Section 1 of Miller is an eye-opening text. After reading this selection, I reflected on
my daily practices and the seconds that add up to valuable minutes I spend on
things in my classroom. For example,
transitions. I cannot tell you how many
times when we’ve transitioned from one activity to another that I’ve wasted
valuable time. In the moment, it doesn’t
seem like wasted time. Of course you
want every student to have his/her materials ready, sitting quietly, eagerly
listening to the teacher to see what the next learning adventure will be in
less than 30 seconds. Unfortunately,
that rarely happens. In reality, it
takes at least three to four minutes (on a good day) to make that happen. Three to four minutes may not sound like
much, but how quickly that adds up!
That’s twenty wasted minutes a week, eighty wasted minutes per month,
and so on. You get the point! That’s
valuable time that could be spent on valuable teaching moments, including
reading! I think it is imperative that all teachers take a step back and
reflect on their daily habits and procedures so that wasted time can be
minimized and learning can be maximized!
~Sarah Lanier
I agree with you that sometimes it doesn't seem like we waste a lot of time until we dare to add those seconds and minutes up over the course of the day, week, month, and dare I say, year! It seems like many people are trying to tighten up their days to make the most of the time we do have with our students. However, there are practices that some have in our repertoire that no longer are needed. That's hard to get past when it has become a habit. Reading, experiencing, and reflecting on new approaches always seems to help--and even bigger changes like you've experienced helps to keep things fresh, purposeful, and productive.
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