AFT has integrated TIMSS videos into its Thinking Mathematics courses for teachers since the original 1995 Videotape Classroom Study. In addition we show the videos during workshops on standards-based instruction.
When we showed the Japanese (triangles between parallel lines; now referred to as J2) and American (angles) geometry lessons from the TIMSS 1995 Video Study at our TIMSS Conference in 1997, the reaction of the audience showed how powerful these images could be. Even considering the different content in each lesson, they reflect clearly different expectations about how students should know mathematics and their roles as thinkers. Furthermore, the Japanese lesson often evokes the comment from teachers they “learned some mathematics just watching it.” We have since used these two lessons to contrast student responses and probable depth of learning when teachers use different questioning strategies. These lessons have served as good examples for teachers of all grades.
The new range of lessons from 1999 has opened additional opportunities to help teachers observe various aspects of teaching mathematics. We have written lesson J3 [link to this section of “Lessons by Country” doc] from 1999 (the offertory box lesson) into our middle school course. We show this lesson in its entirety to help teachers see how to maintain coherence throughout a lesson. Participants look for strategies they have discussed in the course, and we ask them to take particular notice of several aspects of this lesson, including the teacher’s questioning and use of the chalkboard, students’ various approaches to the problem, and the summation of the lesson.
We use the beginning of S2 (an introduction to variables) as a discussion starter. Having read research on the use of concrete materials, participants assess the use of colored paper to represent x and y. We challenge them to think about other possible strategies to introduce operations with variables.
Of prime interest are images of questioning techniques and follow-up, lesson introductions and summations, and approaches to and thinking about particular mathematics. Ideas that teachers help students to connect and the use of language are other areas of focus. For example, there is a lesson in which the teacher uses the word “timesing” instead of “multiplying.” We ask whether such practice matters for student learning and the understanding that mathematical terms have been carefully agreed upon and have precise meanings.
In the future we plan to integrate clips from HK4 (identities), S1 (factoring quadratic expressions), and J4 (inequalities). We are still working our way through other lessons and will undoubtedly find other clips that are valuable to teachers seeking to improve their practice.
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