"The edTPA: Session 7: Preparing your Video Clips of Teaching
Hunter College School of Education
1
Learning Objectives
The objec)ves of this Learning Module are:
1. To provide sugges0ons for capturing good quality video
2. To familiarize you with the role the video plays in your edTPA submission
3. To support you in planning how you will record, edit, and upload your video clips.
2
Sequence of Steps to Anticipate
1. Understanding what scorers are looking for in the Task 2 instruction, by examining rubrics from your edTPA handbook
2. Thinking through the types of instructional moments you want to capture
3. Familiarizing yourself with the recording device that you will be using
4. Preparing your students and the room itself
5. Shooting the video
6. Making choices as you review and trim your video once it's been recorded
7. Compressing (shrinking) the video to a file size specified by Pearson
8. Getting feedback from faculty along the way
9. Analyzing the video artifacts
10. Uploading the video clips to Pearson’s edTPA website
3
Capturing Your Teaching
• You will be video recording each lesson of your instruc0on done during the 3 to 5 days of your Learning Segment.
• You will submit only selected clips of your instruc0on to edTPA
• These clips are evidence for the claims you make about your teaching instruc0on
• You direct the scorer towards what they should be looking for in your clip
• Your clip must meet the requirements of the rubrics at level 4 in Task 2 of your edTPA handbook4
4
Examples of Rubric Requirements Rubric requirements vary by teaching subject area, so be sure to check your rubric carefully
Make sure to spend 0me looking in the rubric for references to prac0ces that you will want to showcase in your video clips.
5
Highlight Teaching Practices
Some examples might include:
Modeling ac0vi0es requiring academic language to be used
Interac0ng with a small group
Helping a struggling student express himself
Seeing two students speaking to each other about the content, using the targeted academic language
Suppor0ng a child through prompts to elaborate a response
Select two video clips that highlight different strengths in your instruc0on-‐you will not be submiQng an en0re lesson—just clips, as specified in your handbook
Be inten0onal about tasks you plan in your lesson in order to capture those prac0ces in video
6
Getting to Know Your Video-‐Recording Device
• There is a very limited number of cameras available for check out through Hunter College-‐therefore, you will need to secure a video-‐recording device which you can access every day of your student teaching/prac0cum semester
• You should use a video recording device you are comfortable with, whether it is your phone, tablet, or video camera, as long as it is capable of recording high quality video for an extended period of 0me
• Consider how you will be connec0ng your video recording device to a computer to extract the video
7
Setting Up the Room
8
Create a diagram of the classroom:
It should show:
• You
• The students
• The camera
• Key pieces of furniture or equipment used in the lesson
Etch-‐a-‐Sketch of Your Room
Other questions to consider: • How will the camera be held steady where you are positioning it? • Will you use a tripod or how will it be propped up? • What are your options for places you could place the camera in the room?
9
Begin with the End in Mind Think about how you want your video to look when you finish:
• What do you want the completed video clips to look like?
• Do you want to capture the look in the students' faces?
• The text on the pages in front of them?
• The teacher's gestures?
• Do you want to focus on just a few students or the whole room?
• What makes the most sense to capture for what you are teaching?
Examples:
• Angle the camera close to a pair of students working together
• Angle the camera to see the entire room, facing the students so you can capture the students’ responses
10
11
Prepare Your Students
Make sure the camera is a familiar sight in your classroom
To de-‐sensitize students to the presence of the camera and to test the process of video capture, it's a good idea to shoot some practice video.
If you haven't already, secure consent from parents or guardians for the recording, according to your school's policies.
12
Setting Up the Camera Shot Camera placement is crucial. You can't always point and shoot and get useful results.
Pay attention to where you are pointing the camera –What can you see on the screen? Is the person’s head in the shot?
Tailor the camera angle to the teaching instruction you want the what can your scorers to focus on.
Consider whether you want a close up shot, or something further away.
Before you begin shooting, consult your room sketch and consider any obstacles that might be in the way.
Practice shooting sample videos and uploading them to a computer to make sure all of your technology is ready to go and compatible.
Watch and listen to the sample videos -‐ how is the audio and video quality? What happens if the camera is closer or further away? How is the camera angle -‐ does it include everything that needed to be in the shot? How can you improve it for next time?
