Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Teaching with Intention by Debbie Miller-8th reflection~ The Thoughtful Use of Time

I am currently working with a group of educators in Central Ohio and the Literacy Connection. Our focus this year is Teaching with Intention by Debbie Miller. This post is in response to chapter eight, The Thoughtful Use of Time. 
This chapter (as Debbie's words often do) gives me room to breathe! I began the chapter with fear and skepticism. Yes, for the FIRST TIME I had doubt in Debbie's precious words! For those of you who know me you are SHOCKED to read this, no doubt! 
Debbie talks about "creating the luscious feeling of endless time." This sounds like an impossible dream.  
Debbie soon defines endless time as determining what we need to teach and taking the time to teach it well and having a predictable structure in our day. Predictable structures in our day allow our kids to know what to expect next us to focus on teaching and less on directions and management. 
Debbie knows kids and she knows teaching. "The luscious feeling of endless time" now seems possible! 
We should all consider these words when designing classroom structures and lessons for our kids~
"But when getting done takes precedence over doing, when finishing becomes more important than figuring out, we've lost sight of why we've become teachers in the first place; we've lost sight of what we know to be true. In our rush to try to fit everything in, we've forgotten that children learn by doing. And doing takes time. " 
 Debbie goes on to explain how this predictable structure enables the teacher to focus on the student, the learning and not the clock. This chapter will allow all teachers room to breathe and our kid's room to grow by giving us all permission to think about the kids and the learning! 

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