was able to gauge their own understanding of the material. It is

difficult to compare my formative and summative lesson plans because they are two completely

different levels, the other being level three honors. During this summative lesson plan, I was able

to implement more instruction more kinestethic learning styles. As Jensen (2005) mentions,

incorporating movement in instructional time developed stronger cognitive processes.

Incorporating more movement in the classroom allows students to release energy and focus on

the content and thus, student learning.

From both analyses, I learned that I need to explicitly state the objectives in class and

have them visible for students. It helps me guide student instruction and allows me to reflect

in-action while teaching. My two classes are entirely different in their needs as learners as my

honors students generally excel at language learning and the others need more scaffolding,

modeling and guiding. In both cases, my abilities to use formative assessment to gauge student

understanding is thoughtful and reflective. Particularly in my summative analysis, I was able to

make visible my students’ learning needs. In reflecting about my teaching practices, I realized

that I need to include more opportunities for students to engage outside of the large classroom

setting. In Rosiek (2003) and Hattie and Yates (2014) the idea of emotional scaffolding is one
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that I should begin to re-incorporate. In the hustle and bustle of daily life and daily teaching life,

it is easy to forget simple ways to scaffold a difficult subject matter. As Hattie and Yates (2014)

state, ​“It has been found that lower ability students ask fewer and fewer questions with

increasing grade level” (p. 30). Looking back at my journals from past core courses, the concept

presented by Rosiek (2003) stood out to me. In summary, Rosiek (2003) encourages teachers to

make difficult concepts, like preterite/imperfect, more relatable, ““carefully tailored to fit the

details of the subject matter and the experiences students brought to the classroom” (p.406). By

having one on one time with students and creating such opportunities, I can allow students to feel

comfortable asking questions even with difficult subjects.

In future planning, I will continue to evaluate levels of emotional scaffolding and ways to

best incorporate technology to develop and foster skills for the 21st century learner. In order to

elevate the use of the target language, both are essential. When I am able to provide visuals and

scaffold instruction, students’ affective filters are lowered and they are more confident and

willing to take risks needed to practice in the target language.

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References

Hattie, J. & Yates, G. (2014). Visible learning and the science of how we learn. New York, NY:

Routledge.

Jensen, E. (2005). ​Teaching with the brain in mind (​ 2nd Ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Lemke, C. & Coughlin, E. (2009). The change agents. ​Educational Leadership,​ 54-59.

Reese, S. (2011). How do you support every learner? Differentiation in the language classroom.

The Language Educator,​ 40-46.

Richardson, W. (2013). Students first, not stuff. ​Educational Leadership​, 10-14.

Rosiek, J. (2003). Emotional scaffolding: An exploration of the teacher knowledge at the

intersection of student emotion and the subject matter. Journal of Teacher Education, 54,

399–412.