It has been a long time since I've had to fill out a reading log. In fact, the last time I had to fill out a reading log as a student, it didn't really go very well. Partly because I didn't do it. I always thought it was pointless. Why do I need to fill in these empty boxes? What page did I start at? Am I ever going to see this reading log again?
Maybe I was never used what my teachers taught me about reading logs while I stared out the window of my elementary school. Now I use Goodreads in multiple different ways to act as my reading log. It doesn't accurately show the time I spent reading daily or anything like that. I use it to help me chronicle books I've read, get better recommendations for books to read, and I use it as a way to connect with other readers. My hope is that filling out the reading log along with the students this week will add some much needed structure to my reading life. For me it is easy to make excuses for why I don't set aside more time to reading. With two young kids, planning lessons, coaching basketball, and procrastinating about doing odd jobs around the house, it is easy to find other things to do than read. So it is easy for me to understand where my students are coming from when they say, "Mr. Bruff, I didn't have time to read last night." If I can really understand what it is like to carve out reading time and stick to it, maybe it will give me some insight into a fourth graders mind during their reading time. Generally, I am super pumped and motivated about starting a new challenge. Filling out the reading long this week is a challenge that I am extremely excited about. Although I am motivated to do the reading, I am not very motivated to fill out the reading log. It is most important that fun, critical & independent reading is done. Fitting it in has always been the issue. Now that I will be creating the time to do the reading, I'll have to spend a few minutes recording the reading I did. It sounds like a drag now, but this week I will write about the experience and hopefully I'll look back to see if my feelings stayed the same or improved.
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Dear Parents,
With a four day weekend about to begin, I feel I may go back to school out of shape. Please be sure to have my person, your child, exercise me regularly Friday through Monday. Ever since school started, I've been building lots of connections. You see, my synapses have been firing and it feels great to work on my process instead of getting answers correct. So over this long weekend, I'd really appreciate if you encourage my person, your child, to use me regularly. Some things you could do to be sure I am used is to block off 30 minutes of reading time every day. You could also ask me about my day. After every weekend Mr. Bruff starts Morning Meeting by saying, “Tell me about the math you did over the weekend.” I’ll need to be prepared, so be sure I practice explaining to you. You could help me be prepared on Tuesday by asking how I used math during the day. Be sure to push for a deeper explanation than, "I did some math facts." Instead ask how I used math to: plan my day (elapsed time), clean my room (elapsed time, geometry, measurement), read (time ÷ pages read), or play Scrabble (computation, planning to compute, measurement, number sense). If there is not enough time to squeeze any math, reading or writing into the day, I feel I'll have a hard time adjusting back to school on Tuesday. You should know, the more I am used, the less of a hard time my person, your child, will give you. Finally, please push my person to explain how I was used each day over the upcoming four day weekend. Thanks in advance. With Gratitude, Your Child's Brain At Tuesday's Morning Meeting, I talked with the students regarding how one small thing can have a profound impact on their day. Naval Admiral William H. McRaven gave a commencement speech at the University of Texas where he imparted ten lessons he learned from basic SEAL training. Alone, each reason is important and essential for fostering success. The first piece of advice resonated with me to be the most important, and maybe that's why it was first on the admiral's list. Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. Mind blowing!
There are times you leave the bedroom with the intention of coming back to make the bed. Let's face it, it is easy to get side tracked. With getting out of the house in a timely fashion, over sleeping, and other emergencies, making the bed seems like such a small thing that's okay to be over looked. But, if you want to start your day with an immediate success, make your bed. I'd like to go a step further. Tell your child to make their bed, too. That way, it transfers into school. How would your child making their bed transfer into school? From the commencement speech, you read about the importance of accomplishing the first task of the day. In case you missed this sentence, "If by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made - that you made - and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better." I say, if by chance, a particular student had a difficult day. Being prepared with 2 sharpened pencils and silent reading books gives encouragement that they got the little things right and tomorrow will be better. Finally, I'd like to leave with one last quote from Admiral McRaven, "If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another." Let's all start by accomplishing the first goal of the day, then the following task until we've built a path of success. Click for the complete speech. Have you finished reading a book lately? Would you recommend it to anyone? If the answer is yes to either one of those questions, I want you to submit a book review. Click the link to download the Book Review PDF. To see an example of a book review or book suggestion, look at the Categories section to the right. You'll be able to see some student examples as well as books that I have reviewed in the past, too.
How to Submit a Book Review
What Books Deserve a Book Review
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July 2016
A Noteworthy 4th Grade Bowman Blog
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