Blog 7: Jessica Amsler’s Routman Chapter 12: You Only Have So Much Time

I was not going to read the last chapter and write about it for my final blog but it was recommended to me and I’m so glad I read it!  The chapter is titled “you only have so much time” and this week was the perfect time to read it!  I planned on coming back from spring break feeling well rested and ready to finish out the year.  Instead I came back and faced another mile long to-do list.  I felt this way when we returned after Christmas break and I don’t know if there will ever be a time that I do not feel like this.  I feel as if I’m drowning all of the time and I can’t keep up with all of the things I need to do.  Routman says that teachers need to stop consuming themselves with school work and do something for themselves, I did that over spring break and now I’m struggling to stay afloat and its only Tuesday!

I really liked Routman’s ideas of how to cut out the things that are not meaningful to student learning.  I feel that I’ve done pretty good with this so far this year compared to years past.  I feel like having a two hour block for reading really makes a difference.  I think it would very helpful if it were uninterrupted! On page 211, Routman talks about listing our interruptions in two columns-“in our control” and “not in our control”.  I think this would be very eye-opening if we did this! I feel that I spend so much wasted time opening the door every day for reasons that I can’t control.   I also like the idea of limiting the announcements to one day a week rather than every morning.  I think this would save a lot of time! I liked the suggestions she gave on page 216 for school wide conversations and professional development.  Having students come in late or leave early so that teachers could meet and have professional development would be amazing! It would really help with our families and our lives outside of school.

The suggestions that Routman makes about word walls on page 210 were also great for me to read.  I think I have a beautiful word wall that is not used very well.  It is actually covered up with a RAN chart for our science unit.  I need to make it a point to use my word wall effectively or use the space for something else.  I am also going to reevaluate my morning routine for next year after reading this chapter.  Routman made a great point about adults coming in and getting right to work-we do not do this! We socialize and talk about things that went on but we don’t give our students time to do this.  They are around each other for thirty minutes or more in the hallway but they are supposed to sit silently and then come in, unpack, and get to work on math.  I would hate to give up the math in the morning because it is a review of skills that we’ve done throughout the year, but should I give them time to read or talk amongst themselves?

I have really enjoyed reading this book and I have many things to consider for next year but for now I am going to enjoy some time outside of school and be an interesting person!