video relfection

The first thing that caught my attention when I began watching the video of Sheila’s classroom is her soft tone in which she stated that she hopes that her students enjoy being in her classroom. Her sensitivity to each student and devotedness as a teacher came across by that statement alone. She teaches for their benefit not only for hers. The end of her sentence about viewing every student as a reader and a writer shows her view of potential within each student regardless of where they are coming from.

Although I was struck by the next statement since it sounded a bit tough, the students need that “strictness” occasionally, to place them in the student position in the classroom. The culture in the classroom is extremely effective. Sheila speaks to them in a loving form and students aren’t afraid to respond to call-out questions. Students seem to know what they are supposed to be doing during morning meeting, read aloud, guided practice, and independent work.

Sheila Owen makes sure to reach out to every student in the classroom. Since there are different languages spoken by the students, they sing “good morning” in two languages to make everyone feel welcome. Also she reaches out to the individual students who don’t have much of a reading and writing education at home to help them develop these vital skills. These are two examples of how Sheila creates her lessons with respect for the English Language Learners.

Creating a positive culture for learning is the first step necessary in any classroom. However, using the appropriate instructional methods when teaching is what ultimately allows students to learn best.

Sheila uses a method of gradual release to teach her students to read and write.

First in the read aloud the teacher does all the reading and the students listen. I noticed how Sheila reads slowly, annunciating each word properly. She makes eye contact with all the students to keep them all engaged. The children seem very interested in the book being read. During this time, Sheila says that she creates conversations about the story. This is a good way to assess students comprehension of what was read.

Next, is the shared reading where the students read together with the teacher. The words read have a common rule between them which is the focus of the reading. This part of the lesson helps student increase their decoding skills. Since the teacher reads the words with them students are not left alone to figure out what the word says, yet by the time they are finished reading the words they should be able to move on to a more independent form of reading.

Guided reading is the following form of reading practice that the students engage in. in this section students are learning to read more on their own with the help and prompts of the teacher as needed. I noticed the students looking at their teacher to assure their reading is correct. Guided practice is the final step before a student breaks away to independent practice. From my classroom experience, students learn very well when they express their thoughts and knowledge on the topic to a friend. If a student gets stuck with a minor detail in the lesson (math or reading) having another student, who knows it well, explain it is an excellent way to create communication in learning. There is nothing better than having students help each other in learning.

Finally, the independent reading is done when the teacher is fully confident that the students are capable of completing the assignment without any help.

The two writing activities are focused on different purposes. One is to learn how to spell and write words. And the other is for creative writing which allows students to express their thoughts and share what they have learnt.

The goal of all teachers is that everything taught in the classroom should be able to be applied to the outside world. Thus, using the gradual release model assures such results.