I feel that I have many more skills to "make every minute count" as I am teaching writing next year because I have more knowledge about how to use conversations, choose writing prompts, and assist students while they are writing.
A second part of the chapter talked about "making every minute count" in a teacher's personal life. Routman suggests that just because a teacher works late hours or grades every writing paper the students write, doesn't mean the teacher is the best teacher. Routman suggests teachers make changes in traditional writing assessments so that teachers are not assessing writing papers all night. I am slowly learning that teachers do not have to be at school late or grade every paper with a fine-toothed comb, but it is difficult. I do not think it is bad to be at school working late, but teachers have to have a life too. I am looking forward to making small changes to my writing classroom that will make a big difference in the quality of my students' writing.
Hopefully I will not be feeling like this during writing ever again. This clip art was found at this link.
I feel the same way that you do about feeling the need to grade every paper. I hate having the students do work that I don't grade and give feedback on. I can say that I very rarely bring papers home to grade, but I give up my lunch hour, etc. to grade papers so that I can come home and be with my family. I firmly believe that this is a necessity in my life. But, writing gives me the biggest worries during teaching. I feel like I teach the material clearly and effectively, but I am unable to ensure that every student is getting it. I have to admit that writing is my least favorite part of my day and that is sad.
ReplyDeleteI wish my mother in law had read this. She's a retired teacher and would stay at school until 8 or 10 o'clock at night. I found myself doing the exact opposite of what Routman suggests. I was grading every single writing paper and spending all my free time working and working and working and working....I am always surprised at the small and simple reminders we get through these textbooks!
ReplyDeleteMy teacher instinct is to grade everything my students turn in because I want to give them feedback and I want them to feel as though I valued the assignment. I worry about middle school students becoming unmotivated to do their work if I stop grading everything. I think with younger students to can get away with it because the middle school students remember every little thing you have them do and turn it. They ask me about their assignments if I take more than a day to get them back to them.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a challenge to find this balance. When is it too much and when is it not enough? It probably also depends on the student. Some students will look "into it" more when you don't grade papers and then when you do. Thanks for the comments.
ReplyDeleteDuring my first year teaching, I WAS one of those teachers who would get to school two hours early and stay two hours late. I was always finding more "stuff" to do. Time was a very challenging area for me during my first year of teaching.
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