I like to read.  Wait. No. I LOVE to read. If there is one thing that I feel makes a house a home, it is books. Books. Books. I love them. I have a book started in almost every room of my home. I have a book that I carry in my bag, a book that I carry in my car, and a book list on my phone when I run out of books and am wandering the library isles. However, my students don’t always share my somewhat insane love of reading. I have to work with them to make it happen. Just like I had to work with my own children. I read to them. Every night. Since the moment they were born. I make sure there are books for them. Weekly trips to the library. Books stuffed into backpacks, bags, the car.

But my students are different. I can’t read to them every night. I can’t reorganize their home. I can’t pack their bags. So I have to do what I can in my classroom. I recently ran across this article about the teaching of reading. I found it very book affirming and pro-teacher. I find it very helpful in those moments when I find myself thinking “what can my small self do to make these kids love to read in the midst of their incredibly busy lives?”