Samantha Guest, Blog Post #4. Routman: Chapter 12: You Only Have So Much Time

I’m sure every teacher always asks the question “Is there enough time?” I find myself saying often “If only we had more time…” There is so much that I want to do, make, read, write, and teach to my class but it just seems like there is never enough time in the day to get to it all. Because I am a new teacher I am so excited to teach my class and everything that we are doing is new to me. I have so many ideas of things I want to do with my students. I have found from reading this chapter that time is valuable and we should all use it in the most meaningful productive ways possible. I also like the point about how if the classroom activities are not helping my students become more independent readers, writers, and thinkers then maybe I should set it aside. Sometimes there are great, cute activities for my young students to do but I have to make sure they are learning and benefiting from each activity that we do. To make the most of your teaching time it’s important to focus on one or two very important teaching points and do them well. Hit those points and try not to just stuff your lesson with things that really are not as important. This will help to maximize your instructional time. I really thought the section about using transitional periods as teaching times applied to me and my class specifically. We spend so much time transitioning multiple times a day I think it would be so beneficial to use this time to reinforce teaching. For example, I can reinforce colors by saying “If you are wearing blue please line up.”

I also loved the point that it made in one section of the chapter about living an interesting life as a teacher. Some teachers often spend countless hours creating fabulous projects, centers, and worksheets, but that is not the best way we can help our students become better readers and writers. They will become better readers and writers if they receive excellent instruction. It’s also important to still make time for your friends, family, and doing what you love outside of teaching  because we are not only role models for learning, but role models for living.