So as I started reading the book, I found MANY interesting topics to start talking about. However, one really caught my eye and I feel it is important enough to include in this blog...
Debbie Miller (the author) discusses in the second chapter of her book the importance of establishing mutual trust with your students. I could not agree with "Deb" more!
I feel trust is one of the most important aspects that goes into a classroom. If your students do not trust you as a person, how will they ever trust you as their teacher? So many teachers focus immediatly on assignments and lessons and the ever-so-famous TEKS (for us Texas folks!). I feel the first thing a teacher needs to do is gain trust!
"Deb" also discusses how teachers need to expect "big things" from themselves, not just the students. I feel that all teachers need to expect great things of themselves and never settle for just "so-so" and "ok".
It is important to take all of this into consideration when teaching reading. Teaching a child to read (with meaning..hehe...) is one of the most important jobs a teacher has. Once the child learns to read, he/she can do almost anything!
Give students the opportunity to make their own choices and trust that they will make the right decision. I'm not saying allow a first grader to read To Kill a Mockingbird, but if he/she wants to try a harder book, let them. However, remember to help them and this decision along the way.
"Deb" ends this section discussing how teachers do almost everything for their students. Do teachers really need to help their students remember to go to the restroom? Do teachers really need to restock materials in the cabinet? I don't think so! If students start to trust in themselves that they can do things, they will begin to trust in themselves that they can read and write wonderfully!
Here is a link to videos about establishing a community of readers and writers.
http://www.learner.org/resources/series205.html?pop=yes&pid=2204#
Did any of this make sense to ANYONE but me? Happy reading!
-Sarah
5 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more! Trust is extremely important in any classroom experience. If your students trust you, then they can learn how to trust their peers. Isn't this a goal that we all should strive for? I also feel that it is extremely important to gain your students trust because once that is done the learning will follow. If students trust their teachers than they will be able to trust themsleves, and strive for the best that they can be!
I really agreed with the importance of establishing responsibility and trust in the classroom. I think a lot of us that are around children (myself included) have a hard time passing over the responsibility of small chores just because we are so concerned with getting them done quickly and properly. We don't stop and ask ourselves what tasks we do that we could be TRUSTING our students to do.
Sarah, you used your space in your post well. It was must easier to read because of your spacing.
I think it's so important to build independence in your children. I'm glad you brought that part out.
Marva S.
I completely agree with you about estabilishing relationships and trust. This was the part of the first chapters that stuck out to me too. I really liked how she had so much to say and examples. I think that building trust with you students is the biggest thing and should be the starting point for everything else.
I think I speak for everyone when I say, "Yes, I agree!" Trust is so important. If a student doesn't trust you, then they will not feel comfortable in the classroom. If they do not feel comfortable, then it will be so much harder for them to learn.
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