Reflections of Teaching Styles

I was really looking forward to sitting in a classroom and watching a teacher run
her classroom. See the good and the bad. With the pandemic of Covid-19 turning life
upside down and variations having to be made I realized that I would have to watch
videos instead. Honestly, I was a bit let down, I love being in a classroom. As I watched
the videos, I realized that in this scenario I have the benefit of seeing many teaching
styles and I was able to learn a lot. I also know that when I am a teacher, if I ever get
stuck on a lesson, there are some wonderful videos of brilliant teachers out there for me
to emulate.
I needed to watch the videos in order from early elementary education to high
school because it made more sense for me to see the children grow and progress. The
first thing that I wanted to point out that was extremely obvious about the early
elementary was the demeaner of all the teachers. They were calm, happy and loving.
Every classroom was supportive and encouraging. All the classrooms were student
centered teaching. Many of the teachers made comments about being tools or guides
for the children. The job of the teacher is to create an environment possible to learn
then to inspire, inform, and educate. They need to know when to push and when to wait.
under
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Becoming readers and writers, Kindergarten, 26:47

Sheila Owen is a kindergarten teacher in Beaumont California. She has a dual language classroom. When they
begin their day, she starts by reading to the students. Then she includes them by pointing to words and they say them out
loud. Then in small groups its guided reading where the children point to the words as they read. Then they have
independent reading where the children get to pick what they want to read and practice on their own. Her goal is that no
matter where a child is or who they are with they will have the confidence and skill to learn. I loved how reading was not just
entertainment. They would have a discussion, ask questions, make predictions, and make connections.
Writer’s journal, Kindergarten, 26:47
 Reflection of Teaching Styles 2

John Sinnet is a kindergarten teacher in Houston Texas. My favorite activity that they did was their journal writing.
He taught them that they must plan for their writing. Their picture is their plan. He helps them know what to write. He even
has his own paper and crayons and is on the floor with them. He says that helps the kids connect with him. He shows them
what good writers do. They practice spacing and sounding words out. He encourages them to use their word wall and
other resources for help spelling words.
Building oral language, Kindergarten, 26:47
In Cindy Wilson’s kindergarten class in Boston Massachusetts their reading and writing is incorporated into their
morning routine. The leaders of the day will read the “Question of the Day”, then the children will take turns writing their
answers on the sheet. The “Question of the Day” is connected to a book they are reading or something in their day. Most
importantly she talks about how the organization of her room promotes independent learners. When the children know the
schedule and where they can find their supplies, they are able to be confident in working independently and problem solving
as well.
Thalia learns the details, Kindergarten, 26:47
In the dual language class of James St. Clair and Maria Castro kindergarten classroom there is plenty of singing to
help the students with both languages. Mr. St. Clair says that the students know what they need to work on. In the process
of learning to read and write they focus on connecting the sounds with the letters. They don’t focus on correct spelling, that
will come later.
Casandra becomes a fluent reader, First grade, 26:47
Hilda Perez teaches first grade in Boston. Mrs. Perez and her student, Casandra, practiced some sight words.
Then they moved on to more difficult sight words. They also used a magnet board to practice blending sounds. Casandra
switched to a new reading group because she needed to be challenged to read harder things. They also practiced reading
strategies like using context clues, picture clues, and sounding things out.

Assessment driven instruction, First grade, 26:47

This is also in Hilda Perez’s first grade class. She assesses the students 3 times a year and uses graphs to see
their progression and to see what level they are at. She has a point on that graph that shows her goal of where they all
need to reach. If she needs more detail about the individual student, she can look to their individual assessment. I really
liked how when they were in small reading groups, she would put a post it on a word and they would have to use clues to
figure out what the word could be.
Promoting readers as leaders, First grade, 26:47
In Melrose Massachusetts, Valerie Kostandos teaches first grade. When they do their shared reading as a group,
Mrs. Kostandos uses books in a series so that they can use prior information to make predictions. They have common
vocabulary to work with as well. Children are assigned to read books twice on their own. If the children think they need
help, they can choose to sit with the teacher and read with her. Then they come back as a group and have a discussion.
 Reflection of Teaching Styles 3