Keep the camera stable -‐ use a tripod or stand, even if someone is helping you shoot.
13
Rhymes to Remember Light: A brightly-lit subject will photograph better than one that is in the shadows. Shoot the
video with the source of light behind the camera. Arrange the students and yourself so that the light shines onto them.
Tight: Let your subject fill the frame. Sit the students closely together. You don’t need to include the entire classroom in every shot; often a close shot of one interesting part of the room is more useful.
Sight: The camera sees not only your subject, but what’s behind it as well. Shoot video against a plain background if you can. Remove distracting details from around the teaching area before shooting.
Write: Words do not show up well in pictures. It’s almost impossible to read text from a video clip. Use video for people and action; do not attempt to capture written text. Those nice letters on the board may be readable through the lens of the camera, but they will be indecipherable on the video screen.
Uptight: People seem more alive when they are not posing. Ask your students to ignore the camera and get on with their work, talking to each other, not to the camera. Getting them to do something will help them relax, and make a more natural video.
14
The importance of audio quality
Audio quality is as important as video quality for your submission
Teacher videos can be difficult to evaluate if you can’t hear the teachers or students talking
To capture student voices, place the camera close to them and use an external microphone
To capture your own instruc0ons, place the camera closer to yourself
The audio will work best if it is less than 5 feet away from the speaker
15
Tips for Capturing Good Audio Close up. The closer the mouths of the speakers are to the camera, the better your audio will
be. Do not be afraid to move the camera right next to the students or to yourself. It may seem strange, but the resulting audio will be better.
Zoom out. Do not use the zoom-in feature of the camera. Zoom all the way out. To get a tighter shot, zoom with your feet: move the camera closer to the action. This will result in much better audio.
Quiet down. Classrooms are full of extraneous noises: from open doors and windows, to ventilating fans, public address speakers, clattering chairs and desks, and talking students. Do what you can to shut these sources of sound before you shoot.
Speak up. Remind yourself and your students to speak loudly and clearly while you are capturing video, more so than they would normally. You'll be surprised at the difference in audio quality that this will produce.
Stay still. Put the camera on a tripod or stand, frame your shot, start the recording, and then leave the camera alone. A moving camera spoils the audio quality.
Hands off. Do not shoot video with the camera in someone's hand. Their fingers will make noise against the case, which will spoil the audio. Use the tripod or the stand.
16
Check Your Camera Settings Get comfortable using your recording device
Videos should not be smaller than 320x240 or larger than 1280x720
Videos with larger resolu0on will take longer to upload to your computer and to compress (shrink) and convert to a file format that the edTPA and VAT sizes can handle
Problem Solve! There are several tutorials on the VAT site that can help you figure out how to change the video seQngs on your recording device, and you can always try “googling it” to take ownership of this process.
17
Preparing to Shoot Your Video Test a few shots
Prac0ce shoo0ng at least 30 seconds of ac0on before you actually start shoo0ng
Shoot the Teaching
Review your lesson plan, room sketch and scoring rubrics beforehand
Teach and remember the purpose of the video
What does your audience need to see and hear?
Review and Re-‐shoot
View the footage you captured
Make sure the informa0on you need was actually captured
18
Clip and Trim Your Video You will need to upload your video
first to a computer. This may take some 0me. DO NOT COMPRESS VIDEO un0l you have trimmed it.
Make sure you follow the clip 0me requirements in your handbook
You should only trim the beginning and end of your video. The video segment should not have any edits in the middle, but should show con0nuous teaching
19
Upload Your Video to the VAT Site Upload your videos to the Hunter
VAT Clip Library Follow the directions on the VAT
site Write down the number
assigned to your clip Let your faculty member know it
has been uploaded Get feedback and reviews from
your seminar leaders and faculty members
Review and score your own video
20
Upload Your Video to Pearson
Upload your videos to the Pearson edTPA site
Have materials ready for all 3 edTPA tasks
Upload all the videos at once Save each item digitally on
your computer and back everything up
Text documents saved in Microsoft Word
Video clips in MPEG-‐4 or QuickTime format
21
Resources on Video available at VAT Site
VAT (Video Analysis of Teaching Site): http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/school-of-education/technology/vat/overview
