One thing about the chapter we are reading this week in Straight Talk (and I want to say that it has come up before, but I could be mistaken) has to do with reflection. Now, I tend to be a pretty critical, of myself, and reflective person. I generally can be found outside the school building during lunch and my planning period. This is "my time", my non-kid time. I have to have a certain amount of outdoor time in each 24 hour period to hear the birds, the wind, see the grass, etc. This quiet time is when I reflect on what I have screwed up so far today, what I can do to not do it again today, how I can improve my interactions with students and peers, etc. This is something I nurtured in myself from a young age. Most notably it involved going out in the woods when I was a teenager, and wanted to get out of the house. Growing up without computers, game platforms, etc. promoted this in me.

Our kids DO NOT have this promoted in them, and our curriculum, standards, and high-stakes testing just makes it harder. I have thought about trying to incorporate this into my classroom, but I am sure the kids will just look at me with blank stares, "you want to do what?!" Now, I am the first to admit, 11-12 year olds are not the most reflective souls, but they are on the edge of becoming that. Can I do this? Maybe.

I think in order to promote this, some baby steps would be in order. I think I would start off with some silent sustained reading. (SSR) Now, I have seen some people use this to good effect, I know I would like to do so. However, I also know that it can be seen by some as being a waste of class time that could/should be spent on core content subject matter.

More thoughts on this tomorrow.