Jaime Steading's Blog Post 7--Routman Chapt. 12: You Only Have So Much Time

This has been a very busy year and this was a good time to read this chapter.  There haven been so many articles, lately, about teacher burn-out, people leaving the profession, and student teachers quitting before they even get started.  It's alarming and, to be honest, this year has been a struggle for me.  It is easy to let the stress overtake you at times and let the job consume you, but this chapter has reminded me of the importance of taking care of myself personally, so that I can be my best professionally. "Staying until six or seven each evening doesn't necessarily make us more effective teachers."  This statement stung a little.  I am learning that it is okay to let some things wait and take the time for myself and for my family.

Routman says that we should not overly rely on teacher's editions, but instead trust our own experiences to help us plan well.  This has been a difficult thing for me to learn this year, but I have gained much more confidence in my ability to stray from the script and really focus on what my students are saying and doing and guide them in their efforts to self-correct their own errors.  She also suggests keeping work simple and keeping it meaningful.  I have worked on simplifying independent work so my students feel successful and are still able to work on reading skills.

Another idea that Routman mentions is to make ongoing evaluation a priority.  It should be integrated into everything all day.  One way this can also be accomplished is by making transitional times teaching times.  While students are waiting, you can do a fun game using phonemic awareness, rhyming words, vocabulary, or spelling.  This allows you to not only review important skills, but to quickly assess where students are on a particular task.  This is something that I have done a lot of in the past, but have let slide this year.  I would like to incorporate more of this back into my day.

A final idea that Routman shares is starting the day in a relaxed way.  She suggests allowing students to make choices between reading and writing anywhere in the room, talking with friends, and moving around the room, rather than doing busy work, to help start the day in a less stressful way.  Our mornings always feel very stressful as there is much to be done with attendance, receipting money, lunch counts, etc.  I would love to incorporate some of these ideas into my morning routine to see if it relieves some of the stress and anxiety that the teachers and students often start the day with.  

This article reminded me of the importance of a teacher having a life outside the classroom.  The more interesting I am as a person, the more interesting I am as a teacher.  If I am stressed out, exhausted, and not enjoying life, it makes it much more difficult to enjoy my job and my students pick up on this.  This can lead to stressful mornings, which in turn lead to stressful days.  Finding a balance is the key.  I think this can be accomplished by incorporating some of Routman's strategies into my personal and professional life.