Angie Smith - Blog Post #2: Routman Ch. 12 "You Only Have So Much Time"
"The elusive balanced life remains a mirage. Your time is valuable. Spend it in the most meaningful, productive ways possible." I tell my husband at least once per week that I want to be more productive. I want to work smarter and not harder. I believe that Routman lays out some very practical and meaningful advice in this chapter on becoming a more effective teacher through meaningful planning and scheduling.
Another quote that stood out to me was, "We are not only role models for learning, we are role models for living." What struck me most about this statement was not the role model I am for my students, but the role model that I am for my personal children. They see that I work until 6:00, 7:00, even 7:30 on Friday evenings. They see the bag of work that I bring home to finish on the weekends and how I spend countless hours at the kitchen table working instead of enjoying my time with them. I want to be a better role model for my two children. I want them to see that there can be a balance between work life and personal life.
Routman discusses the importance of creating literacy tasks that are meaningful and motivate students to become readers and writers. She also states that teachers should keep work simple. I often try to make lessons more involved than needed. My special needs students need simple activities that are highly engaging, but brief because of their limited ability to sustain attention. By reflecting on what matters most for my students, I have found areas of improvement in my schedule, instructional practices, and planning practices. I desire to make the most of every single moment that I have with my students each day. By making some simple yet meaningful changes, I believe that I can be a more effective teacher by becoming a teacher who is less stressed!
"The elusive balanced life remains a mirage. Your time is valuable. Spend it in the most meaningful, productive ways possible." I tell my husband at least once per week that I want to be more productive. I want to work smarter and not harder. I believe that Routman lays out some very practical and meaningful advice in this chapter on becoming a more effective teacher through meaningful planning and scheduling.
Another quote that stood out to me was, "We are not only role models for learning, we are role models for living." What struck me most about this statement was not the role model I am for my students, but the role model that I am for my personal children. They see that I work until 6:00, 7:00, even 7:30 on Friday evenings. They see the bag of work that I bring home to finish on the weekends and how I spend countless hours at the kitchen table working instead of enjoying my time with them. I want to be a better role model for my two children. I want them to see that there can be a balance between work life and personal life.
Routman discusses the importance of creating literacy tasks that are meaningful and motivate students to become readers and writers. She also states that teachers should keep work simple. I often try to make lessons more involved than needed. My special needs students need simple activities that are highly engaging, but brief because of their limited ability to sustain attention. By reflecting on what matters most for my students, I have found areas of improvement in my schedule, instructional practices, and planning practices. I desire to make the most of every single moment that I have with my students each day. By making some simple yet meaningful changes, I believe that I can be a more effective teacher by becoming a teacher who is less stressed!
Angie, I agree. The struggle is real between your children at school and your children at home and it is a very difficult balance that becomes easily one sided. I like your thoughts on simpler, yet engaging lessons. I, too, tend to overplan and try to cram too much into one lesson because there is so much to cover. I often find that this is less effective and am trying to learn to give myself permission to take it slower and go deeper rather than try and cram more in.
ReplyDeleteAngie, I agree. The struggle is real between your children at school and your children at home and it is a very difficult balance that becomes easily one sided. I like your thoughts on simpler, yet engaging lessons. I, too, tend to overplan and try to cram too much into one lesson because there is so much to cover. I often find that this is less effective and am trying to learn to give myself permission to take it slower and go deeper rather than try and cram more in.
ReplyDeleteI must confess that I have not found a very good balance myself. I guess it all starts with those simple but high quality lessons in the classroom. Unfortunately, in a highly demanding classroom like yours, providing simplicity can get complicated. This is where we need to trust ourselves in deciding what is truly important and meaningful and what is not, then act on that knowledge.
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