Hi Jill
So great to hear from you on this pod cast. It was no surprise to see you are traveling a new path on your journey influencing our educational lives.
It was like you were sitting right here in Oklahoma and the miles between us disappeared.
Reflect, plan, act is such a great operating framework. Reflection is essential in the life of a teacher who is invested in his/her classroom. As you stated it leads to planning and then acting on those plans. While it sounds like a simple cycle it requires a lot of work at varying degrees of preparation. This is a good message to get across.
I really enjoyed the conversation you had with your sister. Many key ideas coming through but I will highlight my favorite. I think when any age student is reading to self it is imperative that the teachers is circulating the room with conferring sheet in hand. Whether it is reading or writing independent time, the student doing the work on their own, this is the time as a teacher where I learn from and about my students. These conferring sessions give me insights into my next moves with students individually and/or trends that I see in the whole class that need teaching into. So, so important conferring with students. I cringe if I hear a student describe themselves as a Level H reader etc. We certainly want them to be reading independently at their “Just Right Reading Level” to grow them as a reader. In my mind, I want to hear students say things like; I love reading mysteries. Or I am reading to learn all I can about sharks. Or Eric Carle is my favorite author and my goal is to read all his books. He writes about nature and I love nature. Or I love books fiction and nonfiction about sports.
Jill keep up the great work and thanks for coming to see me in Oklahoma through pod casting!
SCronk
