Way back in the Fall of 1994, when I started college, I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I took all of the required classes, did my homework, and even had to put in “service hours” in classrooms. I learned so much from being in the classroom! That was the only glimpse we got into a classroom at that time. This was before YouTube, Instagram, and TicTok changed everyone’s life. If I want a glimpse into a classroom nowadays, I just have to type a search into the search bar, and BAM, I can see into any classroom that has a teacher willing to record themselves.
When I went back to get my Master’s Degree closer to 2002, some of our assignments were to watch a recording of teachers and look for specific teaching strategies. These videos were hand selected by the professor as a means to show the “what to do” and “what not to do” strategies in the classroom. I feel like, at that time, all of those videos were staged and acted out by paid participants. We went along with it and found the errors and the strengths and tried to become better at our own practice using this method.
In 2009, I was asked to have a company come into my classroom and record me teaching a math lesson to my kindergarten students. I did not get any compensation, but I was told it would be used for educational purposes. After they recorded me that day, they said “thank you” and left. I was hoping to hear something from them after they had the “professionals” take a look at it. I didn’t. I don’t know if they ever used it for the “what to do” or the “what not to do”.
Fast forward to 2018, I decided to pursue National Board Certification, I found out about component 3. Record yourself teaching two different lessons, watch them back about 500 times, and analyze yourself. What? Me? I am not an expert. Well, maybe I am the expert in my classroom. I mean, I plan the entire day, I know the kids better than anyone, and I know what to expect and what to do if the lesson begins to go in another direction. Wait, I am an expert! What a great idea! Component 3 was the most beneficial component for me and helped me grow the most as an educator.
In 2020 the pandemic hit. Teachers across the world had to get very comfortable recording themselves and sharing it with students. Teachers in training had to become very well versed at recording themselves teaching, submitting the recording, watching it back, and getting feedback from their professors. I had student teachers during this two-year period and their supervisors never came to campus to watch a lesson in person. My, how things have changed since 1994. Now in 2023, I am sitting in the instructional coaching chair. I am working with several teachers and I am actively encouraging them to record themselves and watch it back and reflect. Watching someone else teach is a good way to gain knowledge about teaching strategies, but in my humble opinion, the best way to improve your own practice is to record yourself and reflect on what you are doing in the classroom. Have you recorded yourself? What was that like for you?
Image from edpuzzle.com
Sarah Kirchoff
Sarah Kirchoff is an instructional coach in Mesa Public Schools. She has over 20 years of experience in early childhood education. She began her teaching career way back in August 1999, when everyone was worried about Y2K. She did not even have computers in her classroom at that time! Since then, she has taught first grade for four years, preschool for three years, second grade for two years and kindergarten for twelve years. She has worked for three different school districts during her teaching career. During this time, she has been able to identify which grade she found to be the most enjoyable. Her greatest teaching passion is for kindergarten. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University. She was teacher of the year at her school in the 2019-2020 school year. She became a National Board Certified Teacher as an Early Childhood Generalist in December of 2020. She currently serves on numerous committees at her school including school site council, the instructional leadership team, and the culture and climate team. She is a mentor teacher at her school and has mentored numerous interns and student teaching candidates. When she is not busy with school commitments, she spends time with her family. She has a husband who is also a teacher, and four children. Two of which are students at NAU and two that are in high school. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading books and spending time with family, friends and her two dogs. Children need a teacher that is always advocating for them, socially, emotionally, and academically. Sarah wants every student she encounters to realize their potential and she is willing to help in any way she can. The impact early childhood educators have on students reaches far beyond their younger years. Sarah wants to leave a positive impact on her students so they can continue to have wonderful educational experiences beyond her classroom and school.