School District Celebrates Launch of Exemplary Teaching Video Library

PHILADELPHIA — The School District of Philadelphia on Wednesday unveiled its Exemplary Teaching Video Library, an online tool for teachers, principals and central office staff featuring videos with District teachers designed to provide examples of best teaching practices.

“We are at our best as educators when we collaborate, share and learn from one another, which is exactly what this exciting new resource allows teachers to do,” said Dr. William R. Hite, Superintendent. “A video can be a powerful resource for coaching or professional development by modeling what a specific skill should look like. The Exemplary Teaching Video Library provides an opportunity to enhance how we learn from teachers throughout the city and in the context of our District.”

The video library features over 80 clips with more than 70 teachers who were filmed during the 2016-2017 school year. These videos are categorized by grade level and feature a wide range of topics, including positive narration, addressing misconceptions, manipulatives, text-centered group discussion, and math fluency. The videos also include guiding questions to help frame the viewing for educators and deepen the understanding of techniques.

The District’s Office of Teaching and Learning plans to add another 75 videos during the 2017-2018 school year focusing on best practices in high school classrooms and in early literacy. These videos would directly support the District’s Anchor Goals 1 and 2 — that 100 percent of students graduate ready for college and career, and that 100 percent of eight-year-olds read at grade level, respectively.

Dr. Hite and Dr. Cheryl Logan, Chief of Academic Support, both addressed teachers and other guests at Wednesday’s celebration. In addition, elementary, middle and high school teachers discussed their involvement in the project and presented their clips on topics including facilitating classroom discussion, making sense of problems, and introducing new vocabulary.

The resource can be found online at philasd.org/etvl.