Emily Plumley - Blog #3 - Routman, Ch. 12: You Only Have So Much Time

    Most people think teachers are done at 2:30 and go straight home......wrong. Most teachers do not have that luxury, and it's nothing for teachers to be there later than most realize. Depending on how much work you have to do, you could be the last one out of the building. There are so many days where I feel like I've accomplished nothing on my To-Do List, or like I should've spent more time on something. But the reality is, teachers only have so much time to get everything done. 

    This chapter reminds teachers that it's SO important to take care of yourself, and have a life outside of school. As much as I've always wanted to be a teacher, and as much as I love my job, this could not be more true. Just for my own mental health and sanity, I need to have a life outside of school, and time to relax away from school. As the article stated, "We are not only role models for learning, we are role models for living." How true this is! I want my students to see that I'm passionate about my job and what I do, but I also want them to see that I enjoy my time away from school by spending time with family & friends, going on trips, and relaxing watching my favorite movies. 

    The school day seems so long with plenty of time to get things done, but the day actually flies by. Because oft his, it's so important for teachers to make the day as meaningful and engaging for students as possible and make the most of every instructional opportunity. As a math & science teacher, I try to do this as much as I can. For example, when we are switching classes, or having our bathroom break between lunch & recess, I will quiz the students with multiplication problems. Sometimes I'll even let the students quiz ME, which they absolutely love doing. They'll give me multiplication problems to solve, and I think they enjoy this because they're trying to stump the teacher and because they can see that I studied my facts, just like I'm asking them to do. And I can tell they want to be able to recite those multiplication facts back to me too. 

    An idea I found interesting in the chapter, was to eliminate "morning work" at the beginning of the day when students are first coming in. The author suggested that instead, students have some relaxing free time, where they can read around the room, write notes or letters, or even talk quietly to a friend. This is such a great idea and something amazing to picture happening in a classroom, but I believe a teacher would need to use his/her personal judgement of their class to determine if their students could handle this. It is a great idea though!

    It can never be said that teachers do not have enough time in a day to get work done. Even when we have an allotted amount of time to get work done, we still manage to have things leftover. But it is so important for teachers to have a life outside of school, so they can stay energized when they are at school. 

Emily Plumley - Blog #2 - Routman, Ch. 5: Organize an Outstanding Classroom Library

    Organizing a classroom library can sometimes be a very overwhelming and often stressful task. Especially when you back up and look at the classroom library as a whole. You think, "There's not enough time in a day to get through all of this." But I have found if you break it up into chunks, and a do a little bit at a time, it is possible to organize a classroom library to the way you want it. 
    I stated in an earlier blog that I've had a deep love of reading since I was a small child. And I've also wanted to be a teacher since a very young age. So naturally, one of the things that I had always planned for my future classroom was to have an amazing classroom library. That was important to me from day 1. I began collecting books for my future classroom library around my sophomore year in college. I would get books almost ANYWHERE. A professor I had in college, gave her students Scholastic Book Orders, for the sole purpose of us being able to gradually purchase books for our classroom libraries. I think I may have purchased books from almost every order she gave us. And because I'm blessed to have a very supportive and encouraging mom, she also bought books for my classroom. I also bought books from a teacher who was changing professions after several years of teaching, and she had ALL of her classroom books for sale....at VERY reasonable prices. I'm talking 50 cents to $1-$2 for books! You can't beat that. I also went to a Scholastic Warehouse Sale, where you can stock up on books. And one of my biggest success stories believe it or not, was when I went to the Goodwill Clearance Center. Everything is pay by the pound, so items are just dumped (literally) into big blue bins, and you have to dig (again...literally) to find what you want. I went on a day that it was half off, still pay by the pound, and racked up! My search for classroom books started off slow, but once I started finding books I was interested in for my classroom library, I was determined to until there was nothing left. I walked out with over 100 books, and it only cost me maybe $10-$15. 
    So when I walked into my classroom to set everything up for my first year of teaching, I went in with several hundred books. And that was as a FIRST YEAR teacher. Then came the task of organizing and labeling each book. Thank goodness again for a supportive and encouraging mother who helped me with that daunting task. I am very proud of my classroom library and how much my students enjoy it.
    I believe it is so important for teachers to have outstanding classroom libraries, that encourage and promote a love of reading within their students. I love the idea of having the students help organize the libraries, and hearing their opinion on what types of books/authors to include. That's an idea I had never thought of. I also love the idea of having more books on "display" so students can easily see the covers, drawing them to pick up the book and read it. 
    I try to constantly encourage reading in my classroom, whether it's coming from chapter books, picture books, magazines or comics. A quote from the book sums this up perfectly: "It really doesn't matter much what kids read as long as they read and enjoy what they're reading."

