Friday, June 12, 2009

Batter Up!

One of my summer time passions is baseball. Each year we travel to the nearest major league (and sometimes minor league) baseball stadium to cheer for our favorite team-GO TIGERS!

Tonight I sat with books sprawled all over my bed. I was also considering books that are sitting in my classroom that I also hope to further investigate. I decided to make a list of all of the books that I would like to read this summer from cover to cover. I decided to make a "batting order" for the books I would like to read this summer by the pool....or perhaps at the ball park.

The first book I have selected is Debbie Miller's Teaching with Intention. As you know from my previous post, I was fortunate enough to meet Debbie Miller this week. I read Reading with Meaning years earlier when I set out to establish Reader's Workshop in my classroom and I have revisited it frequently since that time. I have admired Debbie from afar for so long, but nothing prepared me for the woman I would meet this week. She is warm and nurturing. A mentor with a heart for children and teachers. In the very early moments we spent in the classroom preparing for her presentation I knew she was going to teach me something that would alter my thinking forever.

I selected Teaching with Intention for my first book study this summer because I am eager to synthesize my ideas and reflect on the reasons behind the practices in my classroom. I believe that this book will allow me to establish my list of "non-negotiables"-the principles that I believe with my whole heart. I want my classroom practices to reflect that list.

Over the next few days, I am going to begin reading Part 1 of this book. Come and join me.

3 comments:

  1. Jenny,

    I just found out about your blog from A Year of Reading. I am excited to find it. I also just started an education earlier this spring, and I have been reviewing books as I read them as well. I will add you to my blogroll so that I can keep up with your thoughts as you read professional development books. That is so nice that you were even able to meet that group of authors.

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  2. Jenny,

    I have read both of Debbie's books and plan to reread them this summer. I love the idea of a "mental file folder" for the whole class to use when exploring a topic. I am a tutor in my friend's 1st grade classroom and she used this idea with her students. They loved seeing their prior knowledge connect with new learning. I found that this type of visual helped my struggling learners. I plan to use a mini version of the file folder for my summer tutoring.

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  3. Jennylearn-thanks for your message. I think it is amazing to see all that our youngest learners CAN do. Thank you for sharing!

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