Have you ever had kids do highlighting on something? Did you ever say something like - Don't highlight everything or nothing will be important? That's how I feel about Chapter 4, Creating Classroom Cultures that Support and Prompt Student Thinking. I felt like I was trying to highlight everything! I kept tell myself to focus on the really important stuff.
Then I started a post - and boy, it sounded blah! But since then, my one thought on this chapter is something Debbie Miller suggested. She says, "I keep a notebook with me when I teach." And then she captures or writes down, things the children say. She calls them insightful or poignant things. She does add that this might be awkward at first.
Umm, yeah. I tried it today. I only made it through the morning. On a little 3 x 5 notebook, I had about 3 pages of things that kids said. I didn't just do insightful things - I did some behavior things, some encouraging words little friends shared with each other, and so on. I am finding that the end of the school year is the perfect time to try some things to see if I like how they go - before I implement them next year. Does anyone keep a notebook with them to record things that happen in their classroom? What do you record? How does it go?
And just to keep things in perspective - this is what we woke up to this morning:
This has been a good week, but I'm so looking forward to Friday. How about you?
Sara
Congrats on 100! I haven't tried Debbie's idea. I suppose it would help me to slow down sometimes and listen better too. :)
ReplyDelete❀ Tammy
Forever in First