The Voice of Angie

I feel that this section needs some explanation to those who do not know me personally.  I am not self-centered, as the name of this section may lead you to believe. This all began when I first started teaching at the university level in a pre-service teacher preparation program.  I have many things that I am very adamant that my pre-service teachers learn and I know that through repetition we learn and remember at a higher level.  So, I practice what I preach and I say a few things repeatedly (OK so I may say a few things A LOT!).  I do this because these bits of information are so fundamental and necessary for good teaching that I NEED my students to LEARN them so they go out and DO them.  Well, during my first semester as a professor my students began having conversations about how they were being “haunted” by the “Voice of Angie” in their head.  They talked about how it was making them do the things that I was teaching.  We had a good laugh about it, but it continued to be a good source of learning and conversation in our classes.  I have many students (current and graduated for many years) that continue to tell me how they are haunted by the “Voice of Angie”.  So really, I have my first semester cohort of graduates to thank for this phrase and this thing that has become very real and beloved to me.  I now use “The Voice of Angie” as a bit of a calling card for the things that are very important for good teachers to do, giving an added amount of meaning to what I tell my students.  So the items that follow are some of the tidbits from my brain that have come to be known as “The Voice of Angie”.

“Small things done well… saves time.”

“Read… stop… think, talk, write.  Read… stop… think, talk, write. Read… stop… think, talk, write.”

“Through explicit think alouds we make the unknown, known."