My mentor wants to video my middle school science class. I’m not having specific problems with students and I think my lessons are good, but this still makes me nervous. Why would she want to do this?  —G., Minnesota

Actually, your mentor may be doing you a favor by introducing you to a meaningful professional development activity.* You can reflect on a lesson without watching a video of it, but sometimes memories are selective. If we remember a few students misbehaving or being confused, we may see the entire lesson as a failure. Or we may overlook the quiet students and later assume that everyone was engaged and participating. We may be unaware of distractions. We may mistake a lack of questions as a sign students understood the lesson.

You and your mentor should check that recording a lesson for the purpose of teacher development is acceptable in your school and with your teachers’ organization, the video is meant for your eyes only, and it is not an evaluative tool for you or for students. Based on your mentor’s guidance, you may also want to inform students that they will be part of the video but it will not be shared with anyone else.

My preservice science methods class had a video component. (This was in the days of cumbersome VHS equipment, before cell phones or hand-held cameras!) A classmate recorded the video and then we would critique ourselves. We shared the videos and our reflections with the professors for their feedback, too. It was win-win—we had experience making a video as well as critiquing our own. I learned that I used many “aahs” and “ums,” which I chalked up to being nervous, but I needed to be aware of this vocal tic. I focused more often on one side of the classroom and most of my questions were at the factual level, two things I needed to address during student teaching. I decided I needed to be more mobile and circulate more when students were working individually at their tables or in small groups.

Your mentor may have a protocol for viewing and reflecting on the video, and here are some suggestions from my own experiences on both sides of the camera:

First, look at it from your perspective. Get this out of the way! Consider your voice level and tone, eye contact, gestures, speech patterns, appearance, and vocabulary. Don’t be too hard on yourself at this point, unless there’s something that would interfere with student learning or the structure of the lesson.

Second, look at the video from a student’s perspective. Was there a lot of down time at the beginning or end of the class period? How did the transitions between activities work? Did some students not participate? Were students beyond your gaze off-task? Could students hear and see what they needed to? Were there any distractions that interfered with the lesson (e.g., announcements over speakers, noise from the outside), and how did you deal with them to keep students focused? Did you recognize students who had their hands up? If you monitored group work, did all groups get some attention? How did you handle groups who needed more attention from you? Did some students get more attention than others, and if so, why?

Third, look at the video one more time and reflect on effective practices you used. Were students aware of the goal of the lesson? How well did the activities align with your curriculum? Did you pose questions on a variety of levels? Did students use safe lab procedures? How did you incorporate wait time? What evidence shows that students worked effectively in their groups? What strategies did you use to get all students engaged in the lesson? What formative assessments did you use, and what did you learn from them? What kind of feedback did you give students? Did the lesson turn out the way you thought it would? What might you do differently?

Another thought is to share the video with the class for their input, explaining that you are using it to become a better teacher. What do they see that you may have missed?

Your mentor may appreciate your returning the favor by recording her class. It would be interesting for you to see how an experienced teacher reflects on a lesson.

*Three reasons why teachers should film themselves teaching