Reading for Work

So, you know how you just want to read for pleasure?

I know, we all want to kick back and read Harry Potter or The Hunger Games and eat Cheetos, but sometimes we have to read for work. And if you are lucky, you love your work enough that this reading isn't such a chore.

Over the past few days, I read three books on writing centers: Richard Kent's A Guide to Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers: Grades K-12, Ben Rafoth's anthology A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One, and Pamela Farrell's classic High School Writing Center: Establishing and Maintaining One. They all came in from Amazon (I know, the evil empire) around the same time, and I plowed through them hoping to find the "answers" to what a writing center is supposed to look like.

But here's the secret: books don't give you answers! Now, before everyone revolts and starts bringing torches and pitchforks to teachers' houses, let me clarify: books give you the information, the benefit of other people's experiences, and the tools to help YOU find your answers.

True, none of these books by themselves had everything I needed, but by reading all three, I found many of the tools I needed to continue my work preparing for the fall.

I'm sure most of you won't read these, but I thought it was important to share that while adults read for pleasure and to stay informed, they also read for very practical purposes (like reading the CT DOE guidelines for applying to renew teaching certifications...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz). And while reading for work isn't always fun, if you really want answers, then the reading is worth it. Having "done the reading" is rewarding.

So, if any of you are doing "required" reading and cursing about it, just think about how rewarding it will be when you finish...and remember that if you let yourself, you may just enjoy it!

Happy reading!