Self Reflection Activity

I'm going to ignore, for the moment, the fact that I've been an absentee blogger for the past month and jump right in to this post.

I'm in grad school right now and have a book report due on Tuesday. My professor is phenomenal and chose books he thought applied to where we are as teachers.

My book is called The Book Whisperer Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child and it is inspiring! I recommend it for all teachers of grades 3-7!

I'm about halfway through it and it gave a "Self Reflection Activity"

Without further ado:

What were your reading experiences as a child? My parents read aloud to me as far back as I can remember. Little Women was a mother/daughter favorite! I quickly fell in love with Nancy Drew (I always wanted her to end up with Frank instead of Ned!) all the Babysitters and the Sweet Valley Twins and gradually moved on to anything by Janette Oke or Grace Livingston Hill.

Were these positive or negative experiences for you? Absolutely positive! I would read so much, my parents grounded me from reading if my homework wasn't done! I thought it was funny that my friends were grounded to their room to read!

Do you see yourself as a reader now? I still love to read today, though don't have as much time for it as I would like...

How do you share your reading experiences --both current experiences and those from the past--with your students? Oo, good question! I don't think I do this very well. I'm sure I've told stories at some point about reading as a child to my students...but I don't think I talk about it much with them. After reading this book, I will for sure!

With which group of readers in your classroom do you most identify--the underground readers, the developing readers or the dormant readers? Definitely the underground reader...I would score low marks on novel quizzes and tests because the questions would be over minute details from a chapter I had read 8 weeks ago and the class was just completing it!

Who have been your role models for reading? Hmm, that's a good question. My mom enjoys reading, but read mostly magazines when I was a girl. She reads books more often now and we'll recommend them to each other. I don't know of a specific role model for reading...

List the last five books you have read. The Truth Seeker by Dee Henderson, Pirates by David L. Harrison, Tap Dancing on the Roof by Linda Sue Park, Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury, In Harm's Way by Irene Hannon

How long did it take for you to read these books? Pirates and Tap Dancing on the Roof were read in less than 20 minutes each...They're children's books and I was reading them aloud to my tutoring students. I read In Harm's Way on my first day of summer vacation. Shades of Blue took a little longer, because it was snatches at night before bed. The Truth Seeker was a casual stroll, because I've read it so many times. It's an old friend.

Which books were read for a job or for a school-related purpose? Hmmm, I'll say Pirates and Tap Dancing on the Roof were both read for a school-related purpose. They're ok. They're both on the Name That Book List and I think both are Bluebonnet books this next year, too. They're both poetry books. Pirates has PHENOMENAL illustrations!

Which books were read for pleasure? In Harm's Way, The Truth Seeker, Shades of Blue were all read for pleasure (And I highly recommend them all!)