Such an inspiring post Matt! You pull off your new role as bookseller with such panache. The happy warrior photo of you says it all--the joy, the pride, the learning. I love your sentences below, which affirm exactly what we do as supportive teachers to our readers. "My role was to listen, to offer suggestions when needed, and to engage in conversation around texts. I didn’t have to have read the books they were considering. It was helpful to know genre and to show interest in their own background knowledge about the topics and subjects they were exploring." A great model for all of us!
Matt, I love the interactions you had with the book shop visitors and the reminder that we need to read to encourage and engage with readers. We don't have to read every book they will want to. Being a book seller as needed sounds like a great idea!
I love everything about this post! You're inspiring me to be brave and reach out to my own independent book store. But my favorite line is this: In other words, to support readers, I need to be a reader. This pretty much sums up my professional philosophy and the work I do with educators. =)
Such an inspiring post Matt! You pull off your new role as bookseller with such panache. The happy warrior photo of you says it all--the joy, the pride, the learning. I love your sentences below, which affirm exactly what we do as supportive teachers to our readers. "My role was to listen, to offer suggestions when needed, and to engage in conversation around texts. I didn’t have to have read the books they were considering. It was helpful to know genre and to show interest in their own background knowledge about the topics and subjects they were exploring." A great model for all of us!
"Happy warrior" - that could be in my bio! (next to a book emoji :-) Thank for the feedback, Regie.
What a fabulous experience! And I always appreciate how your life stories become our teaching stories. Thanks for sharing this, Matt!
My writing and reflections dry up without life stories. Thanks for affirming that, Debra.
Loved this article and your brilliant, understated analogy to how and why teachers should “be this “ too. Thanks as always, Matt!! 📚♥️
Thanks for reading and commenting, Joy, I appreciate the feedback.
Matt, I love the interactions you had with the book shop visitors and the reminder that we need to read to encourage and engage with readers. We don't have to read every book they will want to. Being a book seller as needed sounds like a great idea!
It was a joy to talk about books with fellow readers. Somewhat difficult to describe it as "work".
I love everything about this post! You're inspiring me to be brave and reach out to my own independent book store. But my favorite line is this: In other words, to support readers, I need to be a reader. This pretty much sums up my professional philosophy and the work I do with educators. =)
Thanks Stephanie. You would be a great bookseller!