180 DAYS: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents
by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle
Rating: 4/5
From the publisher: “180 Days represents the collaboration of two master teachers-Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle-over an entire school year: planning, teaching, and reflecting within their own and each other’s classrooms in California and New Hampshire. Inspired by a teacher’s question, “How do you fit it all in?” they identified and prioritized the daily, essential, belief-based practices that are worth spending time on. They asked, ‘Who will these students be as readers and writers after a year under our care?'”
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Do the assignments that my students are doing. Write with them, both to see how it feels and to show them ways that they can improve.
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Create a predictable structure to each day. While I may not choose to devote 10 minutes to reading, 4 minutes to book talks etc. as Gallagher and Kittle do, I do like the way that they outlined the structure for students. Knowing what to expect, and establishing a routine, is important for teens.
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Provide daily ways to practice reading and writing. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, right? We get better at things by practicing over and over. Giving daily opportunities to practice, inside and outside of the classroom, seems like a good way to build lifelong learners.