Why is it not cool to like reading?

This is one thing I really don't get!
I feel really lucky to be able to say that I have a lot of readers in my 7th and 8th grade classes. When I say "reader" I mean someone who constantly has a book that they have chosen on their own. Someone who will search for a new book to read once they have finished the one they were working on. Someone who is lost without a book to read. I have so many students who love chatting with me about the books they are reading. Why then do some of these "readers" act like they don't like reading? They feel like they have to complain when I say that we are going to have SSR for a class period, yet when we finish reading they are so excited to tell me about what just happened in their book. The other day I actually had a student tell me that it was "scary" that he was actually enjoying the book he was reading. This is a student that likes to read! I have seen him like multiple books. I have seen him talk with friends about good books to read. I know for a fact that he has liked many books in the past. So why does he feel like he has to act like he has never liked a book before in his life?

Work on Just One Thing

Surprisingly, I seem to have a little time to myself this Friday morning, so I thought I would explore some of the blogs I added to my Google reader. I'm glad I did, because I just got some of the best advice I have received in months. English teacher and writer, Jim Burke, posted a piece called "Work on just one thing" yesterday. He writes about how neither teachers nor students can work on everything at once. We all have 10, 234 other things we could be working on as well, but in order to get better at any one thing, we need to focus our attention on that one thing. This is exactly the advice I need when I am trying to get my classroom blog working well. I have been introduced to RSS and am trying to figure out a way for my students to utilize this tool. I have just create a Wiki, a Ning, and a Twitter, none of which I have used yet, but all of which I was very excited to create and to at least think about using. Jim Burke's advice was very timely. I will work on blogging and blogging well! And when the time comes to move on to RSS, Wikis, Ning, and Twitter there will be 10,234 other pieces of new technology to work with... one at a time of course.

Girls Singing the Blues

I almost always listen to the news on NPR on my way to and from work. The 40-minute drive is a perfect time to drink my coffee, hear a little bit about what’s going on in the world and mentally prepare myself for the day ahead. But sometimes, when I need a little help in the mental preparation department, if it’s been a hard week, or if I’m just not feeling particularly stellar emotionally for one reason or another, I’ll listen to music. Somehow music always seems to put things into perspective for me. Granted, sometimes it is a difficult task finding just the right music to fit with my mood and to make me rethink some of the ideas spinning around and around in my head. This morning it was easy… the blues. In particular girls singing the blues. Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi were my saving graces this morning.

Post Number One!

This is post number one for my new blog for class. So, I have blogged for classes before and I always give up on them after the class is over. I set up a blog for my seventh graders on EduBlogs a few weeks ago, but things have been a little spotty. Each student has made at least one post and commented on other students' post, but it is not something we use regularly. I'm not really sure how to make it a regular part of our class I guess. I don't want to blog for the sake of blogging, but I do feel that if I can figure out how to use this tool in a productive way, it can be very useful and helpful for my students. So... my first blog post is a cry for help about how (and why) to use a blog!!!

P.S. I was inspired by the quote in the syllabus, "I believe that effective teachers of writing regularly write themselves." I'm going to keep this in mind in terms of blogging and... hopefully... I won't give up on this blog after this class is over :)