I can
honestly say that time causes me
much heartache! I am constantly revisiting my schedule to make it be more
effectively and efficiently organized so that I am truly maximizing instruction
time. I want the students to get the most out of each day as possible, and I am
constantly thwarted in my attempts.
This
chapter was refreshing to me. It reminded me that busy work is not necessarily
productive or enjoyable for the students. The students, however, think they
must always be doing something “busy”! That is a mindset I will seek to revise!
I also appreciate the suggestion to keep the pace moving and to make use of
every minute. That alone helps keep students engaged!
One
goal I would like to aim for is to be sure the students’ interaction with print
is authentic! I will continue to work on that in whole group and conferencing
time with my students. I certainly believe learning is most engaging for them
if it is meaningful to them. I loved the idea of creating shared books. I have
done that before and recall that it is a great way to collaborate as a class.
I
also was happy to see that schedules seem to be a work in progress for
everyone. I will continue to tweak mine with the goal of maximizing not only my
literacy instruction but all academic areas.
And
lastly, I definitely appreciated being reminded to “do less, more effectively”.
No doubt, “less” can make me fearful of failing my students somehow. Routman’s
advice to “teach well and deeply”, is truly what I desire in my heart to do. I
want my students to love learning and to be solidly equipped to add to what
they learn in my care. I too often remember memorizing information for a test
and not remembering any of it a week later because it meant nothing to me. The
desire of my heart each year is to be growing students as learners ready to add
on to what they have learned with me as they move on to second grade. I do not
want to be growing “memorizers”, I want to be growing “lifelong learners”!
Terri, I always love how self-reflecting you are and how you are always working to improve your teaching for your students. They are so lucky to have you as their teacher. You are right, looking for "more time" in our schedule can be so frustrating. If we start evaluating what our outcomes will be for each of the things we spend time on, often we can find a few minutes for what we think will give us a better ROI (return on investment). I know you will always continue to look for more time to teach "deeper" and continue to grow lifelong learners!
ReplyDeleteHi Terri,
ReplyDeleteI love reading your reflections because we have similar take aways. I want to "do less more effectively" too! While we know time is of the essence, we also know that we are not getting any more of it. Taking time to carefully examine how we use our time and what could be done more efficiently, and what doesn't really need to be done at all can help us add time for what we know from our professional reading will maximize student growth - time for independent reading and writing, and time to invest into that and time to teach out of that through mini-lessons, conferences, and I loved your suggestion, shared writing. Thank you Terri! Sincerely, Dawn