Silent-Reading has become our go-to 'time-waster'.
Ideally we don't have time-wasting moments at school, but unfortunately in our job it's occasionally inevitable... Now before you judge my honesty here, please reflect on the moments you have asked your class to "carry on with [insert]" or "practice [insert] for the next 10 minutes". We need this time to occasionally set up for the next lesson, or deal to current crisis that has erupted after lunch time etc. Being Team Leader, this is an unfortunate consequence for my class, as these moments can occur out of nowhere,. Therefore expectations for these moments needs to be well drilled, and working well.
For me, this time has become silent reading. Everyone knows what to do, and best of all, everyone does it! Even if I need to leave the classroom momentarily, I know that my class can get on with this, and make the most of it. But I also know, that this doesn't just happen (and that in my previous years this has NOT happened). Silent reading norms - the silent reading culture, does not just happen because you give kids a book to read. They need to buy in.
In the past we used to do silent reading every day in the morning. The idea was that it was a way to settle the class as they came in at the morning bell. In a shared space silence is not something that happens very often. So putting aside a time that all the classes in the space would be silent (at the same time) seemed like the best way to do it. It worked well, but it required teachers to roam and keep putting out little pockets of whispers. There were always kids 'pretending' to read, books upside down, everything you can imagine. For some kids this became an unpleasant time, and we as the teachers found this wasn't the best way to start the day with some of our kids (a telling off, or an old fashioned "Shhhhhh").
We have ditched this model now. Silent reading time is fitted into our programme when ever we need or want. A consequence for this means that the space isn't silent. Therefore, it isn't exactly traditional SSR, instead its probably more accurately SR - Sustained Reading. Which means there is the odd whisper, or conversation, because the noise from the class next door allows for it. More often than not though, the whisper or conversation is related to the book they are reading - which to me, is actually fine.
These silent reading norms, or silent reading 'culture' has been created and co-constructed together. There is buy in from the class because they want to do it. Essentially this what my inquiry has been into.
So going back to being a time-waster. If I need 10 minutes, I know that I now have something fun, engaging, beneficial to learning, and calm and quiet for my class to do! Brilliant!
Ideally we don't have time-wasting moments at school, but unfortunately in our job it's occasionally inevitable... Now before you judge my honesty here, please reflect on the moments you have asked your class to "carry on with [insert]" or "practice [insert] for the next 10 minutes". We need this time to occasionally set up for the next lesson, or deal to current crisis that has erupted after lunch time etc. Being Team Leader, this is an unfortunate consequence for my class, as these moments can occur out of nowhere,. Therefore expectations for these moments needs to be well drilled, and working well.
For me, this time has become silent reading. Everyone knows what to do, and best of all, everyone does it! Even if I need to leave the classroom momentarily, I know that my class can get on with this, and make the most of it. But I also know, that this doesn't just happen (and that in my previous years this has NOT happened). Silent reading norms - the silent reading culture, does not just happen because you give kids a book to read. They need to buy in.
In the past we used to do silent reading every day in the morning. The idea was that it was a way to settle the class as they came in at the morning bell. In a shared space silence is not something that happens very often. So putting aside a time that all the classes in the space would be silent (at the same time) seemed like the best way to do it. It worked well, but it required teachers to roam and keep putting out little pockets of whispers. There were always kids 'pretending' to read, books upside down, everything you can imagine. For some kids this became an unpleasant time, and we as the teachers found this wasn't the best way to start the day with some of our kids (a telling off, or an old fashioned "Shhhhhh").We have ditched this model now. Silent reading time is fitted into our programme when ever we need or want. A consequence for this means that the space isn't silent. Therefore, it isn't exactly traditional SSR, instead its probably more accurately SR - Sustained Reading. Which means there is the odd whisper, or conversation, because the noise from the class next door allows for it. More often than not though, the whisper or conversation is related to the book they are reading - which to me, is actually fine.
These silent reading norms, or silent reading 'culture' has been created and co-constructed together. There is buy in from the class because they want to do it. Essentially this what my inquiry has been into.So going back to being a time-waster. If I need 10 minutes, I know that I now have something fun, engaging, beneficial to learning, and calm and quiet for my class to do! Brilliant!
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