This quote was said in the beginning of Chapter 10 and it is one that has hit me the most as a future educator. I think it is so important to build confidence in students so that they challenge themselves to try more difficult tasks. As their teacher and role model, I hope to be a source of emotional support for them and a source of constant encouragement. One of the characteristics about my favorite elementary teacher is that she was so encouraging. She absolutely never made me feel stupid if I incorrectly stated the answer in front of the whole class, or did poorly on a graded assignment. She was always there with a loving, warm smile and encouraging words for next time. This is so important so that students do not become discouraged, therefore prohibiting them to excel. As stated in Chapter 10, "the emotion aspect of teaching can either impede learning or cause it to flourish.
Since these chapters were focused on mini-lessons and improving craft through conferences, it was nice to pay attention to specific detail in the examples so that I could start to make a mental routine of how one should sound. I thought it was really important when Hale pointed out that if someone is too bust noticing the gap between what students are doing and where they are "supposed" to be, it will be harder to see strengths. I have realized that there are going to be rarely few times when my whole classroom is around the level where they should be. Therefore, I need to take into consideration the fact that they are all their own individuals with different capabilities. While my ultimate goal will always be to have every student be on the level they are "supposed" to be one, I know that this goal is a longshot. More important than this however, my hope is to help each student excel and understand more than what they first did when they entered my classroom. I know that the speed at which students start to comprehend certain knowledge varies greatly. Therefore, it is important to give each student as much individual attention as possible to be able to gather information vital to their ultimate achievement.
In the examples of what a teaching voice sounds like in a writing conference, I really liked the idea of complimenting student of what they are doing very well that other students in the class may not have caught on to yet. I think that these are words of encouragement that really make the student feel special, maybe even elite in a way, which will give them an emotional high to keep challenging themselves. I also thought it was important that in there conferences, teachers do not talk out their students next sentences, but rather get their thinking ready. I also thought the accountability factor at the end of any conference is vital to make sure that the conference was beneficial. I never want any of my students to walk away from a conference without picking up something from it. Therefore, the "say it back to me" aspect of the conference may be the most crucial. When students start to understand the routine of these conferences, they will know that the question, "Can you say back to me what you are doing well in your writing?" question is coming, so they will be attentive throughout the conference to pick up on these things.
One very helpful classroom management tip that was explained in these chapters was the idea of group conferencing. I understand that it is most beneficial to work with students one on one, but group conferencing is a way to get the most out of a small amount of time if there are several students who need extra attention in a particular subject. At first, I questioned this method, but realized that it is a great resource if there is lack of time. I also found that the "mean what you say" method is extremely important to point out to future teachers. I feel that there is definite lack of respect towards teachers to do not mean what they say. I had those teachers growing up who would always threaten certain things upon us, but would never follow through. Since as a class we started to pick up on this, we became oblivious to these threats.
There was so much information in these chapters that it is hard to talk about everything that stuck out to me. These are the most important aspects that I thought would make the largest difference in my classroom, and therefore will implement them in my future classroom.
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