Fast forward to this summer and Donalyn Miller's #bookaday challenge. The gist of it is to challenge oneself to read a book every day. It sounds crazy, and truthfully, it feels intense at first, but it has renewed and invigorated my reading life, forcing me to stretch outside of my typical genres, mediums, and reading habits. #Bookaday is, for me, about the challenge of reading more than I think I can... which is what I ask my students to do at the beginning of the school year. Most of my students who read 20-40 books between September and June did not say, "Yes, that will be easy!" on the first day of school.
I plan to heavily document my summer reading. In fact, part of the reason I am starting this blog is to review books from the perspective of an ELA teacher. When I read YA, I read with my students in mind. Would this work for the kid who ONLY likes Percy Jackson? Could I recommend this one to the girl who has read Looking for Alaska 17 times this year? If I read this part out loud, would that get students to race to my classroom to check out the book at the end of the day? My hope is that I can document those answers for myself to look back on during the school year, and also to share with fellow teachers to help spread love and enthusiasm for reading to all of our students.