Teach With a Sense of Urgency
Routman Ch. 4
"Run, run Rudolph 'cause I'm 'reeling like a merry-go-round!"
If there is a Christmas Carol for the school year that goes a long with the chapter titled "Teach with a sense of urgency", Run Run Rudolph would be the perfect one.
The Christmas season has us all feeling a little stretched for time and with all the fun things that there are to do during the Christmas season we can't forget that there are still standards to be taught and lessons to be learned. We have to continue with our LRP's and preserver through the "Ba-humbugs" and do it all with a smile on our faces. I thought this chapter was absolutely fitting to save till December to read, and I enjoyed reading it this month. It gave me hope for the next two weeks that in room 111 while we might be doing our best because Santa is watching we are also doing our best because we have to "raise our expectations" and know that our students can do the work if we teach it in a manner that will keep them interested.
My favorite section of this chapter was "Integrate Basic Skills into Challenging, Relevant Curriculum". During this time of year it is hard to make more things more relevant than Christmas, snow, gingerbread, and looking forward to the new year, and some times we have to integrate our content into those areas! I always enjoy the challenge of integrating a whole unit: how can I spin this lesson to make it more than a subject lesson but a unit we can dive into for a whole week?! Those are the units I love planning! As a kindergarten teacher it is always so much fun planning integrations because we are not tied down with a whole group reading book and our math curriculum is flexible enough that we can make the lesson relevant and keep students interest on the subject.
Teaching with a sense of urgency to me (since I've skipped around a bit in Routman's book) was a good place to land for the month of December because it touched on keeping students interest, making things relevant, being sure not to lower your expectations for students but to raise your expectations and students will rise to the occasion. This chapter gave me hope for the next two weeks and gave me the boost that I needed in order to triumph through the next two weeks till Christmas break!
Good words! Great reflection! What I loved most about your blog post was your love of integration. OF COURSE we have to talk about snow and gingerbread and Christmas, etc. during December. It is not only fun - it is part of our culture. Integration is necessary if we want to do it all and get it all done. Thanks for keeping the smile on your face - even 5 days before Christmas break! :)
ReplyDeleteYes, planning integrated units is definitely my favorite part of teaching too!! It gives context to the learning, which is definitely part of teaching with urgency. :-)
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