This morning I was reading George Couros' most recent blog post: 5 Questions to Ask Your Students to Start the School Year Click Here. At the beginning of the post he shares a question he posted on twitter to his followers:
"In your time as a student in K-12, what made an impact on you. Not who, but what? What do you remember that influenced you today?"
This question brought me back to first grade - the year I learned to HATE reading. I learned that reading is about being grouped by ability and learning about Dick and Jane. I learned it was laborious, meaningless (to me), and most of all passionless. While I had books at home that I loved, that is not what reading at school was for me. I was in the lowest reading group and it was then that I chose not to be a reader which meant I would battle reading the rest of my K-12 years. I did not read for pleasure or in my free time, reading was a chore and/or a requirement. Needless to say, that might have something to do with my passion for math and science.
Even though I had given up on being a reader, I would watch my mom devour books and spend hours chatting with her friends about books. I secretly wanted to feel the passion my mom had for books and reading. I assumed I would have to wait until I was an adult to experience THAT type of reading.
One summer, when I was in college, I was visiting my Nana in Mission Beach and I picked up a Danielle Steele book. Everyone reads at the beach so I decided to give it a try. My reading world was changed forever. I laughed, cried, got angry, frustrated and connected to the characters and the story. I read every Danielle Steele book that was in the beach house. I call Danielle my "gateway" author - she was the one who pulled me in, but after a few of her books, I needed more substance. I'm so thankful for Danielle because she taught me what reading is/should be.
After that summer I began my credential program and my student teaching. I was placed in a fifth grade classroom and another transformation happened. As we read books like Bridge to Terabithia, I became more and more angry. As I read and connected with the characters and had vivid pictures swirling in my mind I was mad at every teacher I had that never gave me that passion for reading, 13 years of schooling and NOT ONE of my teachers helped me cross over and become a passionate reader. I set out to read all of the incredible books I skipped or missed out on during those 13 years.
My second year of teaching during our "DEAR" time (drop everything and read) I was still catching up on incredible children's literature books. I also read aloud everyday to my 4th and 5th grade students. I would cry as I read and I modeled how you are supposed to feel and interact with a book and it's characters. I also had Marisol, one of my 5th graders. When I would get to a point in a book that I was crying so hard I could no longer read coherently, Marisol would come and take the book from my hands, sit next to me and continue reading where I had left off. It was a seamless transition and I would go join the criers table (where all the criers sat during read aloud). We would cry together as Marisol read aloud to us. The students would keep a careful eye on me during DEAR time and when they saw me crying, they would demand that I read that book next.
Interestingly I'll be returning to the classroom as a first grade teacher, a grade I have not taught ever in my 27 year career. I'll be sharing my journey as my students and I learn together this year. One thing I know for sure, my students and I will share a passion for books and reading from day one.
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