I was flipping through Chapter 11 about using the best research and practices and I was once again overwhelmed. I feel as though many teachers know the best practices and know the research, yet we do not know how to incorporate all of these things into the day. I was looking at the "Key Research Findings" page 263. I know many of these things, for many of them are common sense, but how to integrate all of this in the day.
I just feel as though there is not enough time in the day to work through all of these things. I know how important it is for students to write and to want to write, but how can I make that happen throughout the day? I feel as though my principal gives us 30 minutes of writing instruction a day. That is the only time the students are to write. How can I possibly improve their writing ability in only 30 minutes?
I realized that I had to take a step back and think about how I use writing. We work on stories, poems, and nonfiction pieces, but many times they do not tie into the reading, math, and science curriculum. As I am reading through this chapter, I see now that I have to integrate. The students have to write about what they are learning. I need to not just have the students write during our writing block, but have them writing across the curriculum. I feel that by using what the students are already learning, they will write more, and have more of a willingness to write.
This issue of feeling overwhelmed and not having enough time is one that keeps coming up on our online discussions. We must get a handle on teaching smarter rather than harder, but I am also not sure exactly how to help teachers to do this. It seems like there is so much emphasis on testing, curriculum maps, pacing guides, teachers' manuals, that teachers are getting fewer and fewer opportunities to make instructional decisions. If you don't use it, you lose it, so without practice with this skill, it becomes much more difficult.
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