Ramblings/Calendar event - Teacher Appreciation Day

Let's face it. If you are reading this, someone taught you how to read.  Since reading is my preferred past time, I will ramble on about reading - this by no means should detract from those special people who taught us math, science, history or other equally useful subjects.

I see reading as the foundation for almost all other learning.  You don't learn history by "doing", and it is probably best to read first and do later when studying science.  Even a math textbook or workbook comes with descriptions and directions that need to be read.

So, hats off to the teachers who taught us how to read.  Special kudos to those who were able to teach us how to enjoy reading!

I would like to pay tribute to the teacher who really taught me how to enjoy reading.  Without violating his privacy, I will just refer to him as Mr. C.

Mr. C was my grade 4 teacher.  He was kind, and funny and warm. Students used to wait after school so they could walk home with him if they happened to live in the same direction.  He could play guitar, he was a very skilled potter, and most importantly (to me and many others I am sure), he was an excellent narrator, animated and able to add life to the words on the page.

We had to do our "Language Arts" work.  We had spelling and writing and our own reading to do. But every day, for 10-15 minutes, he would read to us.  He read us such wonders as "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Super Fudge" by Judy Blume, "Charlotte's Web by E.B. White", "The Pigman" by Paul Zindel, and more.

To this day, I think a good narrator can make a mediocre book good, and a good book great.  I listen to audio books while commuting and doing chores so that I can get more stories in my life. But what I learned most about reading that year was just how entertaining a book could be.  For that, I will always be grateful to all my teachers, but especially Mr. C, the one that taught me to enjoy reading.

Happy Reading,
Christine