Thursday, October 15, 2009
Making Every Minute Count
I have included a video on Erin Gruwell, the one who founded Freedom Writers Foundation, explaining a book that Freedom Writer Teachers have written. The Freedom Writer Teachers are many teachers who use the book called “The Freedom Writers Diary” in their classroom. Erin goes on to say how teaching is a very difficult and challenging profession. This relates to what Routman meant by teachers constantly asking the question of whether or not they are making the best use of the children’s time. In other words, they want to make sure that every minute counts. Routman goes on to offer advice in making a teachers job less stressful. I feel this video shows us that even though there will be many challenges in teaching, but that there will also be rewards. A reward could be the “a-ha” moment a child experiences and therefore validates your profession. Something to think about would be what are some of your ideas on how to make sure you as a teacher are making every minute count. Lastly, what is some advice you would give to teachers that are struggling with the workload that comes with their profession?
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After watching Freedom Writers, and now actually seeing Erin Gruwell in this video, I can really appreciate her hard work and dedication as a teacher. I am nervous about teaching: not being prepared, having either too much work or too little work for students, dealing with parents, and not being able to help my future students to succeed and have those "a-ha" moments. I admire all teachers and want to see how exactly they do their job.
ReplyDeleteRoutman says that making every minute count is a necessity, and can be easier for the teacher and successful for the students. She suggests having students do more of the duties in the classroom, more guided sharing with groups, and more peer editing will save time and will also help students feel more like independent thinkers. Routman discusses the focus that a teacher needs to have when making every minute count; for example, writing activities that have real audiences, i.e. less "fluff" writing. Having writing as an everyday activity, provide more choices of topics to write about, and also integrating test preparation will help students become better focused writers, and will also save time, and make every minute count.
If a teacher is able to work slowly with students, keep it short, and simple, start with the whole so students understand the process, and have fun by celebrating writing will make every minute, every second count forever.
Teaching writing can cause problems for some teachers. It is one of those subjects that are more difficult to get through to students than others. A lot of students come to class not liking writing causing teachers to work extra hard to find ways to interest their students in writing. By following Routman’s optimal learning method though I feel like teaching writing can become a lot easier. Once a teacher opens up to their students the student then become more willing to open up which can lead to writing. Telling the students that they can write about whatever they want in their own special decorated journal can make it more fun. I know that if I was able to write my real feelings down when I was younger then I would have enjoyed writing more and even looked forward to it. In response to what teachers should do when they are overwhelmed with their workload, take a break. Everyone in life needs time to themselves. Take a walk, ride a bike, read a book, take a bath, watch a movie, have a cup of hot chocolate when it’s raining, do anything that takes your mind off the problems that are going on around you and just relax for a couple hours. It will help tremendously.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed listening to this video. Sometimes as teachers we do not realize how important our jobs can be in molding the lives of our students. We have to first of all believe in them and show them that we do care. It may be hard at first, but we have to prove to our students that writing is essential in our everyday lives. Routman confirms this by telling us as teachers to make every minute count. In the classroom we have to utilize our time wisely in order to cover quality writing. If we can teach children to be more independent as writers in the classroom than we can assure them that it is not always about what the teacher thinks. Peer editing can be extremely helpful when a student thinks that the teachers option might be bias. The Freedom Writers book is such an inspiration. It shows us that it is possible to get any student to write if we go about it the right way and show that we do care about our students future. We have to show them how important writing is in their everyday lives. Just within a short amount of time, we can change a students perspective on reading and writing which therefore will lead them to a life of success.
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ReplyDeleteWhile watching the video I could not help thinking about the Freedom Writers movie with Hilary Swank. I love that movie, and feel it really depicts the magic that can happen in a classroom. It is ideas like Freedom Writers that not only inspire students to develop as readers and writers, but help students in dangerous and impoverished neighborhoods find hope and their voice. Erin Gruwell is a very inspiring English teacher and supports Routman in the concept of genuine writing and writing for an audience. Gruwell mentions two very important concepts that we have discussed, the “ah-ha” moment and that “kids feel like they have a voice” (Gruwell, video). These are goals that any great teacher would hope to accomplish with their students. While listening to this video I also thought of the “12 Writing Essentials” that Routman mentions on page 13 and 14 in our text (Routman, 2005, p.13-14). Gruwell supports these essentials in the Freedom Writers concept through having the students “write for a specific reader and a meaningful purpose, craft authentic voice, and taking responsibility for producing effective writing” (Routman, 2005, p.13-14). The idea that students can write stories and thoughts close to their hearts and minds will help them far more than if they were given a prompt that means nothing to them. I would give teachers the same advice Gruwell does “to teach with hope” (Gruwell, video). Teaching if done passionately and with goals that the class can attain and keep in mind will significantly lower stress. Also as we talked about in class, living outside of the classroom helps a teacher tremendously. Once, a teacher observes results among his or her students the stress will be worth it.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this video. It is great to see these little instances where a bunch of teachers come together to truly benefit their students. As it was stated in the video she said that these are teachers who are not teaching to a test. I think it is scarce today to find teachers who are genuinely searching for that intrinsic reward in the teaching profession. I understand that the profession is also a stressful one where a teacher may start out with this disposition, but then become the exact opposite a couple years later. The key to not becoming burned-out with teaching I believe is to use the tips we discussed in our last class session. By balancing your life and keeping the teaching workload separate from your personal life, the profession becomes more manageable. Also by doing this you will still be able to appreciate those little intrinsic rewards instead of staying in the profession for the extrinsic reward of money.
