Kim Anderson Blog post 3 -Share You Reading Life

The first week of school is my favorite. It is when I get to know the students and when they get to know me. The first week is all about building community. One thing I truly believe is that in order for a teacher to get the best from their students is by allowing the students to get to know you as a person and to see you as a "human being". One way that I do that each year is I introduce my students to some of the books I loved as a child. We read one per day that first week and discuss when it was copy written, (because some of them are out of print and they can't believe how old they are) and we discuss why I like it. I tell them that each book holds certain memories for me from my childhood and they love it! I talk to them about how I was not a reader until much later in school and how I wish someone had introduced me to books much earlier in life. We talk about how it is my duty as a teacher to try my best to introduce them to books that will cause them to become life long readers. I  talk to them about books that I have read and even books that my children have read. I tell them about my family and a challenge that happens in my family.  My uncle gives us a challenge each year. We always start the new year by reading the book "One Word that will change your life " by Jon Gordan. It was a healing tool that we decided to do as a family after my brother died. Then we have a book challenge. We choose a number and challenge ourselves each year. My book goal this year was 30 books. At first the kids seem unimpressed with the number, but after I show them the size of the books I am reading and planning on reading they seem to suddenly change their minds. We discuss the fact that I love books. Real books. That I don't like reading books on the Ipad or Kindle and that nothing feels better than having a "real" book in your hands. When I am reading something that I can read at school, I like to read when my students are reading. It is not always possible but I have been known to kick up my feet and read with them from time to time. I love reading aloud to them. Not just books for them but my own books if I feel like they can relate to it. If there is a passage that I find uplifting I will tell them about it and read it to them. I tell them about my library at home and how I enjoy rereading some books over and over again because they have a "feel good" effect on me. They just generally make me happy. We talk about how they can build their own libraries at home. I impress the importance of Scholastic orders and how they always have books for $1. I have never kept a reading record of my own but the thought intrigues me. I often highlight favorite quotes or verses from books that I want to remember and often jot them down in my journal of favorite quotes but have never actually kept a reading record. All in all I would say my students have a pretty clear idea of how much I love reading. I am still on the hunt to find that just right book for each of my students that will turn them into the avid, book loving, reader I am today.