December Blog: Karmen Wade: Ch. 12: You Only Have So Much Time- Routman
Independent reading is my favorite time of the day. I love to
sit with a student and listen to them read their book to me, however I always
feel that I just don’t have enough time! When I do find the time to listen to a
student read to me, I’m usually a little distracted with trying to keep an eye
on the other students and policing who is reading, who is walking around the
room looking for a book and not using their time wisely! I know I don’t have
that one-on-one uninterrupted time that I need to be able to fully conference
with my students. I agree with the
author that finding time to read can be difficult. The article also mentioned
about how the teacher needs to talk about students creating or gaining meaning
of a text. I understand the need to talk and also have students reflect on
their reading. However, this is an area I need to work on. Giving students lots
of opportunities to read throughout the day is very important. I feel I provide
many reading opportunities for my students but I need to make sure I am taking
it a step farther to help them gain the meaning of the text which means taking more time with my students to talk about
the text. I am also going to try and incorporate more time for the students to
discuss what they are reading. I know that students love sharing and whether it
be a crazy cartoon animal or a totally random fact about a wild animal from an
informational text, when there is someone who is interested in hearing about
what they read they are so happy! If children are happy and excited about
sharing then you better believe they are going to read more and more in order
to share with you!
I’m learning as a new teacher
slowly but surely that it doesn’t necessarily mean how much time you have, nor
how much you do in that time, but more about how much you do effectively in
that amount of time. The old saying quality versus quantity. I know that this
should be my main focus. I also thought it was very interesting for of the
author to start out the article by encouraging a teacher to live an interesting
life. Letting go of the saying” I just
don’t have time to do everything!” Instead I should be saying alright, yes I don’t
have all the time I would like, and no I can’t do everything with the time I
have, but I can make the most out of the time I do have! Instead of cramming
material and stressing about what I didn’t teach or cover because I didn’t have
enough time that I wanted or needed, I must let go of that pressure and stress
and just realize that Rome wasn’t conquered in a day and students don’t learn
everything in one day either. I need to make life and learning interesting!! Learning is a lifelong journey! If it wasn’t
why would education go for at least 12 years and then college, masters, etc.?You never stop learning! I am going to decide what is the most important things
that my students need to learn from me and focus on using the most of my time
to teach, reach, connect, and love them, hopefully that will teach my little
students to continue their journey of learning and feel strong about their
future and know that they are smart and that in real life situations they will
run out of time sometimes, but just because they run out of time with something
doesn’t mean they can run out of time for learning- it just maybe in a
different area, a later date, or in a different way!
Karmen, you are exactly right, quality must come before quantity. No matter how much you cram into a school day, students won't learn lasting lessons unless they are given the opportunity to make meaning and pursue their interests. The issue you mentioned about having trouble conducting individual conferences is one I've had as well. It takes a lot of modeling and explicitly teaching students what they are expected to do while you conference. This could be something we do for your coaching time-setting up the independent reading environment.
ReplyDeleteKarmen,
ReplyDeleteI love how Routman reminds us in this chapter that it is not the amount of items we pack in a day and cross off our to do list, but how what we do impacts students. If it isn't meaningful and it doesn't promote student independence and result in real learning, then what good was it? Routman asks some great thought probing questions in here that can help us look at what is working and what is not and what we can do about it.