Hey there Reader,

I’m kidding! But seriously what do we do with the kids now that school is out?

Let’s talk about digital slide this summer

Last week, I listened to dyslexia guru Maryanne Wolf give a keynote for the Learning Ally Spotlight on Dyslexia conference. Her talk was called Rekindling the Joy in Teaching of Reading.

She got me thinking about my own joy in reading and how lately it’s been harder to just immerse myself in a book because I get so distracted by the digital world around me – mostly through my phone.

My concentration got so bad, I went and got my eyes checked. Increasing the magnification on my readers has definitely helped, but I still find myself checking email, checking social media, and reading the news 🙄.

If it’s this bad for us, how does the digital world affect the kids who have never even developed a love of reading? We’ve all seen the stats about how most young people don’t like to read.

Put your oxygen mask on first

I was feeling very discouraged, but then I thought about the airplane trick. Put the oxygen mask on yourself first before you assist others. For me, that means reading some great books this week and rekindling my joy of reading so I’m recharged to help the kids.

I’d like to share two books I’m reading this week and hopefully inspire you to rekindle your joy of reading too.
(Teacher Justine contains affiliate links and is a member of the Amazon Services LLS Associates Program. If you make a purchase using one of these Amazon links, I may receive compensation at no extra charge to you. See my disclosure policy for more information.:

• ​Reader, Come Home – The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf.
  A main takeaway for me from this book is that when we immerse ourselves in a story, we forget about ourselves and feel the emotions of the characters. This is how we develop empathy. It is so important for kids to learn to love reading if only to develop empathy for others. Something that is clearly missing in our country’s leaders today.
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• ​Brooklyn by Colm Toibin.
  I’m not sure how this writer does it, but he makes me want to re-read every sentence with his gorgeous writing and storytelling. This is the third book of his that I’ve read recently and all the characters experience immigration, a fascinating and relevant theme.

Take care of yourself first. Rekindle your joy of reading this week. Immerse yourself in books, and as long as the kids are still alive at five, I say you’ve done your job!

Reply to this email and tell me what you are reading, or how the digital world is affecting your reading, or anything you are doing for yourself this week – we can think about the kids next week. 😊

Cheers,

Justine

What’s New at Teacher Justine:

• I finally got an email address with my website domain: justine@teacherjustine.com
• I opened a store on TPT and created two speech-to-print aligned activities
• On the blog, I’m talking about how to create spelling lists after EBLI instruction.

Cheers!
Justine