Last night, after a long day of travel that culminated in beach and pool time, I crawled into bed, exhausted, and read a few pages of my new book (The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store). This morning, I woke to a long meandering chat with my aunt over tea and coffee. At some point, as I caught her up on my life, I talked about literacy. If you talk to me long enough, I pretty much always do.
She has recently gone through her books and had set aside some for me to look through, in case I want any. Would I contemplate taking books from an island back to Ottawa? Yes, yes I would. I am constantly looking for ways to get books into my students’ hands, and books cost a lot, so I am well-known for my – ahem – willingness to accept books. As a matter of fact, I brought books as gifts for my cousin-nephews, so I’ll have space to take more back if any of these look enticing. Now, out on the veranda, as I sit down to write, books and reading are on my mind, as they often are.
I know the 2024 NAEP Reading Scores have just been released, and I know they’re not great. I teach in Canada, but I have little evidence to suggest we’re doing a lot better. Oh, I know our PISA scores are better than most, but only if you consider having 50% of Canadian students reading at level 2 or below “fine”. I do not.
I’ve just spent a frankly silly amount of time looking at the statistics I linked to in the previous paragraph. I was reading because I wanted to be sure that what I wrote was true, and now I’m stuck for what to say. Thinking about literacy is a huge part of my life, but is this little blog, mostly anecdotes, really the place to write about this? Is today, sitting by the ocean, really the day? And what will I say that others haven’t said? My family is waiting for me (only half true: the teens are still asleep), and hey, I’m on vacation: I should be relaxing. But I am almost never not thinking about literacy.
Even here, on vacation, reading and writing are firmly part of my life, and I find myself wondering if what I want for students is realistic. Do I want everyone to travel with books? Do I think we all need to be “readers” (whatever that means)? I don’t think that’s what I’m after. I do want all students to have reading as a back pocket possibility. I want them to develop the empathy and the knowledge and the critical thinking that come from reading. Literacy is a pathway to many kinds of success, and I know that very few people who have achieved only functional literacy are able to follow that pathway with any ease.
Now I’ve gotten lost in the weeds of this post: I’ve been typing and erasing for too long and I feel silly for starting my vacation thinking about this, but I can’t stop. Do I write about what I’m doing in my classroom? Do I link to more information? Do I share my hopes and dreams for my students? Maybe not today. For now, I’ll go back inside and go through that bag of books to find ones that students might read, then I’ll snuggle in with my cousin-nephew and see if I can tempt him into the world of Dragon Masters, one of my own children’s favourite book series when they were his age. I’ll have to pull him away from the iPad, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.
And I’ll write more about literacy later – because heaven knows I’ll be thinking about it.
Persistence and Pedagogy 
Wonderful ♥️
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“I do want all students to have reading as a back pocket possibility.” I love this. I also love your passion for high level literacy for all. And your humor!! “My family is waiting for me (only half true: the teens are still asleep), and hey, I’m on vacation: I should be relaxing. But I am almost never not thinking about literacy.” Haha! I have the same affliction. The great joy of my life.
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“Literacy is a pathway to many kinds of success, and I know that very few people who have achieved only functional literacy are able to follow that pathway with any ease.” This feels very much like something my mom would have said. She was part social worker, part reading specialist in the Cleveland Public Schools for decades and her insistence on the primacy of literacy for all was the one message I could not escape. It’s easy to imagine how you dwell in the mental house of literacy even while on vacation. You know what you’re about.
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That is why you are a teacher, isn’t it? Because you think about literacy even on vacation?
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Amanda, I completely understand your obsession with thinking about literacy. Your post made me think about a terrible bias I have and that is when a person is a complete nonreader, I feel they are missing out on so much. I think teachers who are nonreaders are allowing their students to miss out on so much. I’m glad you are always thinking of ways to add to your class library. Keep up the good fight and enjoy your vacation!
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Dragon Masters! Such a great series.
I started Heaven and Earth Grocery Store a while a go and got distracted. I’ll be interested in your opinion.
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Loved Heaven & Earth Grocery Store! I think about literacy too and I’m retired. I want all our “students to have reading as a back-pocket possibility.” It’s a lovely skill to have in the back pocket. I like that you had a leisurely chat with your aunt over tea and coffee.
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I LOVED the Heaven and Earth Grocery Store…and when I’m on vacation and reading like crazy, I am, in the back of my mind, thinking about how I wish more people were reading whatever book I’m reading. Like when I read James over this past vacation and thought it should be read by every person in this country…especially the people who are least likely to pick it up. Sigh. I’m sure there are lots of books I haven’t read that other people think ought to be on everyone’s list. I think about the state of education in general. I think our difficulties and divisions in the U.S. have so much to do with our deficiencies in fostering critical thinking for the majority of our country’s children. We just don’t seem to value it enough. I hope your book schlepping helps some of your kiddos find a book they love.
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I’m reading “James” right now!
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Honest to goodness, Peter, some day we have to meet. Guess what my second vacation book is? James. I kid you not. And I have consistently enjoyed books that you have recommended and/or enjoyed – so now my interest in both has gone up!
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If you talk to me long enough, I pretty much always do….same. Also, I’m also pretty much always thinking about literacy and ways to make schools better for kids. Maybe that’s what brings most of us here together?!?
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Amanda,
You may already know this, but you may never escape this thinking. I’m retired and still obsessed with literacy and talking to kids about books. I’d hoped to do more to get books into students’ hands in retirement, but all the book banning nonsense has interrupted that plan, not to mention life in what the Salt Lake Tribune calls Mormonland. My heart hurts thinking about kids and adults who can’t and who don’t read. I could write about that all night. I think often about how important fostering a love of reading is, and I do see kids who love to read. I don’t have answers, but I can tell you The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store is fabulous. And if you have any students who love space, I can’t say enough good things about “Orbital,” which I’m listening to now.
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Lots of thinking for the first day of a vacation. My body and head used to be tired and empty on the first day of holidays.
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Books are such a huge part of my life and my children’s lives. Your post made me think about how my parents fostered the love of reading. I definitely recall that we always took a trip to the bookstore to each buy a book before leaving on a vacation. I carried on that tradition with my own children. It’s not exaggerating to say that deciding what book(s) to bring is a huge part of our family vacation planning. Enjoy your vacation and linger in literacy–it’s what brings you joy!
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