When I think about myself as a reader my mind goes in so many different directions because I am always surrounded by books. They are in stacks on my nightstand, on my desk, in my car, and overflowing from my children's bookshelves, they are everywhere! I love books and I love to read. I, like many of my colleagues tend to be a "seasonal" reader. In the summer there is nothing I enjoy more than reading a book. I mostly read fiction for pleasure. I love "get-away" books. You know the kind of books that take you somewhere, the kind you can't put down. I love reading easy books like the ones written by Sophie Kinsella but I also enjoy the much deeper novels of Jodi Picoult and everything in between. I can read two books like this over a vacation weekend if you let me.
During the school year I devour books that will help me better myself as a teacher. Currently I am reading Igniting Creativity in Gifted Learners, K-6 by Joan Franklin Smutny and S.E. von Fremd. Books like this I will read and re-read, mark pages, highlight, and take notes until I think I've "got-it" and can put it into practice.
I also always have some sort of inspirational book lying around that I can pick up and "read on the run." One of my favorites is Laugh Yourself to Sleep by Rachel St. John-Gilbert. She describes her book as nighttime devotions for the "Unconventional Woman." It is a perfect "pick me up" book.
I am a lover of children's literature. I am always searching for books to share with my children and my students. In fact, a package just arrived on my doorstep yesterday. The book fair just so happened to be at our school this week and while browsing the racks I came across the most fantastic book simply titled Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This book is perfect for my gifted class because it is based around the old duck/rabbit optical illusion that has been around forever. It is about seeing things from two completely different perspectives, which is what my students tend to do. After purchasing this book I just had to have more by this author so I bought two more books that are perfectly suited for my class as well, Spoon and Little Oink. I can't wait to share all three with my students!
So I really am a lifelong reader. I simply love to read. Developing students who are lifelong readers has always been my goal as a teacher. I was talking to my students the other day about one of my childhood favorites, Be Nice to Spiders, I can't remember who it was written by but I can see the cover and remember the book by heart. I plan to find it this week and use it in a lesson.
So, now it is your turn to tell me who you are as a reader! I can't wait to read the replies!
4 comments:
So why do you think you are a reader? What did your parents do to encourage or model for you?
I completely understand about your stacks. I used to have a TBR pile, now it is a mountain.
The size of the mountain makes no difference in my book purchases. So what if I have 200 books on my shelves that I have not read? I want to read the new book that just came out by [insert name]!
As far as professional reading goes, have you read Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer? I read it this past summer and bought copies for all my sixth grade teachers. It has made an amazing difference in their reading this year.
It's probably no coincidence that many of my teacher friends are obsessive readers. I'm the same as you, if you leave me alone I could devour two books in a weekend! I have to ration my reading time and reward myself for good behavior (cleaning house, etc. :) ) And I LOVE children's books as well. Now that I don't have a classroom of my own there is no excuse that I spend a small fortune with Scholastic, but I just can't resist a great new read for kids. I'd love to see the new ones you bought. When I taught gifted, I often thought there should be a genre study of "gifted-like" books. :) Thanks for joining the challenge!
@dayle. I found it interesting that you asked what my parents modeled and not my teachers. I do remember always being surrounded by books at home. We belonged to one of those monthly "book clubs" where you would get new books every month. I did not love reading until I was able to have a choice as to which books I actually read,so it was my home reading life that made me love reading and not my schooling.
@Elaine. I will have to get The Book Whisperer! It sounds great!
@Melanie. Lol my husband does not enjoy "Book Fair" quite the same as Chase and I do! I found the most fabulous book on Amazon called Mirror, Mirror. I will share!
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