Me and reading: an opening declaration!
I always try to bear in mind when I speak to students about reading that not everyone is as passionate and enthusiastic about it as me.
It's easy as a teacher to be surprised or shocked when students tell us that 'reading is boring' and 'I don't have time to read.' How could anyone not share our love for reading!
But my aim is not to embarrass or shame any student into reading more. I hope that by studying a novel in class those reluctant readers among us might be more inclined to read more in their spare time if they enjoy the experience.
So let me tell you why I love reading. I discovered reading at about 7 years old. Roald Dahl and in particular Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My experience of reading up until that point was probably the same as everyone else: I had to read to a teacher, books they chose for me, and the stories were ok but nothing that really grabbed me.
Roal Dahl was different: his stories made me laugh, his boy heroes made me feel like I could take on the world and his portrayal of awful adults really resonated with the way I saw the world at that time.
Once I found Dahl I was hooked. So much so that my parents were called into school but the lively little boy who used to spend his breaks running around the playground causing mayhem now sat in silence and isolation inside at break cuddled up with a book. 'Was I being bullied?' they asked, 'are there any problems at home?' they asked. The answer was no to both, I just couldn't get enough of Dahl.
By the time I was 10 years old I had read all of Dahl, EVERYTHING! By the time I was 11 I had read everything in the school.
So it was no surprise that the next step was for to start writing stories of my own, which I did, which I still do to this day.
Dahl has impacted me in so many ways. Determined to be a teacher, I was determined not to be anything like the teachers in Dahl's book or indeed Dahl's life. I wanted to be a teacher that was fun, encouraged reading and writing and acted as someone who protected young people from the awfulness of life growing up.
None of this would have been possible without Dahl's stories and the world he created that made me feel so passionately about the things that I do.
I always try to bear in mind when I speak to students about reading that not everyone is as passionate and enthusiastic about it as me.
It's easy as a teacher to be surprised or shocked when students tell us that 'reading is boring' and 'I don't have time to read.' How could anyone not share our love for reading!
But my aim is not to embarrass or shame any student into reading more. I hope that by studying a novel in class those reluctant readers among us might be more inclined to read more in their spare time if they enjoy the experience.
So let me tell you why I love reading. I discovered reading at about 7 years old. Roald Dahl and in particular Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. My experience of reading up until that point was probably the same as everyone else: I had to read to a teacher, books they chose for me, and the stories were ok but nothing that really grabbed me.
Roal Dahl was different: his stories made me laugh, his boy heroes made me feel like I could take on the world and his portrayal of awful adults really resonated with the way I saw the world at that time.
Once I found Dahl I was hooked. So much so that my parents were called into school but the lively little boy who used to spend his breaks running around the playground causing mayhem now sat in silence and isolation inside at break cuddled up with a book. 'Was I being bullied?' they asked, 'are there any problems at home?' they asked. The answer was no to both, I just couldn't get enough of Dahl.
By the time I was 10 years old I had read all of Dahl, EVERYTHING! By the time I was 11 I had read everything in the school.
So it was no surprise that the next step was for to start writing stories of my own, which I did, which I still do to this day.
Dahl has impacted me in so many ways. Determined to be a teacher, I was determined not to be anything like the teachers in Dahl's book or indeed Dahl's life. I wanted to be a teacher that was fun, encouraged reading and writing and acted as someone who protected young people from the awfulness of life growing up.
None of this would have been possible without Dahl's stories and the world he created that made me feel so passionately about the things that I do.
