Video Reflection

                                                      

                 I gained much insight watching Sheila Owen conduct her kindergarten classroom. I learned an incredible amount from her expertise as an English Language teacher.

               The video starts off with Ms. Owen’s students walking into their classroom with glowing faces. The greatest pleasure a teacher can have is seeing her students’ excited to come to school. While watching the video, I understood the reason for the enthusiasm. Her extreme dedication towards the students is evident throughout the lesson, starting from the way she welcomes her students in English and in Spanish. She also uses positive reinforcement where she praises those children who joined her on the carpet, thus encouraging all others to follow suit. Having an encouraging and inviting classroom is something every teacher should strive to create.

                I also noticed how Ms. Owen puts her full trust in her students. She believes in them, as she states, “Everyone from day one is a reader and writer” in her classroom. She views them as achievers, making them all the more confident in their work. I noticed how the students were all fearless to answer and not apprehensive about offering a response. Even when a child did mistakenly give the wrong answer to what an author is, Ms. Owen prompted the child to the correct answer in a warm and encouraging manner. The students feel secure and content in her presence.

                Additionally, I observed the method on which she builds her lessons, catering to each child’s individual needs. Her classroom consists of children from diverse backgrounds and cultures, yet she makes sure they are all involved and are active members. Furthermore, her professional curriculum is geared to bringing her students’ reading level up to an impressive level. She aims to develop them into being confident, independent readers. Her four-step process begins with read aloud, in which she reads books out loud that are too difficult for them to read independently. She models for them and stimulates class discussion. She gradually pulls back a bit when she begins shared reading. In this stage her students’ role increases, as they collectively read aloud together with her. She then pulls back even further when she enters the stage of guided reading, where she’s only there to prompt and help her students. At this point, her students are almost all on their own, with minimal teacher involvement. Finally, once her students are capable, she introduces independent reading. At this point Ms. Owen’s students read books quietly, while she is there just to observe. By minimizing her involvement each time, she scaffolds their learning until they are comfortably reading without intervention. Her approach is clear and productive in which she achieves her desired results.

                The two writing activities Ms. Owens implements in her classroom follow the same approach. She begins with interactive writing, a joint effort, where the class calls out the spelling in unison. She then follows with independent writing, where each child has a chance to express himself/herself. She accomplishes this in a fun, relaxing and positive setting.

                I gained tremendous knowledge and skills observing Ms. Owen’s class. She manages to achieve her ultimate goal and turn her students into avid readers and writers.