“We must surround our students with an intellectual life into which they might grow.” – Ron Ritchhart, Creating Cultures of Thinking

I just finished my most recent silent reading book – the one above – and one of the things I really noticed as I was reading it was that because the focus in silent reading is, of course, on reading, I was rarely having a chance to stop and reflect formally on what I was reading. It’s not that I didn’t think about it; of course I did. But some of the ideas, some of the challenges that Ritchhart issues to teachers in the book required written responses (at least for me, a person who processes ideas and thinks through writing), and because it was silent reading, I didn’t feel that I could stop and write about my thoughts.

One of the reasons I do silent reading with my class is because I believe we all can use a break in the day, and I want students to have choice and joy in reading what they want. However, I also plan silent reading into the day because I want to show my students that I am a reader. As the quote above states, I want them to see that reading is part of having an intellectual life. This is why I am really resistant to stopping to write more than brief notes in the text (I almost always read nonfiction books that allow me to develop my teaching and learning in a classroom setting): I want them to see me reading, and I feel like stopping to write might make them … I don’t know. Stop valuing reading? Think that I’m “getting away” with something that I won’t allow them? I’m not entirely sure what I think, to be honest.

But maybe taking the time to reflect while I’m reading isn’t such a bad thing. If I want to demonstrate my intellectual life, maybe I need to honour all aspects of it rather than isolate reading from other thinking activities. After all, reflection is a huge part of the “intellectual life” with which I want my students to engage. That quote is why I’m writing my reflection here, where my students can see and respond to it, instead of in my journal. It occurred to me in the process of reading the book that sharing my reflecting process with my students might help them develop their reflection skills as well.

Ultimately, I want my students to see me as a learner foremost, and a teacher secondarily. They have to share their learning process with me … I wonder if sharing my learning process with them would help build the safety and relationships within the classroom so that they feel more comfortable doing so.