Friday, October 30, 2015
October Blog
For my October blogpost, I read the section entitled, "Not This." First of all, I was immediately interested and could relate when I read that the teachers were from schools just outside of Baltimore (text to self connection:). I really enjoyed reading about how they realized that the independent reading time was crucial, but that they just couldn't find the time. Even more interesting, was the discussion of where they could take time. The calendar time was a bit humorous in that it was so repetitive year after year. Definitely something that could be better utilized as a reading time. Overall, though, it made me consider what I could cut out, or reallocate to reading time. As a teacher teaching all core content areas, I constantly feel like I am robbing Peter to pay Paul, so to speak. I totally get that there are some activities which could be axed simply because the benefit for the kids is not worth the time allocated. However, when we teach all core content areas, I find that it's difficult to determine what is absolutely not necessary for one discipline in order to reallocate that time to another. I also found it interesting that transition times are included in what is perceived to be "wasted time." Some of these transition strategies are important for maintaining classroom management which allows for learning to take place. I can say, though, that I do not pack up early. I am guilty of teaching to the bell. I would love to really take a moment to look at my schedule and determine what could be taken out of my ELA block to be reallocated to independent reading.
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Your reflective reading of this article is wonderful. It is hard to find time and really taking a look at our schedules can be difficult. One thing we do well here is integration. Incorporating ELA into content areas is a great way to help children learn the expected standards while still practicing their literacy skills. This year, your grade level is doing more and more of this. Planning reading around Social Studies or Science allows you to focus on teaching the skills while still covering the mandated content. This is a great first step in the direction of creating a literacy rich environment.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you carefully considered the author's suggestion of taking a critical look at your schedule and your teaching practices to evaluate how your time is used and what areas could be tweaked/restructured/ or even eliminated to provide more time for what matters most. We never have enough time, but we make decisions every day on how to use the time we have. I am guilty of teaching to the bell to and squeezing every ounce of time I have to be productive and to read,write,think with teachers and students. I agree with Heather that integration is a helpful structure for providing students with multiple opportunities to read and to write and to use those as tools for learning other contents. Thank you! Dawn