Vinyard Post #7

I am not going to lie, my first year I feel that I was doing it all wrong! I'm sure I was doing just fine, but after this year I learned much that the book was suggesting about how to teach without exhausting yourself. I'm not going to lie, I'm still very exhausted, especially from just going through SAFE-T, but I have grown so much as a teacher. I still have those times during the week where I have to miss things that I would like to do, but I do not let work overwhelm me as I use to. I love the advice the chapter gives about how to think about what YOU want them to know and learn instead of relying on text books and other pre-made tests and such. Last year, I was not supplied or given many resources at all and actually came up with a lot of notes and tests and quizzes on my own. I like that the book says that you need to keep work meaningful and to create tests that are meaningful to your students and tailored to their needs.
Often times my students get frustrated with me when I pair them to read or work with each other because they are not working with their "friends". I try to explain to them that reading with different partners will strengthen their readers and help them!
Like the author said, I spend a lot of time thinking about my lesson plans. Often times I will be riding in the car and an idea will pop in my head for a great lesson on one of our standards. I will take the time to write it down before I forget and soon it grows into an entire lesson. I love the idea of making lessons tailored to your students and making them your own instead of getting them from a book. Although being a teacher is exhausting, knowing your students and creating meaningful lessons is most beneficial to students. I think that over the years teaching will become almost a second nature. I have taken every bit of advice over the past 2 years in order to not completely exhaust myself!