Reflection #3

I really enjoyed watching the SIOP videos in class.  I think they really helped me to get a better understanding of the features of each category listed.  Although all of the teachers and their lessons were great, the SIOP video I enjoyed watching the most was the review/assessment SIOP feature.  This was the video of the female teacher who taught her students a math lesson of addition and subtraction using a number of methods.  She had a comprehensive review of key vocabulary and of content concepts.  At the beginning of the lesson, she went over the math vocabulary, such as plus, minus, and equals, so that her students could effectively use the correct terms for the context.  She also played a review game with the kids to test their knowledge and comprehension of the lesson.  She constantly provided feedback to the students on their output by walking around the classroom and applauding the students individually on their effort.  She also assessed her students comprehension and learning of all lesson objectives by making sure each student can read a math sentence out loud, and had them point to the equal and plus sign so she knew they comprehended the word with the symbol.  Overall, I liked her entire style of teaching.  She was very friendly and sweet, yet she got her points across and made sure that everyone was in line and staying on task.  She had a great way of speaking with her students, and seemed to truly care about their learning and comprehension for their own good.  She also seemed very into the lesson she was teaching and showed compassion. I would definitely like to develop this teachers attitude and teaching techniques, as well as use this SIOP feature in my future classroom.  I would alter the material in this lesson and use it for my kids.  Making sure they comprehend the material is very important, as long as checking for their understanding and reviewing key concepts.  This method is a great way to ensure students will fully comprehend a lesson by the end.