I know one thing I have learned as a regular classroom teacher, a teacher librarian, and a person in general is that kids and adults alike are not reading. I think much of it has to do with we have not created a culture for reading. We, as adults, have convinced ourselves we don't have time or we aren't that good of a reader (practice makes better). We, as teachers, have crushed students' desires to read by giving them read-this-because-I-said-so-even-though-you-hate-and-despise-it books. We, as teachers, have not planted seeds of reading, or if we have, we have not nurtured or cultivated them. We, as adults and students, have labeled those that like to read "nerds" or "bookworms" or "smarty pants". I proudly embrace my booknerdness. Yes, I just made up a word. I graduated with an English degree which means I can do that (okay, okay, probably not, but my professors used to say the same thing). I am here to tell you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being a reader. In fact, there is everything right with being a reader. Reading takes you places. I have been a doctor, a scientist, hunted down serial killers, gone to carnivals, traveled the world, been a princess, a hero, fought wars, nursed the wounded, joined the circus, traveled through time, and so much more in books. I have done things that I would have never done in "real" life. I have been people I could never actually be. I have met people who have passed. I have lived 1,000 lives. I have escaped my reality. I have found an endless supply of gold and jewels. And guess what? I don't just want to keep it to myself like some heavily guarded secret treasure. No way! I want to share it with the world. How do I do that? By sharing what I am reading, creating videos using silly Snapchat filters and posting them on my library Facebook page, by printing off the book covers and hanging them on the wall outside the library in the section for "Mrs. Reed's Reads", by asking students in the hallways or the cafeteria or going into their classrooms during independent reading time and saying, "Hey! What are you reading? Tell me what you love about it? What has happened? Who is your favorite character?" or some other question about what they are reading in an enthusiastic and passionate way, by forming Connected Book Clubs (#connectedbookclub) with my librarian friend Ronda Hughes (@rondahughes10). I ask teachers what they are reading as well, and it does wonders for the students to see them reading and hear them talk about what they are reading. I told some high school students one day that our principal was a reader. They were shocked. I mean SHOCKED! Why? Because he had never mentioned it to them before. But you know what it did? It opened the door for him (who happened to be standing right there) to talk to them about books. When we care about something we talk about it. When we are selling something, we advertise it. When we are passionate about books and changing lives, we should want to shout that from the rooftops too. Don't be a stick-in-the-mud closet reader. Get out there and share, share, share. Oh, and let students choose what they want to read. Instead of confining them to a box, find out their interests and help them find books that they want to read....I will stop there because that is a soapbox for another day. Until then, be a radical reader.
***************************************************************************************** A professional text that I highly recommend for any educator wanting to increase literacy and promote reading is: Sparks in the Dark: Lessons, Ideas and Strategies to Illuminate the Reading and Writing Lives in All of Us by Travis Crowder and Todd Nesloney Another text that was just released that I have ordered and am excited to read: Lead with Literacy: A Pirate Leader's Guide to Developing a Culture of Readers by Mandy Ellis Also, follow @TechNinjaTodd @TeacherMannTrav and @mandyeellis on Twitter! ***************************************************************************************** Share your ideas for promoting literacy here: https://flipgrid.com/6f828b Grid Password: Readbooks
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Kimee ReedI am a Teacher Librarian that believes in out of the box experiences to make learning fun, inspire, encourage, excite, and empower students. Archives
June 2018
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