ReplyDeleteWatching this video really inspires me! Being a teacher is a challenge; it is a rollercoaster ride, full of ups and downs, but always rewarding in the end! Erin Gruwell took on a challenge that no one else was willing to do and she should kids who thought they had no chance, no point for life, a new hope. She showed them that anyone can succeed. Writing is such a powerful way of expressing yourself and allowing the kids to write down their stories and share them with others in the book; not only helped them to relieve all they had built up inside that may have caused them to act out the way they did, but it showed them their potential as writers. As a teacher you should no stress over making every minute count, you should just make sure that you are putting the time to good use. In other words you feel that you and your students are getting something out of an assignment or discussion. You can see that they are enjoying it and learning from it at the same time. The quality is more important than the quantity. It is important to that teachers allow students independence, let them write freely, let them edit their papers, let them work together. This will help limit the teacher workload and show your students that you trust them and their talents as writers. It is also very important to not over assign work, giving busy assignment drains students and yourself because you have to correct them. Don’t overdo things, allow freedom and allow the classroom to be an enjoyable place!
ReplyDeleteI think that helping children to see a better future using writing and changing their lives forever just by writing really shows us how powerful writing can be. This story is amazing, and I am glad that she has a book for teachers who can learn how to celebrate writing just like we have been reading about in Routman. I think celebrating writing is a fantastic way to love it. Also it is amazing how the skills of writing can be so powerful.
ReplyDeleteI think it is very important that the author keeps saying that there are rewards to teaching but more so that there are challenges. Teaching is not an easy job and when I tell people I'm studying to be a teacher, they think my college life is a joke and that I don't have to do anything for my major. My goal is to prove these people wrong. Not only is my college life not a joke, but my future job isn't either. Yes, I might face more challenges than I do rewards, but it is these few rewards that keeps you going through the challenges. This author is an ordinary person but an extraordinary teacher. She has found a way to make the impossible possible. She found a way for writing to conquer bad lifestyles and troubled students. As your question asks, I think she was so successful because she is a level header person and has a life outside of the classroom. Like we talked about it class, it is very important for teachers to have this outside life: got to the beach, garden, cook, work out, spend time with family and friends, etc. As important as it to be influential in your students' lives, it is just as important to take time for your own life.
ReplyDeleteI am so impressed by Erin Gruwell’s dedication to her teaching career and how influential she was in the lives of her students, many of whom previous teachers had given up on. The skills and techniques utilized by Gruwell and also discussed by Routman can be very effective in every classroom. There does not seem to be enough time in the day for everything that you want to accomplish in the classroom, especially an elementary classroom, where several subjects have to be covered each day. In order to make sure every minute counts, teachers should ensure that they are covering and presenting meaningful material. Proper classroom management is also a skill that will ensure that every minute counts. For example, sometimes children like to ask questions which are not related to the topic at hand. Teachers need to be able to manage the situation effectively so that only pertinent questions are asked by students. Classroom management and ensuring proper classroom behavior of students are very important to making sure that precious class time is not lost. So, teachers need to make sure that they perfect these skills and also present students with meaningful material.
ReplyDeleteI have seen the movie Freedom Writers and it is to say the least moving. What teachers like Erin Gruwell do is what we all aspire to do someday and that is inspire students. Taking a group of students like she did and turning them into writers and readers is amazing. The old saying if you can do, teach is something that people today still say and it really bothers me because teaching is no joke. THe future of our nation and world depend on dedicated teachers like Erin to strike interests in students and help them find their passions in life so that they can someday better the world that surround them. Being a teacher comes with a heavy workload that seems never ending because there is always something new to grade or review with students. Ways to reduce workload is to try and not take work home with you because thats not your job although many teachers let it take over their lives. Try and get things dont in the classroom, like Routman says hand out tasks to students that have to do with classrooms like organizing the library. This way you will have more time to do what you really need to and that is conccentrate on your students and teach them.
