Welcome to my soap box

I can honestly say I've never really had much to say where I've ever felt like I needed to "get on a soap box" and really speak my mind.  Yet I've found myself in this place where I am finding that I've become super passionate about something to the point where I just can't shut up about it.

It all started with this book:

So here's the backstory: My principal recommended it to me after a goal setting meeting.  All the teachers at our school set 3 goals that we want to focus on in order to develop our teaching style and student data.  To sum it up, I basically made goals centered around student choice in the classroom and a student run classroom.  I want to be a facilitator of learning. 

Anyway, this book is all about a teacher who gives her students the choice to read whatever books they want and inspires their love for learning through reading books.  Though she doesn't give them a choice when she requires that all of her students read 40 books in one school year.  (Nope, that sure isn't a typo- 40 books!)  Basically, by providing choice and creating this norm in her classroom that it's cool to read, "Everyone is doing it!" her students are able to buy in and READ.  They actually READ and actually enjoy talking about the books they read.

So, I took this book home and decided I'd attempt to read it.  After all, my boss was the one who suggested I read it.  So to make a good impression, I felt it was best I humor her and see what it had to say.  I figured I'd read it slowly, and by the time I finished it, she'd probably forget she even loaned it to me in the first place.

Well, before I knew it, I was 50 pages deep and had missed half of the X-Factor episode I was hoping to watch that night.  A few days later I was finished.  This book had such great things to say! 

I probably could continue this post for paragraphs and paragraphs.  But tonight, you can call me a little lazy.

  Like I said, I've found my soap box.  Want to get me talking?  Ask me about giving kids the choice on what they want to read.  Ask me about inspiring kids to just love learning, instead of requiring them to read a certain book and fill out a certain graphic organizer about that book a certain way.  Ask me how I am becoming a pioneer of the DAILY 5 and CAFE in my classroom, and how it's working to get my kids to actually get excited about their reading.Ask me about my collegue who challenged her kids to "Find a book you can't put down!"  Ask me how I feel about those things.  I can guarentee I'll have a lot to say, and you probably won't get a word in edgewise...

Whew.

Anyway, what it all boils down to is that I've found my passion within teaching.  I've always known I'd be good at it.  And I've always known I'd love it.  But I never knew I'd love it this much. :)

I'm out of breath.  Or really, my mind is just spinning.  I have so much to say.