Tuesday, November 4, 2014

The One With the Tell-Tale Heart of a Reader #slice2014


Every Tuesday, I participate in the Slice of Life challenge at Two Writing Teachers. If you want to participate, you can link up at their Slice of Life Story Post on Tuesdays or you can just head on over there to check out other people's stories. For more information on what a Slice of Life post is about, you can go here

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Last week, I was sitting in my office when I realized it was the end of October and time to switch my curtains into fall/winter mode. I was thinking about what I might write about for my slice of life and I started looking around me for inspiration. After I got my curtains all situated, I spotted these stacks of books in the corner of my office.
I share my office this year. When my colleauge first came to work with me, I explained the set up of my office and how my department went through a training that outlined how offices should be meeting spaces. Offices aren't meant to be places where we get swallowed up by all the things we need to do. Offices aren't meant to be places where we want to hole up and hide with our work. Offices are meant to be pristine places where you can get to work, free from distractions but when it's time to be out and about, you actually get out and about. In education, it's important to be out in classrooms, visiting with teachers and students and knowing how decisions you make in your office impact them. 

After I explained this whole philosophy, I detailed how I transformed my office. I don't have much in my office. Technically, according to the presenter, I'm not supposed to have any books. Once I've read them, there's a slim chance I'll reread them...which is kind of, sort of true. There are a lot of texts that I read and glean information from and never go back to. There are also texts I love to revisit and quote often. I'm trying to pass my books on but I don't want to just send them away, I want to find others who will read them and enjoy them and learn from them. It might look like these books have been moved to the floor, haphazardly balanced atop one another. But that's not it. They're there because I love them too much to let them go. 

All these thoughts were swirling around my head last week Guess what? Those stacks of books are still in my office. I'm thinking maybe I can find a place for them, out of sight but there for me if I need them. I can't help it, I'm a reader.

Shelves of books, piles of books, bags of books 
Shelved nicely, piled precariously, bagged to the brim
Isn't this the tell-tale heart of a reader?


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