Teachers First
By Mary Ellen Bafumo

As a group, teachers are voracious readers. We read books, magazines, newspapers, labels and any other print that comes our way. Teachers are the people who shake out fast food cartons and clean them for use in the classroom. Our students may not formally read, but they can easily "read" advertising icons. We're really fond of the colorful ads in the Sunday papers. Not only do they contain text for reading, but they are also a gold mine for math, geography, science and writing too. Teachers are also famous for collecting everyone else's magazines and junk mail. It all makes wonderful reading material. We know what's useful in our classrooms and how to make reading fun for our students. That fact noted, this column is first about what you can read for your own pleasure and learning and second about how you can help your students in the classroom. This time, teachers' interests come first.

Inspiration in your inbox
For every teacher who is moved by poetry but never has time to find a good book, there's a great place you can explore. It's online so you don't have to trek to a store or pay a cent. Simply go to www.americanpublicmedia.org, click on "Newsletters" and sign up for The Writer's Almanac at no cost. You'll be able to request any number of newsletters beyond poetry about which to receive a daily e-mail. Just figure out what inspires you, as too many e-mails have a tendency to make your in-box overflow. A daily e-mail will arrive with a poem that you can read or hear Garrison Keillor (of "A Prairie Home Companion" fame) recite. You'll need a media player on your computer for the latter. Poems run the gamut from serious to comic, heartfelt to ironic, classic to contemporary. You'll recognize favorites and perhaps discover new ones. You may even decide to read the daily poem to your class, especially if students are beyond the primary grades. If poetry makes your day, treat yourself to this site.

Nuggets of information
An added benefit of signing up for The Writer's Almanac, which is supported by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine (poetry lovers should check that out at the library), is that the daily poem is accompanied by Literary and Historical Notes. The Literary Notes are brief vignettes about famous authors with links to listings of their works, should you decide to delve deeper at some point. Did you know, for instance, that Rudyard Kipling, author of such exotic tales as The Jungle Book (Signet Classics, reissue, 2005) and Just So Stories (Gramercy, reprint, 2003), lived for some time in Vermont? Just imagine the math calculations, map explorations, science, weather and cultural information this tidbit of information opens to a class full of students. How many rupees equal a dollar? How far is the distance from Bombay to Brattleboro? How many time zones are passed going from east to west? Which crops grow in India, in Vermont? How does the weather differ? How is family structure in India and the United States similar? How does it differ? One nugget of information can spark serious study.

Social studies teachers will really enjoy this website's Historical Notes. There are facts about the current day in history and about famous (and infamous) people and events. If your students are motivated by trivia games, this is a great source for information. The entire Writer's Almanac is just over a page in length and takes about three or four minutes to read. It is a site made for teacher enjoyment as well as use in the classroom.

One for the Baby Boomers
If you aren't an enthusiastic computer user, take heart. There's still something to read for yourself first and your students second. If you haven't yet read Bill Bryson's bestseller on growing up in the 1950s, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir (Broadway Books, 2006), now is the time. You don't have to be a Boomer to recognize the universality of childhood or the differences between then and now. Your students will be truly fascinated by the descriptions of school, as well as by toys of choice in the 1950s. Humor abounds and your students will laugh at excerpts.

A classic
Lastly, if your personal preference is for philosophic books, you might want to read a twentieth-century classic, Man's Search for Meaning, by Viktor L. Frankl (Beacon Press, 2006). With over 12 million copies in print since first appearing in 1959, Frankl's book posits the theory that the quest for meaning, not pleasure as in Freudian theory, is what drives humans. A psychiatrist who survived the Nazi death camps, Frankl's experience and theory are chronicled in this moving book. He argues that we cannot escape suffering and often have no control over the forces in our lives, but we can control our attitude toward them to find meaning, and move on with purpose in life. Frankl's own suffering showed him what is most important in life - love, family, integrity - not material things.

Relax and recharge
Take some time to read for your own purposes. Recharge your batteries. I guarantee that you'll find something to bring back to the classroom. In the meantime, think, laugh and enjoy poems and books that move you.

Mary Ellen Bafumo is a Program Director for the Council on Educational Change, an Annenberg legacy group. Email: bafumome@aol.com

April, 2007, Vol.37, No.7