Sunday, March 20, 2011
Chapter 12
I think this chapter is what it all comes down to-making every minute count. It is so hard to expose the students to everything that we would like in just a few, short hours a day. We need to combine skills when possible and make our activities meaningful to our students. Busy work should be a thing of the past. We don't have time or energy for time fillers and meaningless projects. In order for our students to get the most out of their educaiton, it is up to us as teachers to fill their days with fun, engaging, and important skill building activities. When students read and write across the curriculum, they are being exposed to these areas more often and in more meaningful ways than if they only do writing during "writing time". By doing this we are also freeing up time for ourselves. It is important that we don't become so bogged down with school work-grading, planning, etc. that we forget to take care of ourselves. Teachers need to enjoy coming to work and retain their love of teaching in order to be able to pass that love of learning on to their students. This can only be done by taking care of ourselves and enjoying down time to do the things that we love.
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Great job of summing up this chapter, Missie! I agree that as teachers we need to make sure our daily lessons are meaningful, engaging, and effective in helping our students make academic and social progress. I feel that it's very important for teachers to look at everything they have planned for the day and ask themselves what is the purpose of this lesson/activity/worksheet? I feel I am much more aware of this after reading this book and taking this course. Also, great point that we teachers must take time for ourselves. There are weeks that I get so busy with planning for my first graders, completing assignments for this class, and taking care of my family that I feel completely bogged down - this is not good for anyone.
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