Ashley Skow - October Blog

Routman - Chapter 5

     As a beginning teacher, setting up and stocking my classroom library has often occupied my thoughts. Every time I walk into a classroom that has a visible library I look at what kinds of books it has, how its organized, how books are labeled, etc. and make a mental note of what I see that I might want to emulate in my own classroom.

     One of the problems with classroom libraries that this chapter addresses is the need for a greater volume of reading materials. I have been so fortunate to inherit boxes of books from a retiring teacher. However, when I started sorting through these books I realized another problem: that my book collection was severely lacking in several key genres like chapter books and nonfiction text. Since then I have been slowly perusing used book stores for cheap and lightly worn books in these genres, especially books that I've noticed kids reading in the classes I've been in.

     I found it interesting, but not at all surprising, that this chapter supports taking the emphasis in reading off of choosing books by level, and yet the school system is so attached to the leveling systems it uses. Teaching students to find their own "just right" books can be challenging and time-consuming, but it teaches them to choose books that interest them and take ownership of their reading. It also conveys the belief that every life-long reader has: reading is FUN!

Chapter Take-Aways

• Surround children with books, at home and all around the classroom
• Get kids reading - chapter books, series, non-fiction, magazines, book reviews, comic books - and enjoying what they read
• Have a classroom library that is visible, inviting, comfortable, diverse, organized, accessible, and fun
• Teach children to love, respect and care for their books

My Favorite Fun Classroom Library

Space to display book covers in the middle and
room for lots of books on either side

Emily Plumley - Blog #1 - Routman, Chapter 3: Share Your Reading Life

    As an avid reader since I was very small, I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter. One of my favorite things from this chapter was something the author said at the beginning. She said, "While excellent teaching is essential, without time to practice and read extensively, students will not become readers." And that is so true! We can't expect students to be incredible readers, if they don't get time to practice reading or develop a love for reading. 
    I believe it's very important for teachers to tell students why they should read. Not just because their test scores could go up or because they'll improve their comprehension skills. But because reading can be fun and something they'll grow to love! Also, I think it's important for teachers to show their students how to read, and how to enjoy reading. 
    My parents started reading with me at a very young age, and I was lucky enough to develop a love for reading and books early on. But I was also surrounded by adults that had a love for reading, and that was very encouraging as a child to want to be like all the people I looked up to. I can remember many weekends where my parents and I would be sitting in the living room, all lost in our favorite books. There were times that our power would go out after an icy winter storm. When power came back on and we went back to school, teachers would ask the students what types of things we did to pass the time. I was often one of the only ones to say, "Read!" The power may have been out, but my parents and I would sit around candlelight and read our favorite books. And sometimes those were the best times to read, sitting at a candle, lost in a good book. 
    Throughout school, I had several teachers that also shared their love of reading with my classmates and I. And since I wanted to someday become a teacher, I looked up to my own teachers, and their passion for reading further helped my passion grow too. One of my biggest inspirations to become a teacher was my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Owens. She did a read aloud everyday, and she always wore "Magic Lipstick". We would come in from lunch or recess (I can't remember which), and we would hurry to our desks for our class read aloud. While we sat anxiously waiting in our seats, Mrs. Owens would go over to her cabinet, slowly pull out the "Magic Lipstick" and put some on. Then she would grab our read aloud book, and the "magic" started. The "Magic Lipstick" she wore gave her special voices for the different characters in the books. We would all always be glued to her during read aloud, listening to hear the different voices. Just by Mrs. Owens wearing her "Magic Lipstick", she got the classroom excited about reading and read alouds. I don't remember her ever skipping a day either....usually because we begged her to read 'just one more chapter'. 
    In my short time as a teacher, I've tried to encourage reading with my students. I started collecting books for my classroom library when I was just a sophomore in college. Whenever I could get books at a reasonable price, I would get as many as I could. And with the help of a super supportive and encouraging mom and some really great deals, I started my first year of teaching with a pretty big classroom library. The books in my classroom library are one of the favorite parts of my classroom, and I have loved getting to introduce that library to my classes. I've also tried to do a read aloud as much as I can with my homerooms. I've chosen to read a series of books that my amazing 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Owens, read to my 4th grade class. The Wayside School series of books are silly, goofy, funny books for any kid or adult. We start with Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and work our way to the following books. I absolutely love watching the kids get drawn into the stories, hearing them laugh at silly parts, or seeing them look completely confused at parts of the books that don't make any sense. The kids almost always beg for "just one more chapter, please Mrs. Plumley". 
    As I wrap up this blog post, something that comes to mind when I think of the title of this chapter, "Share Your Reading Life", happened during my student teaching. With the 3rd grade class I student taught, I read the Wayside School series of books to them, and they loved them. The Book Fair came to the school and they had the entire series for a sell in a pack of books. I remember the students being so excited that the book I was reading to them was for sale at the Book Fair. Throughout the time the Book Fair was at the school, at least 6 of my students that year bought the series. Several would read along with me during read aloud, and others would be itching to keep going and would read a few chapters ahead (which I was also guilty of during almost every read aloud Mrs. Owens did). Seeing their fresh and new excitement for a book series I had loved since I was close to their age, really put a warm feeling in my heart, and made me excited to grow the love of reading in my students. I hope to be able to share my reading life with all my students, present and future. 

