I realize that I am a chaotic person. My college papers were often well-written, but chaotic and haphazard. My book reviews in this blog are haphazardly written, and often are not structured at all, but free-flowing thoughts. My desk at school is a disaster zone of papers, folders, binders, books, teacher's editions, student papers, post-it notes, and pencils, markers, and smart board pens. My classroom has no reason or rhyme to it (decoratively that is), and my students have gotten used to my compelling yet "messy" teaching style - often interrupting the intro to new material with discussions and checks for understandings that go deeper than perhaps they should. I'm proud of my crazy ways - my acting was done much the same way. I never felt that I really ever hit my all-star performances until I was actually on stage in front of an audience. I fed off their energy, whereas in rehearsal it was more difficult for me to invest myself.
The reason I am describing my string of consciousness writing style and personality is because I want people to understand me. Doesn't everyone at one point wish for the world to understand why they are the way they are? I have no idea why I am this way, but I do know that it works for me, and hopefully this blog and its reviews have been working for you (and by you, I mean whoever might be reading this). My writing "voice" resembles a kid jumping around in puddles excitedly, passionately, and that's how I feel about books. I tell my kids to write about things that excite them, and often urge them to read books that they will soon find they can't put down. I encourage organized chaos in my kids. To be so excited and interested in something that they will soon become excited and insist on telling me about it. When one of my students is really eager about something they've read or done, they often can't wait to describe it to me. The way a child describes something very important to an adult is often like my writing style - a kid jumping around from puddle to puddle.
I only have a few more days with my fifth graders, and then they leave me to go on to bigger and hopefully better things. I've grown quite attached to them, and I've relished our moments in class together. I will miss hearing them analyze, critique, and ask questions about books and stories. I will miss their excitement during debates, and their passion for writing about something that they care about. I will miss that ecstatic joy a student gets when they finally understand a math problem, or spell a difficult word.
That being said, while I will miss every one of my students, I am excited for the summer. I anticipate much reading will be done by me. I have stacks of books on the glass desk by my bedside just waiting to be read. I relish the feeling of opening a book for the first time and smelling the clean, fresh pages, touching the words which will soon fill my mind with images and adventure. I am over 500 pages into the 805 page book I'm reading now. I look forward to writing about it.
So soon the summer book marathon begins. Keep reading, friends! And let me know if you have any new suggestions of books I should add to my pile.
No comments:
Post a Comment