I blogged earlier in the month about Donalyn Miller's amazing book, Reading in the Wild and shared how my goal was to work on becoming more of a wild reader myself in order to serve as a more knowledgeable reading mentor for my kiddos. So, here's my evidence that I have actually been working toward some of those goals!
These are the books I have read in the last three-ish weeks. Besides the typical "teacher" books, I managed to read some books from my classroom library (one big benefit of having my entire classroom in my dining room!) that I normally wouldn't read- Goosebumps being a prime example. On that note, I am proud of myself for facing my fear, but I just have to say that I feel incredibly silly for being so afraid of them. I mean really, really silly. I'm not sure what I had imagined in my head, but an infestation of worms was not quite what I was expecting! I'm sure this means I'm ready for some Stephen King- NOT! Baby steps....
Besides the Goosebumps books, I read a Captain Underpants book that literally made me laugh out loud, an A-Z Mysteries book that I thoroughly enjoyed and that actually had great examples of foreshadowing, and a Magic Tree House book that taught me some things I never knew about the Civil War! I read James and the Giant Peach for the very first time (no judgements allowed), Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, which I absolutely adored, and the first book in the Puppy Place series which left me wanting to read more just to find out if the family ever gets a dog of their own!
I continued to read my professional books, but also read Finding Alaska, another book by John Green, who I fell in love with after reading The Fault in Our Stars, and Sphere, a Michael Crichton book that was totally outside of my comfort zone but I loved and couldn't put down.
I've had so much fun reading the books in my library. I have lots of books on my to-read list and I can't wait to expand my reading horizons even more- just no Stephen King quite yet!
The idea of "edge time" really stuck with me after reading the book. I've tried to be better about sticking some paperbacks in my purse before I leave the house. I took some along with me when I went to get my hair done and I had the perfect opportunity to sneak in some great reading time. What did people think when they saw a grown woman reading A-Z Mysteries in a salon?? Who cares! I was able to tune the world out and tune in to my book and the time that normally creeps by so slowly was enjoyable. And yes, just in case you're wondering, I had to swallow my pride and ask my stylist to take a picture of me in action. I explained that my plan was to show this picture to my students loudly enough so the strangers giving me the "what-in-the-world-is-this-girl-doing" look could hear. I'm telling ya, the things we do for our students!!
I joined goodreads! I'm loving it! I'm still not quite sure what all I can do with it and I'm still exploring, but it's super easy to use and I love that I can see what my friends are reading now, have read in the past, and what they plan to read in the future. It's a great way to keep a log of my reading and keep me motivated to read new books.
Now on to the linky part!!
Taking the picture in the salon gave me the idea for this linky. I'm thinking that for the rest of the summer I want to try and take pictures of all the "wild" places I may read, especially when it's seizing an edge time opportunity. That made me think about how cool it would be if I could show my kids pictures of my teacher friends doing the same thing!!!
So here's what I'm hoping: if you are willing to take a picture of yourself reading "in the wild" and you feel comfortable sharing those pictures with others, I would love for you to link up!! I'm hoping to compile the pictures into a PowerPoint to show my students. Remember that this is for kids, so if you have the habit of reading in the bathtub or some other place that would be inappropriate to snap a picture of, please keep those little photos to yourself! I am so excited to see pictures of other teachers reading and I can't wait to see how my students respond!
If you are not a blogger but still want to participate, no worries! Simply leave a comment describing how you utilized your edge time or where you read. You could also e-mail me your picture if you are comfortable with that.
So wild readers, let's link up!
If you are on a journey of becoming more of a wild reader yourself, I would love to hear your thoughts! If you have any great book suggestions - any genre - I would love to hear those as well!
Enjoy your weekend!
I've been reading like crazy this summer! My favorites so far were The Book Thief, Fault in Our Stars, and Me Before you. I love your picture in the salon...you are brave girl! I hope to take a picture of my edge-time reading and link up soon. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for inspiring us! I've been reading like crazy, too - after nErDcampMI, I had lots of books on my TBR list! So far, faves include The Fault in Our Stars, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, One for the Murphy's, A Snicker of Magic, all of the books from The Giver series, and Beekle. I've read in the car, in a plane, in airports, in 5 states, on the porch, in bed, and even in the salon getting a perm, too! I neglected to get a picture, though - perhaps soon I'll link with a picture!
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