chapter 7 reflection

I love in the beginning of the chapter the different qualities it lists about a good effective teacher. that the teacher really needs to connect to the students, care about them, be aware of their needs and learning styles. good teachers have a high expectation for students, they also have high standards for themselves, they have a wide variety of strategies, and accept responsibility for the outcome of the learning of the students. These are all amazing things that a lot of times get lost in the focus to cram all the information the students need into one school year, but these are things that are essential to have in the classroom. I loved the line in the book, " we honor learners by caring for them as they are and simultaneously expecting more of them. This is the type of classroom that I want to have, but it also intimidates me, because it feels like so much to try and do, so I also really appreciated the next section, then why is it so hard. this section about how there are a lot of elements that are going to make it really hard to have a classroom like this, but if we take the risk and keep trying the reward will be great. In the last section where it uses the two metaphors of the spaghetti, where it took a lot of work and love to make that 'gravy' and she probably did not make it that amazing the first hundred times she made it, and the man who really passionate about making bread, cultivating one loaf at a time were amazing teaching analogies that I can really connect with It will take that kind of passion and commitment to make my classroom the environment that I want it to be, and it will take time. the passage that stuck out to me the most is at the end, "we learned to ride a bike not by studying about it until we were confident, but by getting on, falling off, and climbing on again...We learn by beginning and by keeping on." this really is how I need to look at it, it is a lot less scary to me if I can realize I won't be perfect at first, but thats ok as long as I keep getting back on the bike.