Balanced Literacy: Reaching All Readers Summer II: Chapter Eight: "This is now my favorite chapter!! Though I have not had a lot of teaching experience, when I am teaching, I let it consume my life. I am on..."
Just like our students need to learn for the real world, we as teachers need to come across as real people with real interests, real hobbies, and real abilities that extend beyond the classroom. By sharing our real selves(always within professional parameters) with our students, we open opportunities for them to be expressive about what their hopes and fears are. Regie concludes with a section about relying on hope. We can make our optimism contagious to our students...when we are showing a positive view of our students abilities they will start to believe, "I can do it!"
Pg. 128 – “…but keeping a few hours each day for living enabled me to keep some balance in my life. Without that balance, I could not maintain the high energy and commitment needed to do optimal work.”
ReplyDeleteI struggle with this! Being a first year teacher with no family responsibilities leaves me in a place where I have the time to absolutely pour everything I have into teaching and learning. People around me have to pull me out of my job sometimes because I spend so much time doing. I am learning to find a balance, and I know that is important to keep my energy and passion for what I do.
Pg. 128 – “The very first thing I do when I enter a classroom is tell stories—about my life, my family, what I like to do, what I’m reading.”
This is something I do very well. I share much of my life with my students. I have my family
members come and volunteer in my classroom. I make sure my students know when I am
dealing with something outside of school. I relate my stories to life lessons that could be
of value to them. I think it’s vitally important to be honest and open (while maintaining professionalism and appropriateness) with students about my life.
Pg 131 – “One week, one semester, one year with an outstanding teacher can change a child’s life forever. Rise above the distractions and regulations and naysayers. Focus on the hildren in front of you, and create genuine hope for their futures. They deserve the best of what you have to offer.”
This is such a positive way to end the book. We truly do have the best job in the world.
What we do and see everyday will have an effect that never ends. Children, therefore, really do deserve the best of what we have to offer.
This chapter is a postiive and uplifting way to end the book! Giving students a glimpse of who you are, what you are interested in and letting them know that you make mistakes too is an important part of building a student/teacher relationship. Telling stories along the way allows students to learn more about you and can serve as a great means in which to introduce a new topic or strategy. It is important to keep a healthy balance between being an effective teacher inside the classroom and being able to enjoy being "you" outside the classroom. Finally, optimism and enthusiasm can only impact your students in a positive way!
ReplyDeleteRoutman's final chapter gives affirmation to the rest of the book. Having a life and sharing that life with your students let's them know that you are a person too. They can immediately identify with you...this is foundation building, which loops around to the beginning of the book. When students see you in the process of doing, questioning, stumbling, and succeeding...they get empowered too. This does foster the "I can do it!" attitude...as Mary stated above...and yes, it is contagious!
ReplyDelete