Connecting skills to text, First grade, 26:47

Another first grade class is Charman Evan’s. She has found many ways to make learning fun. I loved her puppet,
Aesop. The children seemed to enjoy talking with him and practicing making sounds with him. I also like the song she had
that helped the students remember the rule for silent “e”. Mean Mr. E would sing “You say your name and I’ll be quiet”.
4th Grade math 35:54
In the video about 4th grade math, I liked the strategy to think, pair share. She first asked them what multiplicative
comparisons are. They used reading strategies to look at prefixes and suffixes and think about what they thought it could
mean. Then they paired up and continued to make educated guesses. Then they shared as a group what their ideas were.
Then she gave them a couple problems that they would think, pair, and share. At the end of the lesson she brought up the
original question of what multiplication comparison is. They had some better ideas of what it was after seeing it in action. If
she had just written on the board and told them that was multiplication comparison, they probably wouldn’t remember. After
the process that they went through, it is much more memorable.
1st Grade literacy lesson, First grade, 20:34
In Mr. Meyer’s first grade class he keeps the kids moving and thinking. He has many silly little games they play as
they participate in a discussion about past, present and future. He has learning activities in everything, even something as
simple as going back to their seat. They can only take as many steps as syllables in the word he says. There is no way
anyone could be bored in his class because he has such creative ways to keep them thinking.
3rd Grade science 15:01
In Mr. Bryant’s 3rd grade science class he has Makey-Makey kits for the students to learn about conductivity. They
have leads and clips that connect to the computer. They are given instructions where to put the clips, then they are given
activities to do with their partner. When they do things like touch hands it completes the electrical circuit and indicators will
light up. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun being a part of the science.
4th Grade on ELA 11:39
There is another 4th grade class taught by Jean Cole. Her classroom is a cooperative room where the kids start the
day by taking attendance. They have an agreement on how to behave. They also have discussion guidelines so that
everyone is treated with respect. They don’t raise their hands. They take cues from each other and take turns sharing
thoughts and ideas. They have an overview of what a persuasive essay is and talk a bit about school uniforms. Then they
break into groups and make observations and then gather data. Their discussion continues as a group. I love how the
atmosphere is like when adults work together.
Elem science on sound 26:45
One classroom did a science experiment on how the ear hears. They went over things that they could observe
about the ear and about sound. Then they put them together with an experiment by using a cup, foil, rubber band and
some beads. As they would tap the cup, they would make observations. Later as a group they went over the connection of
the beads bouncing on the cup like the sound waves on the ear drum.
 Reflection of Teaching Styles 4

Building a writing community, 3rd -5th, 28:26

In the video about building a writing community there are a couple teachers that show wonderful ways that students
can feel secure and safe environments where they open up and share their feelings in their writings. One of the teachers
mentions that when a teacher participates and shares her writing it shows that they are all part of a writing community. It is
important that they have time to reflect on what they learned, what they took away, what worked and what did not.
Sometimes classes can seem loud as the students are given space to collaborate and talk about what is hard, what is
celebratory and give peer input.
Teacher as a writer, 3rd-5th, 28:26
In Mrs. Rowley’s room she talks about letting them see your struggles. When you, as the teacher, have a writer’s
block, or something isn’t working for you to be open and honest with them. Then you can show how you work it out and
walk them through the process and they can see your progression. If all they ever see is the finished product, they may not
understand the struggle that other writers have. A student can run into a problem and know that it is possible to overcome.
Reasons for writing, 3rd- 5th, 28:26
In Christine Sanchez’s 3rd grade class and Silvia Edgerton’s 5 th grade class, they talk about challenges when there
are different languages and cultures represented in the classroom. In Mrs. Sanchez’s class she sees how languages,
cultures and traditions influence what the children write about. They share their journal entries because sometimes
someone’s journal entry can spark an idea for another child and give them an idea on what to write the next day. They are
encouraged to write a reminder note to themselves. Mrs. Edgerton allows the children to write in their journals with the
language they feel most comfortable so that way the writing will be more authentic.
Fostering choice and independence,3 rd-5th, 28:26
Mark Hardy’s 3rd grade class will start the year off with creating something. They go over a writer’s workshop and
what the different options are of something a person could create. They have time to think and ponder. He tells them
“Make the thing you know and love best”. Then they are off to create. He is there if they need assistance but it’s the
student’s creative juices that are working. Later they come together to share what worked, what didn’t, who finished and
what they moved on to. I love how the kids get to decide what direction their writing can go. They can do novels, plays,
short stories, poems, nonfiction or even a cookbook.
Reading like a writer, 3rd-5th, 28:40 I like how in Lindsey Dibert’s 5th grade class they are encouraged to write what
they like to read. As they read, they look for patterns and strategies and then see if they can imitate an author’s style. They
look at what kind of things grab a person’s attention? Then they try to replicate it. Silvia Edgerton uses authors to help
teach as well. She can use their work and point out how the author showed a timeline or how they could tell a story in a
story.
Feelings count: emotions of learning, 5 th & 8th, 28:22
Linda Darling-Hammond said something that really impressed me. She said that a confident child will retain the
information but a child that an anxious or worried will have a harder time processing that same information.
Classrooms need to be a safe space including emotionally safe. Kristin Bijur tries to apply that to her 5 th grade
 Reflection of Teaching Styles 5

