#LeadersAreReaders

"Yes, we have very busy lives. We have time for exactly what we choose to make time for." 

I'm pretty sure that it was Todd Nesloney (@TechNinjaTodd) who spoke those words during a session at the National Principals Conference this past summer.

We all have the same amount of time. Yet, we all prioritize our time differently. What are your priorities?

Two books recommended to me by my friends:
 Jessica Cabeen and Lindsy Stumpenhorst

We can probably ALL agree that reading should be a priority for our students. Few would argue that kids need to read. However, students aren't the only learners in schools. In schools, learning starts with us - the adults, the educators.

Reading is a way of learning. Reading is how we grow. Reading is a way to develop empathy. Reading is how we become inspired. Our kids must see us as readers. Our kids must see us as learners.

So if we're asking our kids to read, which we are (or probably should be), we better be reading. I believe that we should never ask our kids to do things that we aren't willing to do, ourselves.

Are you assigning your students independent reading for X amount of minutes throughout each week? This is an assignment for most of our Students. I am not questioning this assignment. In fact, I think that this is one of the more logical homework assignments that we give our Students.

However, what I do question is the educator that assigns 20 minutes of reading, each night, to his/her students...or 100 minutes of reading, each week, to his/her students, but then claims to not have the time to read him/herself. We're busy. Kids are busy. We're all busy. If it is important, we'll make the time for it.

So when do you read? When do you learn? When do you grow? When do you develop empathy? When do you become inspired? And how do you do it? Wake up a little earlier. Listen to an audio book.  Figure out a way to consume books while you commute and/or exercise. Be creative, and share your hack for how you make time.

This image was taken from Chris Doyle's Twitter feed.
He is constantly inspiring learning through his sharing the books that he is reading.

Read. Inspire Learning

#LeadersAreReaders and Readers are Leaders.