I like the way the teacher encourages the students to give their opinions and look for a deeper thought when they answer.She has great communication with her kids and motivates them to express their views. I believe with her style of teaching she helps them build on their process of learning and makes a positive difference in their life.

Students have definitely been taught how to prove text based evidence. It's evidenced by their phrases: "It says right here...", "On page 640, it says...", "I'm surprised the course took 8,000 miles..". Also, the teacher keeps the conversation going in an amazing way. She contributes by the following, "I don't know. How can we find that out?, Why was that interesting?, If you didn't have any other knowledge...how could you prove...?" She did a great job of asking students questions that required them to refer to the text. I liked how the teacher asked the quiet student, "What stood out to you?/surprised you?" It does cause me to reflect on my own practice. It's not always so important to focus on the right or wrong answer, but the process for understanding and discussing text. This was great.

The first student expressed such excitement, using the term, It was a miracle because they wouldn't give them the horses." [Paraphrase], His excitement for the text was infectious. I did notice that Ms. Brewer raised her eyebrows at the student's exclamation. Not sure how to read that, but she was definitely surprised. The rest of the class definitely appeared engaged. Let me pose this question: Was the student's excitement genuine, or do some students pose for the camera when they know it's rolling?

I loved all the great comments. It got me thinking about what I really need to look for. Thank you for sharing!

Ms. Brewer, I love you. You are an example of a highly qualified teacher in every sense of the word. Your scaffolding of student learning comes with your own interest in the text and with so much patience. You allow your students to engage at the higher DOK (depth of knowledge) levels in terms of questioning and students critically thinking it through. Every student is talking and contributing to the discussion. Wow!! How you use formative assessment is awesome. Honestly, I would have loved being in your classroom. I am Native American (Lakota and Dine/Navajo) from the southwest. I would have loved to have been your guest and shared my side of knowledge about Se-gah-go-weh-ya (also known as Bird Woman). Her name was pronounced correctly to me by a Shoshoni Bannock elder woman of Fort Hall, Idaho, and I've never forgotten her side of story of Lewis and Clark. Keep up your love of teaching those precious knowledge seekers. Thank you for allowing me to compliment you. Ms. Marty McQuade