classroom. When there is a disagreement, she makes sure that all students get a chance to share their side.

The classroom mosaic: culture and learning, 6 th &9th, 28:22

With all the varieties of cultures in our nation, our classrooms exemplify that. In Kathleen Hayes-Parvin’s 6 th grade
class they embrace the diversity and even try to get family members involved with sharing their own histories and culture. In
9th grade William Dean and Jeff Gilbert’s class, they have a certain language that they use in dealing with sociology.
Sometimes the students bring into the classroom clashes with the culture they try to create in their room. They address
stereotypes and what is “normal”. They talk about community culture and school culture and how to succeed in any culture.
Learning from others: learning in a social conext,5 th , 28:22
Some things to remember when learning in a social context is that our responsibilities as a teacher is to: work
together with the students, develop competence in the language of instruction, provide meaningful tasks, teach complex
thinking, and manage dialogue toward specific goals. In Yvonne Scott’s 5 th grade class they didn’t just create a butterfly
garden. They ran it like a business to teach so much more than just the science lesson. They used the variety of talents in
the classroom and everyone had a job. Mrs. Scott saw the class come together as the group worked to achieve their goal.
No matter if they had a big job or a small job, their goal could not have been accomplished without everyone’s hard work.

Watch it, do it, know it, 5th &6th, 28:22

In Daryl Robinson’s class they do team building and trust exercises at the beginning of the year. She teaches them
how to talk to each other. As they learn to trust it is easier for them to share their writing and open up. Many students want
to go to the teacher for answers, but in her room it “3 before me”. Which means they need to use 3 resources before they
come to her.
Thinking about thinking : metacognition, 12 th, 28:22
Kendra Hearn works hard with her 12th graders to get them to think metacognitively. She tries to teach them to
analyze the way they think. When they read, as a group or as individuals, they are asked to think about the way they are
thinking. They plan for a task, and afterwards they evaluate about what worked and what didn’t and why. They use
journaling and mind maps as tools. When the students are in small groups doing peer evaluations, they say what they
connected with and what they did not. They have a rubric and will assess what kind of grade they think that piece of work
should receive.
How do we organize knowledge: the structure of disciplines,4 th & 10th, 28:22
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Being taught how to organize your thoughts and information is a difficult lesson. Julie Helber encourages her 4 th
graders by having them figure out the experiment. She will introduce the topic and let the students see an example of what
she is talking about. Then she will give them material and lets them see what happens. If she just tells them what to do,
they learn to follow directions. If she allows them to try and fail, they are more likely to absorb the information and it will
stick with them for longer. She loves to ask questions and hear their thought processes. When 2 students get into a
debate, it can be a learning experience for all. In Mary Edmonds 10 th grade class she asked how they could look at the
membrane of an egg. They had a discussion with many ideas. Through the discussion the class came up with the idea to
dissolve the shell in vinegar. If she had said “Today we are dissolving an eggshell in vinegar”, it would be easy for some of
the why’s and how’s to be missed.
Lessons for life, 4th & 7th & 8th, 28:22
Learning to transfer the education in a classroom to real life experience can be a challenge. I think Donald Johnson
did a magnificent job with his 7th and 8th graders. They assignment was to build a bridge out of toothpicks. They were put
into groups that were organized as a business. They were given a budget, a cost of goods and other expenses to think
about it. In the middle of the project Mr. Johnson let them know that the cost of the toothpicks had gone up due to shipping
problems and the businesses had to reconcile the new expenses. He hinted at a way to solve a problem, but the student
learned a valuable lesson of how a business may need to be creative in looking for supplies.
Expectations for success, 5th – 10th, 28:22
The video about motivation and learning revisited some of the early classes. It pointed out that the butterfly garden
