There is never enough time in the day to get everything done and more importantly, done effectively. Chapter 1 in Miller's book described this scenario, which is nothing any of us have not heard before a million times over. However, the chapter did make me realize how so very much time is wasted with the traditional things like morning shows, transitions, and morning work. This year I have made it my personal goal to give my students work that is worthwhile and engages them from the start of the day. This is not only very beneficial to my students, but also very time consuming for me.
I agree with the author that independent reading time should be so much more then just sitting at a desk with a book pretending to read. The students should be given the opportunity to reflect on their reading. They should also be taught different strategies of reflection to give them choice and make it more meaningful to them. I love to confer with my students about the books they are reading, which poses another challenge with time. Conferencing with all 23 of my students and making it meaningful is something that will take time for me to master. Giving students the opportunity to read independently and respond to their reading through a variety of methods is essential in their growth as readers.
Preach it girl. There are definitely not enough hours in the day. I am struggling with how to teach everything they need in a day, and have time to conference with each of my students regularly. Like you said I guess I will have to make the time I do have with them meaningful!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that there is never enough time and conferencing with all of my students was my biggest challenge! You are definitely on the right track as you take a close look at the things that don't make the most of the time you have. I have seen you at work---you clearly get to know your students and are able to keep them engaged. I think accepting that we will always have to work on something, just like getting to the gym, we will continue to do our best while we give it the highest priority that we can with each given day.
ReplyDeleteI know you are working hard to make every minute engaging in your classroom. Hopefully the benefits of conferencing with students will result in exponential growth!
ReplyDeleteTime is definitely the enemy. I struggle each day with the question, "How can I fit all of the curriculum in such a short amount of time"? I have yet to figure out the answer. So then I almost feel that I'm faced with the decision, Quality or Quantity? Can it really be both? Sometimes I doubt the quality of my lessons due to the lack of time.
ReplyDeleteI love that you took a critical look at your morning work routines and decided to make some changes in your students' best interests (and your own!). It sounds like you have a goal to reach more children in conferences. Did you get any new ideas for that from this chapter?
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