This week’s Fall Blog Challenge ………

Was there a book you read or was read aloud to you that you have always remembered or that has impacted your life? Tell us about the book and why it touched you so deeply.

I had to really think about this one because I’ve read some really great books in my lifetime so far.  I absolutely loved read-alouds by the teacher when I was at school.  I’ve always loved reading and I was very fortunate (I believe) to have had a teacher in Standard 3 (as it was known back in the day …..) who consolidated my love of reading. Mr S, a new teacher, fresh out of Teacher’s College.

I think my primary school was his first teaching post.  He read aloud to us daily.  The book that still stands out for me was Dracula.  Yes, he read us Bram Stoker’s famous novel, Dracula.  I distinctly remember all of us sitting at our desks, or on the floor, glued to his every word.  He was such an expressive reader!  But the thing he did, that I remember the most, was he always stopped reading in a “gripping” part.  We never tired of the story and Mr S always left us hanging out for more ……… I can still hear the “nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” from myself and my classmates as we were, once again, left waiting anxiously for the next day when we would hear another installment of Dracula.  I have to admit, I do not remember the actual story at all, I just remember the excitement, the anticipation and joy of being read to.

The impact that this story has had on my life, is not really an impact from the story itself, but the way it was read to me.  That’s the way I read to my own students.  I try to incorporate that same anticipation, passion and enthusiasm as I read aloud.  I try to bring the story “alive” just as Mr S did.

I love hearing that same “nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” from my students when I stop in that “just-right” place!

Sometimes writing a blog post can be as simple as asking a question and getting everyone to give a simple answer.

I have to admit – I’ve never used SurveyMonkey before (I’ve completed a SurveyMonkey form before and I have made a survey using Google Forms).  So this was a new experience for me.  I didn’t find SurveyMonkey to be too difficult to use, but at the same time, it wasn’t that intuitive either. The embed on your site feature is new according to the website, so I thought I’d try that out, rather than a pop-up window appearing.

Here’s my final product and I was pleased to have learned how to do something new!

Oh dear, I’m not off to a very good start with my good friend Melanie Holtman’s Blog Challenge – I’m late with my very first post. BUT in my defence, I have been working on my presentation for the 2010 K-12 Online Conference (I’ll be posting all about that in a week or two after the Kicking it Up A Notch section goes live!)

Anyhow ……. back to business. What is your life as a reader like? Do you read for work, pleasure, instructions or emails? What is your favorite author and/or genre? What is your favorite reading spot? What did you like to read when you were the age of your students?

In my reader was this neat post from Franki over at A Year of Reading. Franki is working with 4th & 5th Graders at the moment and has challenged them to make a list of 100 Things About Me as a Reader. I was thinking this was very appropriate for this post “My Life as a Reader”. So here’s my list – I didn’t quite make it to 100 either!

1. I read almost every single Trixie Beldon book, as well as all of the Secret Seven & Famous Five series.
2. I remember Enid Blyton books being banned in our local library.
3. My favourite picture book is Where the Wild Things Are.
4. I bought the Spanish version “Donde Viven Los Monstruos” when I was in Argentina.
5. My favourite genre is Forensic Science, Murder, Suspense, Crime novels.
6. I loathe romance novels.
7. A couple of times I’ve gotten half way through a book & suddenly realised I’ve read it before!
8. I could quite easily spend a whole day in a bookstore just browsing.
9. Book vouchers are the best present you could ever give me.
10. I’ve tried to read a book on my iPhone, but I just can’t do it.
11. I can’t read in the car, but I can read in a bus and in an aeroplane.
12. My mother is a phenomenal reader.
13. My step-father is a phenomenal reader too.
14. I like to read the book before I watch the movie.  If I haven’t read the book, I won’t see the movie until I have.
15. I’m a menace at second hand book sales – it’s not unusual for me to buy 20 books or more.
16. It takes me most of the summer to read those 20 books!
17. Cold and rainy days make the best days to stay in bed all day and read.  I’ve done that quite a number of times.
18. I love reading books, I read as a child, to my son.
19. I love reading any books to my son.
20. I love to see my son reading books!
21. Read Aloud was my favourite time of the day as a 5th Grade teacher.
22. I cry often during sad bits in books – even during read-alouds in class!
23. I buy a lot of education books – the coaching role is a popular choice at the moment!
24. My bookshelves need to be full.  It feels funny when they are not.
25. My friends Sheena & Tara recommend the most fabulous books to read.
26. Shelfari helps me keep track of all the books I read.  (But I still manage to get caught out – see #6)
27. I’m one of the geekie ones that read an instruction book from cover to cover BEFORE trying out the appliance!
28. The couch, on a winter’s day, with the winter sun streaming in the window, in my lounge (in NZ) is my all time favourite place to read.
29. In Thailand, the best place to read is up in my room with the air-con on FULL blast!
30. About 50/50 is the division of reading for work and pleasure.
31. I hate it when I have nothing to read.
32. I read in the bathroom. (It’s precious, valuable time people!)
33. I wish I had a hammock to read in.
34. I have over 60 books to do with teaching.
35. I have over 20 books to do with Scrapbooking.
36. Bryan Peterson’s photography books are my “photography bibles”.
37. The best ever 5th Grade read-aloud book I read to a class was “Sahara Special”
38. All my children are readers!  When they were babies, I put books in their beds every night.
39. I like to read the newspaper with my coffee. (I do skip the business & sports section though).
40. There’s nothing wrong with a trashy magazine read or two.
41. My favourite bookstore back home in NZ is a shop in Marewa, run by two ladies who love everything about books and reading and make me laugh!

What about you?  Can you get to 100?