ReplyDeleteBY WILLIAM BURNS
Erin Gruwell actually came and spoke at my high school, and she is an extremely fascinating and inspiring woman! She is the perfect definition of what impact teachers are capable of having on their students. I think that writing and reading are the two most important subjects that teachers instruct their students on because reading and writing is used in virtually every other subject in education. However, reading and writing is probably two of the hardest subjects for teachers to teach because they ARE so important. I also think that writing also requires the most time grading. I would say that in order to limit this workload, it is important that the teacher know that grading work at home should not take over his/her life. In fact, with writing, conferencing with students is a much more effective way to develop students writing habits, because comments on papers are often ignored. I think that giving students a lot of responsibilities inside the classroom will help them to become integral parts of their classroom environment and allow less work and stress to be on the teacher. Make sure that you relate your life to students in a way that draws a deeper connection and comfort with the students you teach. If children are comfortable and enjoy receiving an education, they will become lifelong learners and students.
ReplyDeleteErin Gruwell seemed to be echoing everyone of my fall semester liberal studies professors when she described teaching as a "difficult, rewarding and challenging" profession. As one of the Freedom Writer Teachers put it, teaching is a calling. When taking all of this in, it is intimidating for young teachers such as ourselves to stay dedicated to our profession when all we have to look forward to is an inadequate public education system in which we will be accountable for our student's performance. For me, it has been a reoccuring doubt over the past semester: am I really cut out to be an educator? When I step into a classroom and connect with children, laugh with them and successfully teach them something, I believe there is nothing out there I would rather do. Unfortunately, reality lurks in the back of my head when I remember all of the difficult aspects of our profession: standardized testing, large classroom sizes, low budgets. When I try to put my future into perspective, I cant help but imagine being yet another frustrated and over worked educator. This is my biggest nightmare, no thanks to Jonathan Kozol, who in his book The Shame of the Nation states that after observing Roosevelt School District in New York, the most vivid memory he had was the look of "tortured dignity" that many of the faculty had. I believe that this tortured dignity reflects my fears, along with that of other young teachers. That is, we are so motivated to change our system and to be the best educators that we can, but after a few years in the NCLB system, I feel like we will slowly be grinded down until we submit. This is a terrible thing to imagine, so I try to convince myself I'll have the strength and motivation to struggle through it or at least supress it. Luckily for us, Routman addressed these challenges and how we can work around them. Her suggestions on classroom management, reducing paperloads and student conferences allow us a few ways to make every minute count. I just hope her suggestions are correct.
ReplyDeleteWatching this video and watching the movie, Freedom Writers," has inspired me and motivated me about writing and teaching writing. The way Erin Gruwell has gotten through to so many kids and adversities, I feel as if I can teach my future students anything and get them interested into writing and becoming lifelong learners and writers. I've had my doubts about myself becoming a teacher and teaching writing because I am not the best writer but now I do enjoy writing. Routman does a good job explaining how to help through the problems and adversities one might face as a teacher. To limit the workload at home, Routman tells us to conference with the students’ one on one for them to fully understand their mistakes instead of marking up their papers. It is also helpful for students to peer edit each other’s paper and to get another input besides their own.
ReplyDeleteFreedom Writers is an amazing movie. It portrayed all the reasons why I wasnted to become a teacher. I feel that I have been blessed with such a great education and such supportive intructors, that this is one of the best ways that I could give back.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that I love about teaching and tutoring is what the students get out of it. I oncve interviewed a teacher who stated that one of the low points of teachinig is that you rarely get to see your impact on the student because you do not get to see them after they kleave your class, but the highlight is that if they do come back and visit afterwards you get to see the effects of all your hard work.
Routman discusses a wide variety of ways that can make this profession much easier. One of the most important things she mentioned was tio live your life. Although you want to focus on your career and make sure that you are a great teacher, you must also learned to have a life of your own so that you don't get overwhelemed and keep your sanity. It will help relieve stress and you will be healthier if you do so.
Teachers become teachers to help their students and to make a difference. They generally don't do it for the money. When you are stressed or feel overloaded, its becomes much more difficult to do your job. Taking a step back and using your time more productively, you will be a more effective teacher.
I think Erin Gruwell couldn't have said it any better "It's difficult, it's challenging ... it's a calling. That there's no greater job for them, nothing more rewarding, and nothing more special than to reach each and every child that walks in their door."
ReplyDeleteI want to be that kind of teacher one day, that does make a different, even if it is just making progress with one student. Although writing isn't my strong point, I will hopefully be able to use the methods we have learned in this class such as the optimal learning model to teach math.
Colin also said it really well ...
"For me, it has been a reoccuring doubt over the past semester: am I really cut out to be an educator? When I step into a classroom and connect with children, laugh with them and successfully teach them something, I believe there is nothing out there I would rather do."
But I believe that even though there are a lot of setbacks and roadblocks that will hinder our teaching we will be able to make a difference and get around those setbacks because of everything we've learned.