The past two days off have given me plenty of time to read. A colleague of mine said that it was break, and time to take a second or two off from schoolwork. While I agree, I also think that change needs to be thoughtful and planned. In other words, in order to make change you need to know what you are talking about. Just having a cool idea doesn't cut it.
All the reading has put me at a bit of a crossroads. Student teaching is 8+ weeks. Factor in Spring Break, which starts a week from tomorrow (Friday). Now this is supposed to be your classroom, but you are stepping into someone else's turf where the kids have had 20-25 weeks (115-120 days) of a similar style/routine. Where do you make the changes you want to make?
As I talk this out with TeacherWife (as I'll now affectionately call my wife), I keep finding myself in a bit of a bind. I want to bring in some Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop elements that are at least slightly different. But I also want to bring in some new content, particularly raising the amount of non-fiction being seen and discovered. If you bring it all in at once, it could be a disaster. Where to go? My first week is going to be about getting acclimated as well as keeping a similar schedule (few add in's). But I am planning to bring in some writing at the end of the day, to start building their sustained writing. I am also planning to bring a shared reading/poetry part into the end of our literacy block. Small steps, not giant bounds.
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