Tuesday, March 22, 2011

aha moment of the day....


Today was staff development day with our trainer from Teachers College. I always look forward to these days. Unfortunately, not all my staff looks forward to these days as much as I do. There is usually some complaint, or moaning & groaning about how this is too hard for our kids. Why do we have to do 10 units? Blah, Blah! Today was not different & I left frustrated. I made it a point to come home & immediately de-stress from the day by going for a three mile run. Best decision I made all day. While running it occurred to me how training for my half-marathon is very similar to what we are doing in reader's & writer's workshop. Some of the insight I have gained as a coach is seeing the role each grade level plays in preparing our students for life-long reading & writing. It does not occur over=night, each grade level has it's role in this preparation. It is not about their individual year in Kindergarten or just about what they did in first grade. It is about the sum total of all those experiences that begin to shape, form readers & writers, one little bit at a time. I did not start out saying, next week I will run a half-marathon, this took time to prepare for. Time to grow my muscle strength, my endurance & stamina, one week at a time. Ureka! It is the same in building readers & writers. It is not about perfection out of the gate, but building reader's & writer's, one small unit at a time! ahhhhhhhh.........if only I could get some of my teachers to see how important their role in this is!
Hugs,

2 comments:

Ruth said...

I really like your analogy--time to grow and build. Nice!

-C said...

Sounds like some of your colleagues would really benefit from your aha moment - perhaps they need to approach their staff development in a similar way. I love that you were able to take the time to de-stress and were able to find connections to your role as a coach!

Thanks for sharing today!

-Carrie F.