Thursday, August 28, 2014

A New Reading Orbit for Me!

Last week I walked into Staples and suddenly realized that I did not have to buy any classroom supplies. For the first time in 12 years, I would not be standing at the door of a classroom, welcoming students in as the new school year began. This gave me a sickish feeling in the pit of my stomach. I love all of that stuff! The notebooks! The pencils! The must-haves! I felt....left out.

Then I walked out of the store and another thought hit me. A happier thought. I had not spent any of my own money on classroom supplies, or decor, or any of the rest of it. I still had money to spend on other things! And so my new life begins.

This year, I opted to jump off of the teaching carousel for.....who knows? This year, at any rate. My husband and I have just moved to New Hampshire from Florida, and I am thrilled to be able to enjoy the outdoors again. It is just gorgeous here. I have signed on to work as an assistant in a First Grade classroom, where I will run small groups and pretty much do anything else that is needed to run the show. However, I get to go home without any paperwork to do or parents to call, and I expect my headaches to be few. Best of all, my evenings and my weekends will actually belong to me.

Along with keeping up this blog, I wish to create materials that will help teachers to really put to use all of the great trade books that are out there. With Common Core a part of everything teachers are about now, read aloud books take on added importance. They must be selected not just for a fabulous story, but to illustrate a writing trait, or a reading skill, or to offer some information useful to science or social studies standards. It is my goal to offer only those books that will help teachers with their planning and grab students at the same time. Suppose one child falls in love with a book when you read it in class. The next book, another child is struck by the reading bug. That is how you build a class of diverse readers.....one real reader at a time. 




2 comments:

  1. Nancy your love of teaching and children is so inspiring. I wish you well on your new journey. I am so amazed by all that kindergartners and first graders must learn and do when we were working on 'Run Spot run back in the day. My two grandchildren are in NH and can't help but think wouldn't it be wonderful if in your new adventures they had the opportunity to work with you.

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