Tara Farmer Post #2 - Routman Chapter 4 - Teach with a Sense of Urgency

Teach with a Sense of Urgency 

I like that Routman starts this chapter saying that teaching with urgency is not the same as teaching with anxiety! I would even go as far as to substitute the word urgency for 'intention'. The application would be very similar, yet not sweat inducing. I believe that if each moment of the day is intentional, progress will always be made. Her top five ways to ensure students become excellent readers are easy to follow. She makes it sound so simple; show you're a reader, give them good books and student choice, give them strategies, and evaluate! I liked the "Optimal Learning Model" graphic organizer.

This is an easy way to look at what I have always thought of 'scaffolding'. The questions that come to mind with this collection of concepts are; How soon do you move on to each stage? Does it vary from task to task, or from group to group, based on maturity level, or all of the above? :)
Later on in the chapter she gives the tip of asking them to share ideas with a partner or 'turn and talk'. We started doing this a few years ago in my classroom. Sometimes it can be challenging to get them back on task in a short amount of time, but it eliminates the time it takes for each student to tell a personal story about their cousin, their dog, or their weekend!
A couple of 'take-aways' I got out of this chapter-

• The more meaningful a lesson/connection, the easier it is to learn.
• Students are often asked to write before they even know how to read! 
• Teach with urgency, but also teach with joy.