Love of Reading Is Caught

Love of reading is caught not taught. The reason Oprah Winfrey has been able to inspire millions of people to read the books in her Book Club is because she is an avid reader herself. It is not uncommon for her to read 3 books in a week-end. Therefore, she is in a position to discuss a book in a way that whets the appetite of others.

If teachers are to inspire their students to read they might want to consider how they can become more like Oprah in this regard. There are studies that have shown that most teachers do not read professional journals or books and only 25% of them read 3-4 books in a month. An additional 20% said they had read nothing in the last six months. Educators are not reading much more than the general population. Yet, they have the responsibility to help develop in their students a love for reading.

Administrators can help. Research about teachers has shown that in schools where their administrators talk about books and professional journals, the teachers read more on their own. Administrators can also encourage teachers to join professional organizations--maybe even paying for the membership--because educators who belong to professional organizations read more professional journals.



Some ideas for this post:
The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease

Educators: Always Be Engaged With Learning

All the educators (and many times other stakeholders, too!) must stay constantly engaged with the body of knowledge about what works for Hispanic students. This knowledge can come from numerous sources:

• Membership in national and local organizations--and reading the journals and other publications from those organizations
• Subscriptions to journals specifically related to Hispanic learners
• Attendance at national and local conferences, workshops, seminars, classes
• Reading books and articles by the experts in the field and then provide "cliff notes" for others
• Collaboration with others within the school as well as outside of the school
• Mentors and networks
• A personal reflection journal
• Participation in teacher action research projects
• Writing articles for different publications
• Participation in a blog
• Visits to others classrooms and schools
• Choose an area of expertise and spend 10 minutes every day learning about that topic
• Videos and DVDs
• Participation in cognitive coaching

Some of these ideas can be divided amongst staff members. For instance, each staff member can join a different organization and then share what is learned with other staff members and stakeholders. Each teacher should develop his or her own professional development plan that is shared with the principal and other staff members. The idea is to be continually learning AND applying what is learned so students are constantly provided with the best we can give them.