McKenzie Blanton blog #3 Routman, “You Only Have So Much Time”

               This chapter was a very affirming one. At times I have felt like I am the only one who feels like I just can’t leave work at work. I am constantly thinking about work and how things could be done differently. I bring work home at night and on the weekends. I feel like I do try to have a separate “real” life but it just doesn’t seem like there is enough time in the day for all of the must do items. Time has always been an issue but the past couple of years my to-do list of teacher items just seems to be growing. Although I know it everyone feels similarly it is nice to see it in print.

               The chapter also gave a different take than I have heard in a while on teacher guides. I have most recently heard people explaining that sticking to a teacher guide is what is best. Her view was quite different. She explained that these are resources. This was so encouraging to hear. I feel like she was giving the power back to the teacher as far as decision making within the classroom. She totally understood that the classroom teacher has a reason why she is doing the lessons that she is. Teachers that were doing things differently than what she would do she made gentle suggestions to try new ideas. She told them to just try it and not worry about the outcome the first time. This is a concept that is hard to do because people do seem to only think about the lessons that didn’t go as planned. I think this is a free pass to try a new strategy and not think about if it failed, just keep trying.