September - May is a frustrating time of year for a teacher to be a reader. Because there is no way to do our jobs within the parameters of the contract hours of our days/weeks, work spills over into our personal lives and threatens to rob us of one of the identities at our very core -- that of Reader. Luckily, I eat breakfast every day and I have a twenty minute commute to work.
I manage to keep a middle grade novel going in 20 minute increments as I eat breakfast. I tell myself that I should weave a professional book into that time slot some days, but I'll be honest -- I rarely do.
It would be easy enough not to be a reader, but as a teacher of reading (and as a person whose core identity is Reader), that's simply not an option.
There's no such thing as MAKING time to read. We all have the same number of hours in each day. So it's all about being creative in FINDING time and using it to keep my reading life alive in the September - May drought so it can flourish June - August.
I rarely read adult books, and talking to other people just means I have less time for reading! Cross country season is hard, but usually I spend my entire evening reading. It helps a lot that I don't have to grade anything.
ReplyDeleteI hear you. I have been reading between 9-10 PM and even then, my eyes sometimes slam shut. I listen to mostly middle grade books on the drive home. BTW, if you haven't listened to The Rainbow Comes and Goes by Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt, do. It's a fascinating piece of history. Both do the reading so it's like hearing them converse.
ReplyDeleteI am going to check out the audio links, thanks Mary Lee. I tend to zone out with audio things...a mechanism I learned from babyhood since my father taught private music lessons at our house...and I had to learn "not to hear" it.....I just have to re-train my brain (not easy for an old dog) and I could then go the other way and get lost in the thinking....but I should try.
ReplyDeleteI love this honest piece, lots of connections. Sometimes I wish I had a longer drive. Do you have an audible membership?
ReplyDeleteYes, I subscribe to Audible. It's yet another of my bookshelves!!
DeleteI get alll of my audio books from the library using Overdrive. Love it!
DeleteOh, I think we can all relate! I've been reading essays at breakfast, because fiction would make me late for work. And I've just recently begun listening to books during my commute, and I regret all those years I didn't! I do find it somewhat amusing that I "don't have time" to exercise, yet I fit reading time into every nook and cranny of my life.
ReplyDeleteWe have a fifth grade teacher that has not started yet, and I'm doing her plans and grading this fall. I'm trying to read 15 minutes a day to have books to share with the fifth graders and can barely manage that. Phew!
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