A Culture of Reading

Dr. William Purkey says that he only needs a “whiff” to know if a school or classroom is inviting. I want that to be true of Esperanza as well as the fact that it will be obvious from a whiff that everyone at Esperanza loves books and learning.

To create this kind of environment is not sufficient for students to only learn how to read. Studies show that half of America is aliterate which means the quality or state of being able to read but uninterested in doing so. One third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives and 42% of college graduates never read another book after college. (Source: Jerold Jenkins, www.JenkinsGroupInc.com)

We want our Esperanza students to love books and be lifelong learners. The educators at Esperanza must set the example. Educators who are avid readers their enthusiasm flows from their personal lives into the classroom. Yet, research is indicating that teachers don’t read any more often than other adults in the general population. One study of 224 teachers pursuing graduate degrees found that only half had read one or two professional books in the previous year, and an additional 20% said they had read nothing in the last six months or one year. (Source: www.trelease-on-reading.com)

I feel that we should start now with those who hope to work at Esperanza to become avid readers by doing the following:

The principal/instructional leader needs to talk about and share books and professional journals for research shows that teachers read more who have principals who do this.
On the Generación Floreciente website (www.generacionfloreciente.org) there is a professional Book of the Month.

Invite teachers to join me on Goodreads (www.goodreads.com) I have been introduced so many great books by friends on Goodreads. It’s similar to what I remember as a young woman doing-- a friend and I found a list of suggested books and we spent one summer challenging each other to read them.

Encourage teachers to participate in a book discussion group—maybe meeting from 7:00-8:30 one day a week (or month).

The love of reading is something that is caught, not taught. Therefore, we need to first develop this love ourselves.