Less than 2 weeks to go…
Well… It’s less than 2 weeks before school starts. I’m both excited and nervous about starting. All these people keep telling me how intense a year it is going to be. I’m trying to maintain a positive rather than freaked out attitude about it all. As I mentioned in my last post (more than a month ago - oops), a friend lent me some of her books to read. I thought I would start light, so I read Educating Esmé, by Esmé Raji Codell. Esmé wrote about her experiences as a first year teacher in an inner-city school in Chicago. The book made me choked up at times and sometimes I laughed out loud. I thought she had some great ideas that I hope to implement in my own classroom one day and I’m hoping I can use some ideas as a student teacher.
The next book I read was Radical Reflections on Teaching, Learning and Living by Mem Fox. Her primary focus is on reading and writing. She seems like a fun lady even if she appears somewhat self-congratulatory. In her favour, after reading this book, I did want to write more and express myself. That didn’t translate to any more entries in my blog. Oops. But I did write some funny poems for Carl. One thing that really stood out in the book was the idea that when we write, it should have a purpose. I guess one of the reasons I haven’t written many blog entries is because I know there is no one reading it. There is the opportunity to share my blog with others, but I am kind of nervous and don’t feel like I have anything to share just yet, so I am lurking a lot on other people’s blogs. Maybe one day I will comment and share my blog as well. I’m sure that will make a difference in how often I write.
Right now I’m reading, The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. The author is a little “old school”, but I agree with the general premise of his book, which focuses on the importance of reading aloud to children. This is definitely something I plan on implementing as a teacher in my class. I think I’m going to have to practice reading out loud to Carl so I’m ready when it comes time to do it for the kids.
