Author George R.R. Martin’s full quote goes as follows: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies…The man who never reads lives only one.” The past two days I was fortunate to find myself working at the Special Education Conference held at the stunning Delta Kananaskis Lodge (captured by me early yesterday morning in the photo above). This conference draws teachers from all over Alberta who work with students who, for a variety of reasons, struggle with school, and often, struggle with reading. The research is pretty clear that if students cannot make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn by the end of Grade Three, their path through school and through life will unfortunately be a challenging one. Do you remember when you learned how to read?

Just this morning I was prompted to think about this rite of passage when I read one of my favourite educator blogs, Jana Scott Lindsay’s Driving Me To Think. Jana is a thoughtful, reflective educator from Saskatchewan who graciously shares her professional learning journey regularly. Today’s post called “The Power of Reading” arrived in my inbox just as I was thinking about my own post on reading. Jana recognizes that as adults, we often forget what it was like to learn a skill as important as reading, reminding us that empathy and compassion are also necessary skills to hone when we work with young emergent readers: “I think it is easy to take for granted the skills & abilities you have as you age.  Learning becomes something that you do, almost instinctively, and reading and writing are part in parcel to the process.  We are well over the struggles of learning in what is considered an essential but difficult process for many learners.  Much of the firsts that happen in our school days we take for granted…”

This weekend I recognized this same thoughtful compassion for struggling readers in each educator I met at the conference.  Many of us had conversations about our own journey in reading, recognizing how lucky we are to enjoy the power of reading and the doors it opens for us. Just this weekend I am juggling four incredible, diverse books that stretch my imagination and challenge my thinking. I recently picked up two great CanLit books at Waterton’s Book Nook: Dear Life by gem Alice Munro and recent Giller Prize finalist and cowboy epic Lightning by Fred Stenson. I am also making my way through recently released Gutenberg’s Apprentice by Alix Christie, an enthralling piece of historical fiction that any book lover or book maker would appreciate. I have added to this bedside table pile a professional learning resource from my own company that looks at strategies to help struggling readers from the minds of Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell called When Readers Struggle. I am now well aware of just how lucky I am to be able to easily move between each book, growing as a learner. I do not recall just when I learned how to read (I tend to believe I burst into this world with a book already in hand) 🙂 but I do appreciate the time, patience, and expertise that my Kinnaird Public School teachers shared with me to ensure I was set on a path to a lucky life filled with the love of reading and learning. Thanks Mrs. Millar, Mrs. Cat and Miss Cook!

Thanks as always for stopping by. If you would like to see a few more snaps from beautiful Kananaskis Lodge, please check out my website. Now I must leave you…a good book awaits!