Trippe. Blog Post 6. Jan/Feb. Routman Ch 12. You only have so much time

Trippe. Blog Post 6. Jan/Feb. Routman Ch 12. You only have so much time

I LOVE this chapter. It is so on point. I think most adults feel they never have enough time to accomplish all they think is necessary. But is all that “I’ve got to do” stuff actually necessary.  I think we tend to get in a rut of doing things in our personal life as well as our professional life and neglect to reassess what is really “necessary” from time to time.

As I read this chapter, I realized I’ve been doing a lot of what Routman recommends. I always think and think some more about what will be the best use of instructional time to meet the learning objectives as well as procedures and layout of the classroom. Not only should teachers think about utilizing instructional time to the fullest but also to constantly evaluate whether lesson plans are working and meeting the learning objectives and change plans as needed. I especially have to monitor and adjust since I teach entire grade levels throughout a week. I may realize on Monday that a lesson needs adjustments. By Friday, the lesson’s procedures and activities may have changed greatly to meet the same objectives I started with on Monday. Also, I may realize I need to change the learning objectives once I’m with a class. We have to be vigilant to assess how we are utilizing instructional time to best benefit the learning of tomorrow’s leaders.

I appreciate the ideas Routman gives to utilize all the possible time you have with students and how to take full advantage of transitional times which will often add significant instructional time back to the daily schedule.  I have gotten several ideas from colleagues at AMES to better utilize transitional time, especially “waiting” times when a class may have to wait a few minutes for lunch or related arts. I love make those few minutes a “game”- whether students name rhyming words, list words with specific sound/sound pattern, or list words in specific categories.

I plan to use the “mystery words” Routman explained. I think that is a great way to engage the students in a way students won’t realize they are “learning”. So many other wonderful ideas are covered, but one I strongly agree with is the “word walls”. When I was a classroom teacher students had their own “dictionary notebooks” in their desks to add “new” words and words they needed help spelling. These were great because they were personalized for each student. I also created “word charts” with student suggested words as we did the “Success” reading program. The daily word charts were hung up each day and remained up all year. It was amazing the words students learned to read and spell- because they suggested the words and then worked with the list during the week. Another example of working from the students’ background experiences and letting those experiences be shared with the class.