Spy Camera

This morning I attempted to capture another fabulous video of my incredible teaching ability with my 5th grade music class. The kids were wonderful! They followed procedures, listened quietly while I taught, and tried their best to perform the activity that I assigned them. Bravo children! God bless them, because in the middle of my teaching I felt like the teacher off of Peanuts who spouts "blah, blah, blah" all the day long. I was boring myself to death.

They teach us in college to create an 80/20 classroom environment. 80% student activity and speaking and 20% teacher direct instruction. Of all the things I learned about teaching this is one that has stuck with me. I find my best teaching days are the ones in which I say the least. However, the secret to this method is to give very clear instructions that give the students a chance to experiment with their learning. Even though I taught this exact same lesson to a class last week with enormous success, the words simply wouldn't come this morning, and I was left feeling drained and anxious about the rest of my day.

Yet, God shines surprises down on us when we least expect it...

Two hours later, in my K5 class, the light flipped back on and the fun and engaging Miss Irvin returned. Students were smiling with eyes bright instead of glazed over. They were learning by playing and experiencing music. Oh how I wish the camera would have captured this scene!

So I've decided that, seeing as the greatest teaching moments often sneak up on me, instead of showing themselves off for the camera, I am in serious need of one of those lapel pin spy cameras that will capture my students and myself off guard and in our natural habitat. Anyone know where I can find one of those gadgets?