Should Coaches use Cameras in the Classroom to Help Teachers Grow?

Are you ready for Cameras in the classroom? There has been a growing trend on the usage of cameras in the classroom to support teachers. Teacher preparation and support has become recent trend in the United States. Ongoing learning is a huge part of educational practices which is why teacher must show yearly growth and turn in hours of professional development to keep their credential current.Although it’s not widely stated, Case-based learning is becoming a recent trend. Case-Based Learning is using real-World scenarios promoting high levels of cognition (ie. Using Bloom’s Taxonomy). Observing oneself creates a unique lens. Teachers are directly connected to their learning and growth. Using video is a great way to develop insight into their own classroom practice. Teachers are now directly connected to their individual learning and using video teaching scenarios that are recorded for personal and group analysis. “Video-based observations are creatives in a scenes that present teaching in an authentic setting."Why not participate in ongoing professional development while working? Data is the key to supporting teachers to improve their practice. Teachers work with the coach to decide what they would like to focus on, select a time and date to be recorded, and select a day to debrief. The debriefing session is usually 24/48 hours after the recording date. That give the teacher 1-2 days to observe their recording and self-reflect on their lesson based on their individual focus.Educational Innovation 360 uses the Edthena platform that uploads the videos and has feedback from the coach, standards, and next step teaching strategies. Every piece of the data collected from these sessions is then analyzed and used to strengthen a specific teaching practice in the classroom. Practicing Teachers have used the system for the Teacher Performance Assistance collection of in-class data.According to Bakpax below are the top five ways to jump-start your own audio recording:

Start off by recording just a single class period for your own self-reflection
Don’t record (or lecture) for more than 30 minutes – you’ll never find time to listen to the recordings.
Name your Voice Memo audio files as “Period #, MMDDYY”
Create and share a Google Drive folders that you will use to store your audio files and delete the file from your phone’s memory once you’ve uploaded the file to the drive.
Practice using the app – start, pause, stop, save, edit, crop, upload, etc. This will help you be more successful when you are trying to record and store files quickly throughout the day.
Test out seating arrangements and locations in the classroom that maximize the quality of the recording.