Victoria Ferguson- Blog 3- You only have so much time

Blog Post 3: Routman

You Only Have so Much Time

            The first section of this chapter talks directly to teachers and how we spend out time. As educators we can’t forgot out lives outside of school. Routman explains that we need to spend most of our time thinking. She gives questions that we can keep in mind all of the time. Following the questions Routman explains that we need to trust our own experiences. Guidelines, curriculum, and standards don’t help us to understand out students. This takes us back to her point of “spend most of your time thinking.” We need to meet the needs of our students. We have to get to know them, trust what we know based on experience, and then spend our time thinking about the goals, process, and expectations for our students. We all know a good program can’t help us get to know our students.

            As educators we need to keep work simple, meaningful, and make every minute count. If you look at the list of things that can allow us to keep work simple and meaningful we find many of the traits of balanced literacy. I believe we need more time to implement balanced literacy into our curriculum. We need to focus our literacy time on allowing students to be engaged in text. We need to plan explicit instruction for each group of readers (especially our struggling readers).

            Routman suggest we make ongoing evaluation part of every literacy activity. This year I am choosing to use a padlet (one large one that includes a padlet for each student) for my reading conference notes. This is not a place for students to respond. This is a quick way for me to write down notes while conferencing with my students. This is more efficient and effective for me. I have access to these notes at all times. I can also quickly get to another students page to leave a note. I would love to share how I do this and its benefits with anyone who is struggling to keep up with reading conference notes.

            I really connected with the section about “Time Yourself.” I constantly set a timer for myself during instruction. I don’t want to get long-winded and lose my students attention. It’s important for me to teach, and then let them give it a try. I also like to give them a chance to talk to one another (sometimes kids explain these to another kid in a way we haven’t thought about).

            The section in this chapter about making good use of time really made me think about my schedule. I, just like Routman, don’t run into work and get started right away on my busy work. Our students are the same way, they want to come in and start the day off in a relaxed way. I am going to take this section and re-evaluate my morning and afternoon routine.

            Finally, I want to cultivate a love of learning. I want students to want to learn at all times. I can see it in most students they want to learn, they tune in each time you talk (at lunch, at recess, in the hallway, during a silly-story you choose to tell). I want to make sure that I am a joyful teacher, one that encourages exploration, a love for learning new things. I don’t want my students to be afraid to ask and learn. I hope that my students will remember me because I taught them not only the content but to love learning and school. I want them to no feel like I am running a ship, yet I am the facilitator of their learning. I want them to know I support them in their learning.