Chapter 12: You Only Have So Much Time Feb/March Blog

Goodness!  I found my self saying, "Amen!" after every sentence at the beginning of the chapter.  The chapter started off by talking about how exhausted teachers are, feeling guilty for not getting things done and leaving early, and just not having enough time to get it all done!

Chapter 12 put things into perspective for me and made me thankful for the advice given by the author.  My favorite line from the article was, "Our students will not become better readers because we create fabulous projects and centers, give them lots of paperwork, and grade lots of papers.  They will become better readers if they receive excellent instruction and have lots of time to read and talk about books." The advice I will take back and put into action in my classroom is spend most of your time thinking, trust your own experiences to help you plan well, keep work meaningful, keep work simple, make every minute count, use all time spent with your students to teach and assess, make ongoing evaluation part of every literacy activity, reevaluate time blocks, and cultivate a love of learning.  There were many other sections that had valuable information to take back, but at this time I can only take back and implement so much!  Again, we only have so much time! :)

I also feel that sometimes we use time as an excuse or a clutch.  The chapter encouraged me to look at myself as I teach and how I use my time.  As a teacher, our time is very valuable and precious.  We need to make the most most of our time and make our teaching more meaningful for our students!  Our students are the reason we have a job or teach and it is time to make it the most for them!