Learning is Hard Work too!

Teachers do all the work! No, I don't really believe that.  Learning is hard work too, and people learn better in a loving, caring environment where they feel supported. We also honor our students by not only caring for them, but also by expecting more from them.  We can't teach out of the same cookie cutter mold.  Everyone learns differently, and that is why differentiation is so important.  Effective teaching is responsive teaching.  We need to pay attention to what each student needs, and try our very best to be able to provide that for them.  Bottom Line.... We need to care for our students, ALL of them.  If we can accomplish that, then they will be better learners, and we will be better teachers.  That's easy to do right? Not all the time! It's really easy to care for the sweet little one that does exactly what they are supposed to do all the time, but what about the one that just won't calm down? The one that won't listen and always blurts out? We need to care for them too. We can build relationships with these students too, and get to know them the best we can. Their learning is just as important in my classroom, and their learning is probably the hardest for them. Be willing to care for all students, and in turn you will touch lives. FOREVER!

Success is the Result of Effort

I feel like this is something that a lot of people say, and I 'm not sure if they actually believe it or not.  I know that I even hear it in college, and even sometimes it is directed towards me (gasp!).  "They got a good grade because the teacher likes them more!" "They are just lucky!" NOPE! You accomplish things in life by working hard and getting things done! It is critical to students success that they realize how important it is for them to make the effort.  In order for this to happen, teachers have to be on their toes, all the time, making sure that they are helping ALL students be successful.  We need to be giving them goals just outside their reach, and support them in reaching these goals.  This will challenge us just as much as we are challenging our students! It's work for sure!

NO EXCUSES!!

I love, love, LOVED this section of chapter 6!!!!!!! It definitely has my way of thinking all over it!
As teachers we need to make sure that our students are aware that we will not accept anything but their best work, and we will absolutely not accept them not doing their work at all. I understand that there will always be extenuating circumstance in home lives of children and what not, but I also understand that the work that I will ask my students to do is important.  I want my students to know that i will never give them "busy work" and that their school work will always be important. I love how the chapter says that as teachers we will be "part Mother Superior, and part Marine Drill Sergeant." HAHAHAHAHA!!! LOVE IT! I will provide an opportunity for all of my student s to be successful, and I will make sure that they get it done. My Mantra in life has recently, with in the last 3 years, become "I CAN do HARD things!" So, when I read that in this chapter, I knew that this would be something for me to instill in my students as well. I repeat that mantra to myself multiple times daily, and it has helped me so much with so many things! I will just change it to: "We CAN do HARD things" for my classroom.

Fresh Ways to Present and Exlplore Ideas

Direct instruction is the only way to teach, right? WRONG!
There are so many different ways to present new information and ideas, and when you present information in fun and exciting ways, you are differentiating! Make it memorable! Ask students to role play, pantomime, or even present monologues.  Use children's books in all grades to make certain subjects more approachable. Find photographs, artifacts, art, music, and poetry to present new ideas. "Not only do such fresh and surprising approaches enliven a class, but they also inevitably spark students not reached by more traditional instructional avenues."  Thus.... DIFFERENTIATION!