Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I have heard great things about Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson so I was very excited that Keara chose this book as one of the texts we would read this week. On page 226, Woodson talks about how she felt about reading and being compared to her sister. She says, 

"But I don't want to read faster or older or

any way else that might

make the story disappear too quickly from where

it's settling

inside my brain,

slowly becoming

a part of me.

A story I will remember

long after I've read it for the second, third,

tenth, hundreth time." 

As I was reading, I felt the same as Woodson did at this moment. I wanted to slow my pace down and soak up the skillful way that Woodson weaves her words into beautiful snapshots of her life in a way that helps to build up to the big picture of how each of these moments shaped her life. I think that slowing myself down is my way of knowing that I am truly enjoying a book. I have found that with books we have read this semester, such as Crank and Reality Boy, and books from my past. As always, I can not turn off my teacher brain, and this makes me think about how kids need opportunities to really enjoy a book. To find what stands out to them. To take the time that they need to appreciate the words on the page, the feelings that it gives them, and the sense of appreciation it helps them to gain for the book. This quote made me reflect on how this has helped me as a reader and to realize I need to carve moments out in my own teaching for students to appreciate their reading in their own way.