In chapter 11 on page 164 Barry Lane relates a little story about a teacher he observed named Ms. Treu. The part of this story that touched me the most was the end where Lane talks about Ms. Treu’s reaction each time a student hands in a piece of writing; he says, “She could have seen it a hundred times, it could be scrawled in smudged pen or smeared with erasure marks, but when a child hands her a story to read, her face beams with delight” (164).
Reading this just put a smile on my face. It made me think back to my school days; did I ever have a teacher like Ms. Treu? Not that I can remember, however, this has changed the way I want to see my student’s writing. I want to show my kids that their writing is special to me, not just some pile of papers that will leak into my weekend. I challenge each of you to try for this if you don’t currently have this attitude!
Beautiful Autumn
5 months ago
I like this part too. I think praising the students is very important. Even, a little smile can bring good progress to our student.
ReplyDeleteI loved this anecdote, too! I'm thinking I should try to shift my attitude about the giant stack of student papers a bit.
ReplyDeleteIt is easy to forget what the real purpose of these assignments are. I think your perspective is a helpful reminder that the learning is the end goal, not the assignment.
ReplyDeleteWe should all be like Ms.Treu and have a smile on our faces when students hand us their papers and praise them for their work.I will always remember that.
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