During last week’s Zoom chat, classroom teacher Ryanne Deschane offered an excellent elevator speech for recommending this resource:
“Regie's book is a gift for your soul - it gracefully interlaces personal anecdotes and stories with professional wisdom. Right book. Right time."
In a couple of sentences, share your own brief recommendation of Regie’s book to a colleague.
Or, consider the following quote and respond to the question below:
“Resilience is learned. . . and is the deciding factor between a child who overcomes adversity and thrives and a child who never makes it to a healthy adulthood” (p. 251 ).
What is it that you can reasonably do to help foster resilience in your students and loved ones? (Many pertinent and reasonable suggestions permeate this book.)
P.S. Thank you to all participants for contributing to this book club! I learned a lot from our conversations. If you are not yet a subscriber, sign up today to receive future professional learning opportunities in your inbox.
What I appreciate is Regie's can-do attitude. Her writings and body of work communicate an unwavering belief that everyone can learn. Regie believes that students can not only meet but exceed expectations, especially limited expectations placed on learners. People develop resiliency when they have champions in their corner who believe in them and expect them to succeed.
One way Regie conveys this belief is by showing respect and reverence for the learner's time. On page 211, she offers us educators three questions to consider what is only necessary for instruction:
1. Is what I am asking students to do worth the time and effort it takes?
2. Have I provided the necessary demonstrations, shared experiences, and guidance that will enable learners to be successful?
3. Will this feedback or action inspire students to put forth their best efforts and want to go on learning?
These questions help educators commit to only the necessary amount of instruction so students can become more independent and self-directed in their reading, writing, communicating, thinking. More time for student choice and voice supports students as readers, writers, etc.; these identities are necessary for kids to develop early on. Confident, competent learners for life are resilient.
These questions also help educators gains some perspective on what is really necessary in the curriculum programs and resources we are provided. If I were still teaching, I would post these three questions at the top of my lesson planner and reread them before I began preparing for instruction.
I have been gratefully reminded recently how important it is in challenging times to find a circle of others who are also willing to stand up, speak out, and fight for this profession. While question #2 is asking about fostering resilience in students and loved ones, I believe strongly that first we have to do that for ourselves. I cannot model something that isn't within me and so we have to begin there and do whatever it is that supports and strengthens our resilience! What better way to do that than finding a gathering place where we can nurture our passions and turn them into action!
Regie reminds us that resilience doesn't happen in a vacuum and responds beautifully to how we can bridge that gap:
"So how do we foster resilience in ourselves, our children our students so more of us can thrive? Through stories, through our own examples, through perseverance, through speaking out and forming coalitions of actions that make meaningful change possible... (p. 253)
With each reading of The Heart-Centered Teacher, Regie is modeling the power of story, being an example for others, persevering, speaking out and gathering together. She SHOWS us what that look like in such an eloquent way!
In my endorsement I said everything I believe about this beautiful book:
“Regie Routman has crafted a personal love letter in the perfect book with the perfect words at the perfect time. From the first page to the last, Regie invites us to pull up a metaphorical chair and linger as she bathes us in life lessons and sage advice that we need most in challenging times. Across every page, we soak in her wisdom, leaning into her stories of hope, love, and possibility that loom large in our view."
The subtitle says it all and would be a highlight for me: "Restoring Hope, Joy, and Possibility in Uncertain Times. Hope, Joy, and Possibility has certainly been challenged in recent years both as professionals and as humans. Regie bares her soul and uses every aspect of her life as a stepping stone to meeting that promise. I can't imagine any book more needed than this book right now!
Responding to #2...
What I appreciate is Regie's can-do attitude. Her writings and body of work communicate an unwavering belief that everyone can learn. Regie believes that students can not only meet but exceed expectations, especially limited expectations placed on learners. People develop resiliency when they have champions in their corner who believe in them and expect them to succeed.
One way Regie conveys this belief is by showing respect and reverence for the learner's time. On page 211, she offers us educators three questions to consider what is only necessary for instruction:
1. Is what I am asking students to do worth the time and effort it takes?
2. Have I provided the necessary demonstrations, shared experiences, and guidance that will enable learners to be successful?
3. Will this feedback or action inspire students to put forth their best efforts and want to go on learning?
These questions help educators commit to only the necessary amount of instruction so students can become more independent and self-directed in their reading, writing, communicating, thinking. More time for student choice and voice supports students as readers, writers, etc.; these identities are necessary for kids to develop early on. Confident, competent learners for life are resilient.
These questions also help educators gains some perspective on what is really necessary in the curriculum programs and resources we are provided. If I were still teaching, I would post these three questions at the top of my lesson planner and reread them before I began preparing for instruction.
I have been gratefully reminded recently how important it is in challenging times to find a circle of others who are also willing to stand up, speak out, and fight for this profession. While question #2 is asking about fostering resilience in students and loved ones, I believe strongly that first we have to do that for ourselves. I cannot model something that isn't within me and so we have to begin there and do whatever it is that supports and strengthens our resilience! What better way to do that than finding a gathering place where we can nurture our passions and turn them into action!
Regie reminds us that resilience doesn't happen in a vacuum and responds beautifully to how we can bridge that gap:
"So how do we foster resilience in ourselves, our children our students so more of us can thrive? Through stories, through our own examples, through perseverance, through speaking out and forming coalitions of actions that make meaningful change possible... (p. 253)
With each reading of The Heart-Centered Teacher, Regie is modeling the power of story, being an example for others, persevering, speaking out and gathering together. She SHOWS us what that look like in such an eloquent way!
In my endorsement I said everything I believe about this beautiful book:
“Regie Routman has crafted a personal love letter in the perfect book with the perfect words at the perfect time. From the first page to the last, Regie invites us to pull up a metaphorical chair and linger as she bathes us in life lessons and sage advice that we need most in challenging times. Across every page, we soak in her wisdom, leaning into her stories of hope, love, and possibility that loom large in our view."
The subtitle says it all and would be a highlight for me: "Restoring Hope, Joy, and Possibility in Uncertain Times. Hope, Joy, and Possibility has certainly been challenged in recent years both as professionals and as humans. Regie bares her soul and uses every aspect of her life as a stepping stone to meeting that promise. I can't imagine any book more needed than this book right now!