p42. Valuing Depth

Valuing depth is something I have really tried to put a major focus on recently. As I read this book, it reinforces these ideas. After attending an inservice this summer, I pledged to implement "Less is More" and "Slow Down to Speed Up" as a driving force behind my planning and teaching. We are only a few weeks into this year, and I already feel myself being sucked back in to teaching quantity over quality. My team has mapped out the days until the TCAP and determined how many days per lesson/chapter/unit we have in order "to cover" everything we are expected to cover. I have always felt I hold all of my students to high standards and expect nothing less, but I think my expectations may have been misplaced. Catagorizing vocabulary and concepts as critical, useful but not critical, and interesting but not very useful will be the best way for me to start. Incorporating focus questions will be my other undertaking. I felt I always did this, but somewhere along the way it got lost. I feel this overwhelming urge to teach more than I need and in turn expect my students to learn more rather than learn depth.