Monday, October 26, 2015
Corrie Waddell Response to Blog 1 (August) Section 1 Not This
Reading this chapter made me think of my classroom and all of the daily routines I force my students to go through. In doing so I began to ask myself these questions: "Do I have a valid reason for each activity? Could I be doing these activities just because I have seen other teachers do them? Are all of these routines necessary? Could I be wasting valuable time doing countless calendar activities?" I, like the teachers mentioned in this chapter have found myself thinking there is not enough time in the day for independent reading or conferencing with students. I have never stopped to think that this could be because I am wasting valuable time doing unnecessary activities. I would love to find the time to sit down with my students while they are in the reading area and conference with them about the books they have chosen to read. This chapter has forced me as a teacher to look at my daily routines and teaching strategies and make adjustments. I must find time to conference with students about what they read. My presence during reading time may also make my students more eager to visit our reading interest area.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Corrie, I love the way you are thinking about making changes to your teaching practice and to your use of time. We do many times make time for what we are comfortable with, not what is best for our students. Thank you for that! I can't wait to hear more about the minutes you gain in your day with these changes, and the knowledge you build from conferencing with your students.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said.I need to make time to sit down with my students as well. I get so caught up in other things that are not as important when I could use that time to benefit my students.
ReplyDeleteHi Corrie,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the point that Miller and Moss make in this chapter about how we have ownership over how we use the time we have with our students. I love how you value independent reading and conferencing time and how you want to make more time for this during your literacy block. In looking over your schedule and your routines, where could you restructure/revise/rework your time so you could have more for this investment? Is there a way to restructure your literacy block so that you have time to conference while students are independently reading? Sincerely, Dawn