03-INSTRUCTION+VIDEO+CRITIQUE

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== I watched Chris Opitz’s video: //“How to Teach Math as a Social Activity (Grade 5)”//, which can be found here **[]**. He is a master teacher at Bowman Elementary School, in Anchorage, Alaska. He believes that Self-Evaluation Tools are required for every subject to be taught effectively; however, he recognizes that sometimes those skills and strategies are not taught by parents today. Therefore, he included them in his math class. He thinks in Self-Evaluation Tools and Socio-Emotional Learning as five constructs that he includes in the classroom: Professional planning and reflection, climate and community, direct instruction, infusion, and student reflection and self-assessment. I really liked his approach, because he took the problem in his hands, and solved it by teaching math along with Self-Evaluation Tools in a Socio-Emotional Learning environment that prepares the students to be, not only, proficient in math, but also to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, team members (Even leaders), and effective members of society. ==

== I saw a very structured class, in which the students had very clear instructions. This helps the students to be able to follow them effectively. I saw how Mr. Opitz modeled how to act and behave, which is something that the students are going to use in this class, but also in every other social activity the kids be part of. Mr. Opitz didn’t praise or punish, just recognized, valued and thanked the participation. I have read that this sets a good environment in which students feel free to participate because they are not judged or criticized. It also teaches students not to judge each other’s ideas, just listen and critically think about them. In the video is pretty evident how Collaborative Learning is present, how students are paired and how this helps everyone; it helps those who struggled with finding the answer, and those who found the answer but had to think about the process behind it. Mr. Opitz says that thinking about the processes is a very interesting thing to watch, it doesn’t always come so easily. Mr. Opitz uses the teaching technique called fishbowl. It is a powerful tool used inside and outside the classroom, where group dynamics are important. It helps students to experience and learn how to work in groups, how to communicate with the group members and the whole class, how to actively listen, and pursues critical thinking and problem solving. It was all this and more inside Mr. Opitz’s classroom, because one could see how different ideas and strategies were used to solve the problem, but also how they were discussed, clarified, and hopefully learned. Mr. Opitz also uses the technique //Think, Pair, Share.// This is a technique that allows and requires from all the students to think about the topic, then share it within their groups, and later to the whole class. It is a very powerful tool that gets all the students involved and participating (Even if they are not the ones who share with the group, they have the thinking and pair time to critically think and develop the skills). ==

==Finally, Mr. Opitz uses manipulatives and he talked about math journals. These tools help students with different learning styles and foster the development of multiple intelligences. Because they are making connections, they are writing, reading and even considering their feelings towards the topic.==

==I first thought that the only weakness of this strategy was that it is a strategy for the beginning of the school year. That is how Mr. Opitz presented it. But then, after watching the video a couple of times, I realized that this is a process that needs to be addressed continuously. All those strategies, and many others, must be used, modeled, taught and discussed on a daily basis. They are effective, and students need to master them. So I could not think of a weakness or suggestion to make.==

==I guess my conclusion can be that I totally agree with Mr. Opitz when he says that setting the social rules for learning is worth it. The time you spend teaching and modeling these behaviors at the beginning of the instructional process is much more less than the time you would spend correcting undesired behavior in the classroom. After the students own the skills learning gets easier.==