Picture Me Doing More Teaching!

And a great job at it, if I don't say so myself.  Everyone who knows me knows that I am my worst critic.  So, when I say that I've improved, I must have been motivated to say so.  Need proof?  I have 50 minutes and 18 seconds of footage (footage that is STILL painful to watch...read "Picture Me Teaching" for more info) to prove it! 

The video recording of my lesson for July shows that not only has the delivery and break-down of my content improved, but my entire demeanor in front of the classroom has changed.  I appear more comfortable and confident and I do a sort of "half-turn" when writing on the board, so my students don't even dare talk lest they want to see my evil stare (moo ha ha ha!).  Also, my students appear more comfortable interacting with me when I ask questions; whereas before, I had to randomly call on students for participation. 

Another improvement I noticed was in my transition from different activities during the class period.  Before, I would leave too much room for classroom management problems because the students weren't working while I was getting prepared for the next topic/activity in the lesson.  Now, I can notice a definite change in the flow of my lesson, where free time is a minimum and working/learning is are occurring.  I'm still a little shaky in this area, but I have almost eliminated any down-time from my class periods. 

All in all, I'm on my way to being what I consider an ideal teacher!