Corrie Waddell December Blog: #5 You Only Have So Much Time

This chapter begins by acknowledging the fact that teachers work too hard! I second that opinion!  Our time is valuable and we should make the most of it. Even though being a teacher is an important job, we are more than teachers. The author lets us know that we should live interesting lives outside of our jobs as teachers. For the sake of our sanity, we should get out and do things that make us happy.

I love that the author says that she spends a lot of time thinking about what she is going to plan or teach. I really believe that thinking is a big part of strategic planning. We have to think about what we want to teach, and when we want to teach it. We also have to think of creative ways to present content to our students to keep them engaged. As a teacher you should make every minute count. This is why as teachers we should plan for transitional times. We can use our creativity to find things that work for our students. My students love singing poems and chants during this time. They think that they are just playing, but they are gaining phonemic awareness and rhyme.

The author also says to keep work simple and meaningful. To me this means plan lessons that engage our students in ways that they can make real world connections.  This also includes asking open ended questions. We must also keep their work authentic. In Pre-k this means let students write in journals and giving them the freedom to come up with their own topics and illustrations. For me,  keeping it simple means giving students work that is developmentally appropriate for their age group. We cannot expect our 4 year-olds to do work that they are not ready for. You will just have a room full of frustrated students and teachers.

When it comes to evaluating my students I try to keep it simple as well. With my age group, I like to do on-the-spot evaluations. Look at your students and decide if they are engaged. I love to ask my students questions throughout my lessons to see if they are actually understanding the concepts I am presenting. If there are words in a story that I am reading that my students don't understand, I try to stop and give them relatable definitions of the words.

In conclusion I really think that the purpose of this chapter is for us to evaluate our planning and teaching strategies to ensure that they are working for us as teachers and for our students. We should aim to maximize student learning while maximizing our time as teachers.

My favorite quote from the chapter:
"Teaching that keeps kids engaged saves us time and energy."
This is so true! When my students are doing hands on lessons where they are up and moving around, I rarely have behavioral issues.