Reading notes of "The Miracle of Classroom No. 56" - Elementary School Department, Liu Fang

During the holiday, I read "The Miracle of Room 56—Turning Children into Angels Who Love Learning." This is a truly moving work. American teacher Rafe Esquith combines theory and practice, using specific examples to illustrate the meaning of education and the responsibilities of teachers. Several points resonated deeply with me:

One, Trust is sometimes more effective than criticism.

    In the first chapter of the book, "Give Me Some Truth," a third-grade student, Alex, had a messy bag and sloppy behavior. The teacher allowed other students to throw trash into his desk, angering his parents, who complained to the principal. Ultimately, Rafe earned Alex's trust through his actions, helping him correct his bad habits and prompting his classmates to correct their behavior. Reading this, a familiar scene came to mind: a student in my class, surnamed He, is practically another Alex, his desk always piled high with milk cartons, candy wrappers, and empty pen casings; the inside of his desk is also a mess. I asked him to clean it, but it would be messy again in a couple of days. Once, I criticized him harshly, and he hung his head in shame. But my intuition told me that criticism alone wouldn't work. After class, I told him, "You sit in the front row; when others enter our classroom, the first thing they see is your desk. Look how important your desk is! I believe you can tidy it up and show everyone that our class is well-organized." He listened to me and started to clean up. I showed him how to put books together, homework together, making it easier to find things and looking neater. With my guidance, he succeeded, and I immediately praised him. From then on, he trusted me more, and he would actively cooperate no matter what I asked him to do. Once again, it proves that the essence of education is to cultivate a person's character; we cannot use making children afraid as a shortcut.

Two, Cultivating children's lifelong reading habits.

Rafe believes that to make children different when they grow up —able to consider others' perspectives, open-minded, and able to discuss great ideas with others—a love of reading is an essential foundation. To make students love reading, Rafe acts as a mentor and friend to his students, guiding them to read literature. He believes that through literature, children will see the world with different eyes, open their hearts to new ideas, and embark on a glorious journey. I agree with Mr. Rafe's point of view and strive to make children love reading in three ways: First, increase my own reading volume to set an example for students; second, recommend books suitable for students' age group and establish a classroom book corner; third, connect reading with the outside world to broaden students' horizons. I believe that with the joint efforts and persistence of teachers and students, the students in our class will also develop lifelong reading habits, just like the children in Room 56.

Three, Establish the belief that there are no shortcuts to success.

Rafe said that in the past 20 years, Room 56 has opened its doors at 6:30 every morning. He arrives at school in the dark, a full hour before the official start of classes, greeted by students eagerly awaiting their lessons. This makes me envious. When I enter the classroom, the students are noisy and chasing each other, looking inattentive. Thinking about this, I have to admire Rafe, a true educational all-rounder. He uses intellectual quizzes and Shakespearean performances to teach children that only ten percent talent plus ninety percent effort can lead to success. Therefore, when teaching the lesson "Nothing is impossible," I showed students several videos: Deng Yaping's hard work in winning the world championship; Hawking's perseverance in scientific research despite severe disability; Einstein's diligent study, transforming from a "fool" in the eyes of his teacher into a great physicist. After watching, I let the students express their opinions and discuss with each other, letting them understand from a young age that there are no shortcuts to success; hard work and diligence are essential for success.

Rafe uses unique teaching methods to turn the students in Room 56 into angels who love learning, which is worth learning from, emulating, and studying.