WHEN THE JOB OF TEACHING GETS IN THE WAY OF THE WORK OF TEACHING: LESSONS FROM A VIDEO CLUB OF MATHEMATICS TEACHERS

The use of video for teacher professional development is a growing practice (Sherin, Jacobs, and Philipp, 2011). One established method of using video when working with teachers is to invite them to watch clips of classroom instruction and discuss what they notice in a video club setting (Sherin & van Es, 2009). Acknowledging the importance of student thinking as a driver of learning (NCTM, 2000), this study aimed to investigate what practicing classroom teachers notice about student thinking in their own mathematics classrooms, and how sharing video footage of their instruction in a video club setting can impact their teaching. Transcripts of the video club sessions were analyzed to determine what participants noticed when watching the shared footage, and how this aligned to current literature on mathematics teacher noticing. Additional data analysis led to further categorization of participants’ comments around proposed pedagogical alternatives. Overall, the participants did not show a growth in their abilities to notice and use students’ mathematical thinking as a result of the video club sessions. One possible reason for the participants’ lack of focus on students’ mathematical thinking when viewing many of the video clips may be the way classroom instruction was captured – one cannot notice what isn’t presented. Despite this lack of success, participants expressed appreciation for the time spent in the video club sessions, and indicated an interest in future use of video to develop their own practice and that of their colleagues. The researcher offers some lessons learned about conducting a video club-style professional development so that others may better help teachers develop their noticing skills.Curriculum and Instruction, Department o