Thursday, January 14, 2016
Kelli Donald's Blog Post #5: Routman Chapter 4--Teach with a Sense of Urgency
I love chapter 4 Teach with a Sense of Urgency because it is so true. Teaching with a sense of urgency doesn't necessarily mean to teach like the school is on fire, but to make everyday and every moment count. Because in the big scheme of things, we have very limited amount of quality instructional time with our students each year, and we need to make the very best of each moment. Everything we do in the classroom needs to be based on the optimal learning model to maximize our students' potential. It is not ideal to spend 30 minutes lecturing and leave 10 minutes for the students to practice the new skill. When I was a beginning teacher, I thought good teaching meant me talking for the majority of the day. I now know that the best learning comes when the students are the ones doing the work while I facilitate the experience. We want our students maxing out their potential everyday. To me, that's what teaching with a sense of urgency means. We should spend our days using the optimal learning model by demonstrating the skill with gradual release.
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I lol-ed at your comment about not teaching like the school is on fire! Gradual release gives those students the support they need while proving the time, opportunity, and independence they need to grow and learn! Thank you Kelli!
ReplyDeleteHi Kelli,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that what Miller is advocating for us as teachers it to be purposeful with our planning and to intentionally prioritize what is most important in our lessons, on our schedule, in our conversations and conferences and in our assignments. Many times as teachers we see teaching as what we are doing in front of the class - but Miller points out that what is most effective is what the students are doing and how we are supporting their growth.