Laura Keller Blog #1 - Is There Enough Time? Miller Section 1

The interest in this article was automatic after reading the title.  Of course, students must read to progress in their reading ability, but where do we find the time?  In this chapter, Miller talks about all the times during the day that we could maximize our time.  After observing multiple classrooms during their daily and weekly routines, they noticed that too much time was spent on lining up, packing up, ineffective reading, repeated instruction from grade to grade, etc.  How can we maximize the time so that we can incorporate Independent Reading with support?

Most of the things in this chapter have been addressed at our school.  Our morning announcements (WAME) no longer take up our instructional time.  That has definitely been addressed.  Pack up time - rarely do I do this early in my room.  Most of the time my instruction is running all the way until announcements start.  Then, we start packing up.  Lining up could be consolidated, but only depending on the class.  I still have students that want to run to the front of the line.  In those classes, I have to have a system to eliminate "situations".

I probably should not assign reading as an early finisher assignment. My students already have guided reading time with another teacher and I feel as if I am spending time with ineffective reading. This year I have tried to reserve more time to working with students on reading.  It is hard.  We are already struggling trying to teach the content.  With more experience, I will fine tune my timing so that I can get the most out of the day.

Routman, Section 2 Why Not? What Works? Blog #3 Carolyn Shackelford

Routman begins this chapter by providing some excellent statistical data that suppports how important independent reading is and corralates it to the fact that the more kids read, the better readers they become. As educators, we all know this, we see those students who are always reading score higher on tests every year compared to those students that you have to force to pick up a book and read.

Routman poses the question, "How much independent reading time in the classroom is enough?" I agree with him, when he says that it is up to the ability and stamina of the reader. Stonger readers can get more out of a longer independent reading session becuase they have them stamina to get drawn into the story and throughly process it as they are reading. Weaker readers may benefit from shorter periods of reading where they can focus on one skill at a time.

Another key step in a successful independent reading process is book selection. This is an area that I am currently having to work on with several of my students. Many want to read "fun" books that are below their level, or books that they have already read. For lower level readers, Routman suggests that they need to feel some success before moving onto something more challenging but that the lack of reading challenging texts with only hamper growth.

This year I have been making a concerted effort to provide as much independent reading time as possible with my students, as well as trying to conference individually with each student once a week. It is a challenge, sometimes even a struggle, but then, when I start talking to my students about what they are reading and I see them get excited, or they come up to me later to tell me something that happened in their book, it reminds me of why independent reading is so important.

Teach with a Sense of Urgency Blog #2 Carolyn Shackelford

In this chapter Routman reminds us that we need to make every minute in the classroom count. That using our time with our students more efficiently and effectively will continue to help them grow into thoughtful, independent readers. Routman discusses an optimal learning model which, when used helps teachers understand where a student is a reader and determine the level of support a student needs. I think that this should be the basis of differentiating reading instruction in our classrooms.
He encourages us to think of teaching "as a powerful, invitational relationship that pulls the learner in." I agree with this idea of meeting students where they are instead of forcing them to fit into some preset model or program. As an elementary student, I found the "regular" reading classes so boring and couldn't wait until they were over so that I could read books that I had selected for myself.

Routman discusses including interactive reading where the teacher reads aloud and invites students to talk about the text during the reading. This year, as I read 40 Acres and Maybe a Mule to my classes, there were times when I needed to stop to make sure that they understood what was happening in the story, making sure they were making the connection between the plot of the story and what we had learned about Reconstruction in social studies. Other times, when the plot became very suspenseful or exciting, it was better to let them just listen until the end of the chapter and then discuss. In both cases, I could see my lower readers gaining understanding from these discussions. Sometimes, even my higher level readers needed clarification as well, which then benefited the entire class.

After reading this chapter, I am looking forward to including more of Routman's four phases of learning- demonstration, shared demonstration, guided practice and independent practice into my reading lessons. In doing this, I hope to raise expectations for my students and see continuous growth in their reading skills.