Skip to main content

Summer Reading and Other Ruminations

If I could read all day, or most of the day anyway, I would. This summer, despite some voluntary and involuntary deadlines, I have found long, uninterrupted spaces for reading. As always, I'm trying to figure out how I can keep the momentum going come September. And, as never before, I am begrudgingly coming to the realisation that this is not possible once school starts. Once I get back into the swing of a full teaching day, I just won't have as much time to read or write. And, that's OK. As long as I have at least one book going and some writing I do every day, I can satisfy my reading and writing habit. Nevertheless, it is right at about this time, during summer vacation, when I start to get anxious because I know that my summer is winding down which means my carefully crafted morning routine of exercising, reading and writing is about to be disrupted.

This summer I read professional books, participated in educational Twitter chats, wrote book reviews, and worked on the final touches of my research proposal for my doctorate. I've been busy! Which brings me to another topic... anyone who claims that teachers are fortunate because they get summers off, doesn't understand how many of us use our summers to continue learning and growing our professional knowledge and practise, or how many of us take on a summer job to supplement our regular teacher salary.

So, here's my end-of-summer wish for teachers:

May we have a productive, joyful year.
Remember, we're in this for the long haul, including summers.
Let's not forget that our families and friends need us, too.
Let's make time for the important people in our lives who replenish us and keep us centered.
When all is said and done, it's our students that we must keep in front and centre.
Hope this new school year is filled with wonder and hope!

Here's a visual list of some of the books I've read this summer:
















And, here are the books I'm currently reading:










Note: All book images are from Amazon.com
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Partner Reading and Content, Too Routine (PRC2)

I'm a hoarder. There, I've said it. I try to deny that I'm a hoarder but it comes back to haunt me every time I move houses, or pack up my classroom at the end of the school year. I have old articles, lesson plans, handouts, folders brimming with teaching ideas, past issues of profesional journals. I hardly throw anything out though I've learned to be more selective over the years. My one rule of thumb, and I really try to stick to this, is that if I haven't used or referred to something in a year, then it's time to toss it into the recycle bin. One exception to this rule (you knew this was coming, didn't you?) is past issues of journals from professional organizations. However, with the ability to locate articles online through my professional memberships, even this exception is becoming less and less useful, which brings me to the topic of this blog post. I am currently reading a copy of The Reading Teacher from 2010. I've clipped a cou
Post a Comment
Read more

The Reading Strategies Book - Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension

The strategy lessons highlighted in Chapter 12, Supporting Students’ Conversations – Speaking, Listening, and Deepening Comprehension, in The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo are critical to students’ engagement and comprehension, as well as their ability to write literary essays, or even book reviews, summaries and reflective pieces about books. If students aren’t able to talk about books in a way that is invigorating and joyful, they will be less likely to develop an interest in growing ideas for writing about books. In her introduction to this chapter, Jennifer Serravallo, reminds us that when conversations go well, children are inspired by what they read and are motivated to keep reading. However, when conversations fall flat, then kids get bored and tune out. How do we avoid this situation and teach kids to  have  focused conversations about books?  The answer is easy: teach kids  strategies to help them develop effective conversational skills .  As in
Post a Comment
Read more

Are we listening?

A child sits alone with a ripped worksheet packet on his desk. He appears to be singing or subvocalizing something though no one hears him. Or, perhaps they're ignoring him. The teacher stands at the front of the room teaching on the SmartBoard. The children follow along in their worksheets. Except the child sitting alone. He is in his own world. No one engages him and he engages no one. My heart aches for this child. He is physically and emotionally removed from the class. I ask him why his paper is ripped. (It's not an accidental rip.) He says he did that on a different day. When he had been frustrated about the work. He tells me that he sometimes sits by himself because the work is too hard for him. He later tells me that he sits by himself because the teacher thinks he talks too much during the lesson.  He says he does that because he wants to find out about the "lives of the other children". My first impulse is to rescue him from the wrongheade
10 comments
Read more