Can you believe we’re approaching the end of our summer book study?!
This chapter was all about the thoughtful use of time! Isn’t this one of our biggest issues in the classroom?!?! So much to do and so little time?!?!
I want to share a couple of quotes that really hit home for me…
“Learning by doing takes time…”
This year time is going to be a major adjustment for me because I am moving to a new school that has a shorter day! My day will be an hour shorter this year so fitting it all in is going to be even more of a challenge!
This sums it up so powerfully. Our students learn by doing. Hands on. Engaging activities that challenge them to figure things out. Not by doing worksheets or test prep packets. But by doing with the their hands and this takes time. We need to build this time into our day and not be driven by timers (GUILTY, Party of GREG!)!!
“Keep it simple…”
This is something else I’m really working on. Not everything has to be big and fancy and Pinterest worthy. In fact, it’s those little moments in the classroom that matter the most. This year my classroom has been simplified (as far as decorations…) which means tons of room for student work! My center system is simplified for me (teacher friendly and easily managed) and the ‘staches. Kid friendly=independence=more time for me to do what they need me to do!
Conferring
My big take away from this book is conferring!!!! Not just talking to my ‘staches, but talking with them, listening to them, and discussing their work with them to personalize instruction and build that all important relationship with each student!
And finally, this year I am going to work on making conferring part of my day! I love the challenge that Debbie issues on page 119 of Teaching With Intention: commit to one or two conferences a day for two or three weeks and you’ll be hooked!
So, let’s challenge ourselves to making conferring part of our day! Who’s with me??
And finally, two quotes from the book that I hope you’ll carry with you each day:
“Remember then that there is only one important time and that time is now.”
“And remember, when you walk in to the classroom, you are a brilliant teacher, okay?”
Indeed. We are all brilliant teachers. And we are the cool kids and we are all the popular kids!
Next week, I will be speaking to Debbie Miller about the book and asking her your questions!!!!! Stay tuned for details!
Be sure to link up your post about chapter 8!