The Power of Video PD: Seeing Is Believing
Written by: Jeff Harker
I am a Professional Learning Specialist. I go into schools and help math teachers get better at what they do. Much of my recent work centers around the strategies in Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics by Peter Liljedahl.
For many teachers, implementing these strategies has been trajectory-changing. It completely alters the path of their careers in positive and exciting ways. Yet, almost every teacher asks me the same thing: Where can I see these strategies happening for themselves? Any initial resistance almost always stems from a simple need to see it in action first.
The Challenge: Why Classroom Visits Fall Short
I used to reply with a short list of classrooms where local teachers welcomed visitors. However, this was always met with an array of roadblocks:
- Finding substitute teachers is incredibly difficult.
- Teachers cannot afford time away from their students.
- Getting administrative permission is tough.
- Travel distances are often too far away.
Whether these excuses are true or not, getting teachers to visit other classrooms is a massive hurdle. It is difficult to get them to visit rooms in their own building, let alone a district across the state.
My next solution was searching for existing professional videos showing these strategies. Depending on the topic, those are exceptionally hard to find. Furthermore, professionally produced videos are frequently met with skepticism. Teachers easily dismiss them as staged or coached to look perfect. They feel it could never work like that in their real-life classrooms.
Videos posted online by random teachers on YouTube offer a bit more realism, but they still lack a personal connection. Teachers still have to take my word for it because they know I have no relationship with the person in the video.
The Solution: Creating Authentic, Local Video PD
The turning point came when I decided to produce my own videos. I used teachers I knew and classrooms I had personally visited. This gave me the immediate boost in credibility I was looking for. Teachers are much more open to learning when they know there is a local connection to the classroom they are watching.
Best of all, these videos are incredibly easy to produce. I start with the mindset that I am not trying to win an Emmy. I am just trying to help teachers by being real. It actually helps the message when the final product is not perfect or overly refined. I still aim for a useful product, so I pay basic attention to sound, lighting, angles, and transitions.
My Simple Production Process
- Record everything: Film a lot of classroom footage and highlight the specific strategies.
- Clip the highlights: Use an editor like WeVideo to extract short, impactful segments.
- Write a script: Outline what the segments show and how the strategies affect learning.
- Capture commentary: Sit down with the teacher to record conversations for before and after each clip.
- Assemble the final cut: Put everything in order and add a clean intro and outro to give proper credit.
Featured Resource
Looking for real examples of these teaching strategies in action? Dive into the official video collection:
👉 Watch the Thinking Classrooms YouTube Playlist on Keep Indiana Learning 👈
“The end of the school year is not just a conclusion but a stepping stone toward future possibilities!”
Scaling It Up: Tips for Your Professional Learning Community
Because these videos are shared with the masses, I include formal intros and credits. However, if you are strictly using video within your own Professional Learning Community (PLC) or building, you do not need that extra production layer.
If the featured teacher can narrate live while your team watches together, recorded commentary might not even be necessary. However, I still highly recommend embedding the commentary if you plan to archive the footage. Teachers move, retire, or change buildings. Having the narration permanently embedded ensures the video remains a valuable resource for future use, regardless of staff changes.
The next time a colleague says, “That’s great, but I’d love to see it in action first,” consider filming a short video for them. It truly is the next best thing to being there.
Resources
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