I have tackled the first chapter of the book '100 Minutes' by: Lisa Donohue and I have to say that I am so excited to take her ideas and use them in my classroom next year.
At this point I only have my student teaching experience to use as experience in what to do and what not to do. I was a Spring student teacher and it wasn't until I came into the classroom that my teacher implemented her small group/whole group reading instruction. She admitted that she did not feel comfortable with this style of learning. She spent about a day going over procedures and then the students went around the room doing their small group work with a buddy. She put the students into small groups and we would meet with them for about 15 minutes to read, but it seemed more like to access them because we took tons of running records.
A lot of time was spent redirecting students behavior and I never saw her go over their writing topics (she did have a center for writing). At the end of the week we would throw them away and put a new topic in a folder and I never saw her read or work with a student out of the writing folder. If I didn't see the purpose of the centers I can only imagine what the students thought.
I DO NOT want to be that teacher!
I WILL NOT be that teacher!
On page 18 the example of a classroom day seems heavenly, I just have to wonder how long it really takes for a new teacher to get to this point. The new district I am starting with stated in my interview that they spend the first 20 days of school on procedures, so I have to wonder is this when I implement my action plan? Do they "practice" but not actually do work during the 20 days of school procedures? They spoke heavily about reading centers and literacy blocks but did not give a specific amount of time that is allotted, my impression is A LOT.
