Blair Wright Blog #2 Share Your Reading Life

The first major point of Chapter 3 in Routman's book is that you should share what you are reading and what you want to read in the future with your students. As teachers, we are a huge influence on our students and it is important to model and show them how to be good readers. In order to do this, you need to examine yourself as a reader. Personally, I do not feel like I am the strongest of readers and I do not read much at home. However, I do think of myself as a "spurt reader".  When I do read I want to read the whole book or series as quickly as possible. Usually this happens in the summer when I have more time on my hands or when I hear of a great book from a friend. One thing I like to "spurt read" are the books my students are interested in such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Wonder, Weirder School, etc. When I hear them talking about it, it inspires me to check them out, then I get to talk to the students about the book.

The next major point I took from the chapter is to take ownership in what you are reading and what you want to read in the future. She talks about keeping track of the books as you read them and a list of ones you want to read. When keeping track of your reading, she suggests that you write down the books you are reading, and also write ones that you want to read. This really made me think of how long my list would be if I had documented the books I read in my life. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be as long as most, but still would probably fill up at least a single subject notebook writing on the front and backs of pages. Again, the focus of the list wouldn't be on quantity, but the desire to always be reading. Modeling this practice would be a sure fire way to encourage reading and help build enthusiasm of reading in students.