Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Does anyone read at their job? And if you do, does your boss know you are reading on the job?

I don't read at work other than on my lunch break right now. When I used to cover reception I used to read at the reception desk since it was not very busy at all. My boss didn't care.

My boss goes golfing almost every other day so I tend to read when he is not here. I get all my work done but if he isn't around there isn't much to do but answer the phone.

Working in retail doesn't leave much time for reading on the job. I read at the Starbucks three doors down on my break. I go there so often they know what I want when I say "the usual".

Headphones and audiobooks. I tend to listen anytime I'm doing any tasks which don't require concentration. So about 25% of the time give or take. My bosses don't care. I spend the day holed up in the server room trying to break software and the only people I interact with are engineers.

I wish I had a chance to read during work! I work in a busy law firm and definitely don't have time to crack open my book. I try to read during lunch though!

I work in retail as well so no time for reading. I do read on my 30 min. lunch break though.

I teach and firmly believe in reader's workshop and sustained silent reading. My students say they don't read because they don't have time (and looking at their schedules, I believe them). I use their self-selected reading to teach comprehension strategies and then give them time read and practice the strategy (so they are actually reading and journalling or making notes in their books during this time). When they read, it's important I model good reading behavior, so I read too. Usually I'm reading YA book during this time, so I can talk to the kids about books they may want to read. No, my boss doesn't mind. I the last few years I've structured my class this way, we've had some awesome conversations about text in my room, and I feel that I've been able to create a community of readers. And I read for me (or for my grad work) during lunch - when I'm not grading essays.

My job involves riding a bike and delivering the right paper to the right person. So no reading there :) But I do read in school, mostly not during class, though.

I am a church secretary. For about 18 months we were searching for a pastor so I was the only person in the office. With no pastor to generate work, I had some free time to read - sometimes the last hour. However, in March our new pastor arrived - and so did the work! Reading at work is now just a fond memory although I still bring my book daily in anticipation!

Cherylann wrote: "I teach and firmly believe in reader's workshop and sustained silent reading. My students say they don't read because they don't have time (and looking at their schedules, I believe them). I use ..."

Cherylann, Now you are exactly the kind of teacher students need. I have taught and now substitute teach (high school), and I always initiate a conversation about what the students are reading for their own pleasure. We talk about the books, and I think the kids are at first surprised that someone is interested in what their interests in reading are. One of the best teachers that my now 22-year-old son ever had was his 4th/5th grade teacher who gave the students free reading time to read on a book of their choice. This was a crucial period in retaining boy readers, and it helped (along with my incessant reading and encouragement of it) to establish my son as a reader. Keep up the good work, Cherylann.

At my day job, I read while I'm waiting for my VERY SLOW computer to start in the morning, and during breaks during the day. While I'm working, I'll sometimes listen to audiobooks, if I have a good one.

My night job is working in ABE/GED classes, so I spend a lot of time reading whenever students don't need my help. I know most of the students think I'm a geek for spending that much time reading, but I enjoy it. Plus, I'm always trying to emphasize the importance of reading to students who are trying to pass the GED test, or who are trying to improve their basic reading/comprehension skills, so I hope that I'm at least planting a little "Reading is good" idea in the backs of their minds.

(Cherylann, you sound like my kind of teacher! That's a very cool way of getting students to read and to learn comprehension skills. I hope the students and parents appreciate your strategy.)

Tiffany, I think modeling reading is an effective strategy; keep it up! Is the ABE/GED class a structured or program type of curriculum or do you have the freedom to implement changes to the curriculum?

Tiffany wrote: "At my day job, I read while I'm waiting for my VERY SLOW computer to start in the morning, and during breaks during the day. While I'm working, I'll sometimes listen to audiobooks, if I have a good..."

Definitely keep up the model of reading in front of your students. They need to know that people recognize it as a worthwhile activity other than when it's assigned.

Cherylann -

The night classes are lab classes, so it's pretty much a free-for-all. With Reading being just one of the five subjects on the GED test, however, we can't really spend all that much in-class time focused on the one subject, especially something that's much more difficult to "teach" (Math, sure, we can spend lots of time on in class because a teacher can stand in front of the room, instruct, students can ask questions, and at the end of the class, you can tell how much progress the student made. I'm not sure it's as easy with reading and comprehension). Plus, with reading being the subject that most students hate the most (which I totally don't understand!), the "Read more! It'll help!" line doesn't fly much with the students :) But I keep trying... also try to push that "reading" doesn't have to *strictly* be high-brow Literature... it can be reading newspapers, or magazines about a student's hobbies or interests, and some fiction or nonfiction that you can analyze thrown in...

Hmmm.... you've given me some stuff to think about before school starts again :)

Thanks, Kathy! Unfortunately, the one drawback to reading while students are working is that sometimes they think they'd be bothering me if they come and interrupt, which makes me not want to read in front of them (Of course they're not interrupting! I'm there for them!), so it's a fine line.

Tiffany, my assumption is that the students are in the GED class because they've struggled with reading throughout school (and hence their hatred of reading). Can I recommend two aweseome books? The first is Mosaic of Thought by Keene and Zimmermann. It's an elementary book, but I've taken their ideas and adapted up for my students. It helps teach comprehension strategies with what kids (or students) are already reading. Cris Tovani's I've Read It But I Don't Get It is also fabulous. Tovani is (was) a high school reading teacher. She also talks about teaching reading through what students are already reading. She also gives a lot of fix-it strategies. Again, my assumption is that your students have no strategies for when they get stuck. I'm always appalled at my students strategies - re-read or skip it. I wonder, too, what literacy practices your students are engaged in outside of school. They may not even consider things like video games, facebook, or myspace literacy practices, but they are. With my struggling students, I always try to bring their out-of-school literacy into the classroom. Once they have a feeling of success, things get easier for them. Of course, I'm sure it's much more difficult for your students because they've probably had a lifetime of failure pertaining to schooling. You've also given me a lot to think about with regards to literacy. I always view it through my narrow lens of my 8th grade classroom.

Recently, work has been slow and I have been reading. I only read when I have no work to do, but I hide it because I know I am not supposed to. Luckily, no one bothers me in my office, so sneaking a half hour of reading is easy.

I listen to books for 4-5 hours a day while I'm working. Sometimes, I realized I've lost track of what's going on and have to go back but usually it works great.