A Literate Life Shared Mindfully


    I have lost count of the number of times I have urged educators to mindfully share their literate lives with the students in their care.

    The importance of being joyfully literate, as intially espoused by the late New Zealand educator, Don Holdaway, coupled with the critical nature of sharing our reading and writing lives with the students in our care, cannot be overstated. 

    When it comes to teaching, we must be in the stream with your students,. We can’t stand on the bank imploring them to swim faster! Our efforts must intially go into assisting them to remain afloat. 

    When we share aspects of our reading and writing selves, it adds extra depth to our humanity and strengthens the connection to what we are demanding of them. It makes us eminently more credible…

    These remarks lead me to thinking about my personal situation as both reader and writer.

     I recall reading that one of favourite educators, Professor Richard Allington, when speaking at a conference in Colorado restated his belief that unless you know a thousand books you should not become a teacher! 

    Richard, I’m still with you all the way. A recent post by a fellow educator and writer prompted more thought on this matter when she wrote about teachers who openly declare they don’t read. I honestly struggle with this kind of disclosure! It leaves me feeling somewhat downhearted. 

    I can’t imagine a life without books. I try to spend some time each week browsing in bookshops. I willingly yield to this clarion call.  Last week, two more books joined my library. The shelves in my study are bulging with books, magazines, notebooks. There are more in boxes in our garage!

' By digesting books, I am creaating myself. You are what you read.'

Malcolm Knox

    These texts are the oxygen for my writing. We read. We inhale. We write. We exhale. It’s a symbiotic relationship.  It feels comforting to know I am part of that great family of readers. Books have always been there, and their powerful magic has worked on me.

    Reading is a constant in my life, -Reading newspapers, reading professional journals and books, reading on my iphone, Ipad, or computer, reading books for relaxation and enjoyment, reading to learn, reading to continue the important work of chipping away at my ignorance.

    Each and every time I enter a classroom and introduce myself, I am at pains to say to the curious young learners assembled before- 'Good morning everyone. Like you, I am a reader and writer.'  It sets the right tone and establishes my position. My next step is to prove my literate credentials. I make it clear that reading is the input and writing is the output.





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