What Cures Your Teaching Blues?

The box finally arrived on the porch. Time slows to a crawl when I am awaiting new professional books! Although I have quite a collection, I love books about the craft of teaching. For me, professional books provide inspiration, gentle guidance, and companionship on what can often be a lonely journey as a classroom teacher.

In that vein, I cracked open Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer last night. It was just the right antidote to a simmering bout of teaching melancholy. Donalyn is like the little sparrows in The Tale of Peter Rabbit who “…implored Peter to exert himself.” Here is a bit from her introduction:

“I believe that this corporate machinery of scripted programs, comprehension worksheets…computer-based incentive packages, and test-practice curricula facilitate a solid bottom line for the companies that sell them. These programs may deceive schools into believing they are using every available resource to teach reading, but ultimately, they are doomed to fail because they overlook what is most important. When you take a forklift and shovel off the programs, underneath it all is a child reading a book.”

There is so much I don’t know, so much I don’t have the energy for, so many things I never seem to be able to get done. But Donalyn urges me to take heart! I am doing something right: I never fail to be a model of passionate reading and I have a rich and growing classroom library.