experiment helped children to see that their contribution was necessary for success. The egg experiment was a success
because the students came up with the process. Even if eggs broke, the learning continued. The lesson with building
bridges used healthy competition and collaboration to create a fun and insightful learning environment. What stuck out to
me the most is that sometimes you have to give children a chance to not get it right so that they can work for it.
Algebra I 58:23
In Janel Green’s Algebra I class she likes for the students to see how math relates in real life. She used an
example of putting a swimming pool in and trying to figure out how many tiles would be needed to put on the outside edge
of the pool. The students first figured out how many different dimensions the pool could be. Then in small groups they
worked to figure out what their pool would need. Then they had to come up with an algebraic equation that would fit that.
They then presented their findings. She decided that maybe a border that was 2 tiles deep would improve it and asked if
they could apply that to their formula.
Linear functions and inequalities, Algebra I, 58:23
Tom Reardon also was creative with his Algebra class while using a phone bill to look for patterns and make
comparisons. They talked about different ways to represent the data. He loves when the students share their observations
because students can teach each other in 10 seconds what he can’t get across in a whole class period. While looking at
how much each call cost and the amount of time, they were able to put an algebraic terms to it so they could find the slope
and it apply so that they knew that how to manipulate the data to get answers to their questions with algebra formulas.
 Reflection of Teaching Styles 7

Systems of equations and inequalities, Algebra, 58:23

In Jenny Novak’s Algebra class, they created their own data by timing themselves writing with their right hand 10
times, then switching and doing timed writing with their left hands. Everyone had different data. She would ask questions
that would really get them to think. Then they would have to justify their answers. The students were stumped for a little bit
on what someone’s data would look like if they could write just as fast with their left as with their right hand. She didn’t give
them the answer. She let them discuss until they could prove it.

Quadratic functions, High School, 58:23

Tremain Nelson used the fun sport of basketball to show how a parabola can move. He uses table talk to have the
whole groups attention to give instructions, then they go to their small groups and are given a different scenario to show
how the parabola changes. Then the groups rotate and evaluate to see if its correct, then grade on labeling, neatness and
other expectations. The groups then had to present their findings and how they portrayed it. He has different kinds of
presentations that he assigns so that by the end of the year they are comfortable in presenting material in front of a group.
At the end of the presentations the peers can give compliments and ask questions. He tries to create a community of kids
who want to learn and know that they can. At the end of the presentations the peers can give compliments and ask
questions.
Properties, High School, 58:23
When learning about properties in high school, it can be tough to get students to see patterns and make
connections. Tom Reardon and Sarah Wallick use a variety of ways to show the same information. They can cover the
same material in 3 different ways. Some students will see it the first way, some the second and some not until the third. Mr.
Reardon uses tiles to help the visual learners see an algebraic expression. Then they transfer that information as they put it
into the graphing calculator. Mrs. Willick uses a coin toss experiment to start the flow of figures. Then the students had to
transfer that to an algebraic expression. From there they would talk about probability and evaluate findings. When she
would ask a question that no one would answer, they would partner talk, then they would talk again as a group.

Overall, I learned that a great classroom helps students make the connections
from their classroom to the rest of the world. A teacher is a tool that guides and helps
stimulate the student’s thought processes. When a child walks out of school they can
use skills at home, at the store, walking down the street, dealing with the neighborhood
kids and whole lot of other situations. The most important skills are not going to be what
they are graded on.
Reflection of Teaching Styles 8