I’ve had the pleasure of working with some incredibly honest teachers over the years.
So, reactions like these (in response to this video) didn’t surprise me one bit:
“Wow. I don’t read like he does,” a few people admitted.
“I don’t read much at all, these days” others have said. “Who has time to read like that?”
“Well, I don’t. And if I am reading, it certainly isn’t anything as cerebral as King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail,” someone joked and then added quickly, “I’m not joking.”
“This is sad,” someone sighed. “I used to love reading. I guess I’ve been treating it as an unnecessary luxury.”
That is sad.
Really sad.
How can we create “beautiful questions about things worth reading” for our students when we’re not doing this for ourselves?
4 Comments
I love this post. I want to make it into a poster and hang in it my school library.
I have not had much time to read since the baby was born. Our school made fifth period longer,and all the students in every class – even gym – have to read for those 15 minutes. I’m so excited every day to have that time set aside. Today I kept fiddling with the kitchen timer because I was at a good part in my book. I think we read for 25 minutes. 🙂 I’m reading The Book of Lost Things by John Connoly, and it’s beautiful so far.
Someone else just recommended that to me! I am adding to my list. I was grateful to our principal for sticking to her guns about sustained silent reading time when I was in the classroom. It matters. You are lucky.
Thanks @Edi! I just stopped by your blog. I’m making chai now : )