Google Site

Here is a link to my Google Website :) Enjoy!

https://sites.google.com/site/mastersinreading12/

Bonding with Your Students

The modeling by people that we love is what changes us.

-Don Holdaway

You would not know how many times during the school year my students accidently call me “mom.” Although I do not have children of my own, I consider my students my children! I think having a bond with your students will allow you to help them learn. 

To bond with your students means that you:

-Treat them and their families with respect.

-Act kindly toward them.

-Show that we care about them.

-Listen to them.

-Keep them safe.

-Celebrate their efforts and accomplishments.

-Know their interests and incorporate those interests into the curriculum.

-Provide optimal learning conditions.

-Make sure they succeed from the very first day.

-Have faith in them as learners.

-Value them as individuals.

Teaching kindergarten, most of my students still love being loved. They tell me every morning how much they missed me, come up to me during all times of the day just to give me a hug, and many of them tell me they love me. I completely understand the importance of bonding with my students and I always work hard for each and every one of my students. I never belittle my students and I am always striving for success for every child in my classroom. I model for them constantly about how to be respectful and responsible and try my best to build a classroom learning community where all students feel safe.

As this chapter continues the author discusses how to encourage shared decision making in your classroom. You should tell students stories of things that happen in your life. I do this every after every weekend with my students and sometimes I wonder why they are so fascinated with the things I do! As a teacher we need to value our students’ stories and read stories aloud to them. We need to get to know our students as readers and learn about their reading lives at home. Most of all we need to enjoy and celebrate our students!

Reading Essentials

I have chosen to read the book “Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well” by Regie Routman. Being a kindergarten teacher I am very excited to start reading this book. I would like to learn the essentials of reading so I can develop new ways to teach reading to my students.

When I began reading the book I was instantly engaged. The first chapter really spoke to me. The title of the chapter was Simplify Your Teaching Life. The author goes out to schools and into classrooms to help teachers. She stated that if we want our students to be excited about literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy learners themselves, who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children’s lives and who can put high stakes testing in perspective. With that being said I could not agree more! As well, she states that many times this is not possible because we are constantly exhausted from an overstuffed curriculum and have no time to collaborate, reflect, and renew ourselves.

Having only been a teacher for a mere three years I like to believe that I could do all the things I needed to do in order to get my students excited about literacy. Sadly, I feel completely overwhelmed with the amount of work I have to do on a weekly basis and find myself struggling to find time to reflect on my lessons or collaborate effectively with my team.

Something I always need to remember is that there is no one “right” way or best way to teach. The answer depends on your students. As teachers we often complicate our teaching lives. We are so focused on the programs instead of the students. We have elaborate time consuming management systems rather than simple and effectives ones. The list goes on and on. We need to view teaching ad an art supported by science.

How can we get back to the basics of what really matters in teaching and learning?

• ·         Inspiring ongoing curiosity and a love of learning.
• ·         Acquiring the skills and tools to learn and go on learning.
• ·         Guaranteeing immediate and continued success.
• ·         Ensuring that learners become thinking, probing users of language.
• ·         Implementing challenging and relevant curriculum.
• ·         Establishing and sustaining collaborative and caring communities.

I am excited to continue reading and blogging about this book!