You are here

Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Books

892247_132056081I love reading. I don’t do it nearly enough, but I still do love it so. I find that many people don’t read a single book after they graduate from high school.

As teachers, we are also supposed to be lifelong learners. We should be desperate to learn about more and more stuff.

I find that as I read more books, especially nonfiction books, I learn more and am able to come to the place of deeper peace with myself. As I learn more about the world, I also learn more about myself. Though personal development books challenge my ideas about the world, they also challenge me to grow and become a better person.

I generally don’t read much education literature. I find them often very boring. Nonetheless, I do find time to read at least some almost every day. I’m not including blog reading, but that happens fairly regularly in addition to book reading.

Even if the book conflicts with your worldview, it challenges you in one way or another. Go out there and try something crazy. Find a great book and read it over the next week…

Joel Wagner (@sywtt) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. So You Want To Teach? is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.

Joel Wagner
Joel Wagner (<strong><a href="http://www.twitter.com/sywtt">@sywtt</a></strong>) began teaching band in 2002. Though he had a lot of information, his classes were out of control. He found himself tired, frustrated, disrespected by students, lonely, and on the brink of quitting. He had had enough. He resigned from his school district right before spring break of his second year and made it his personal mission to learn to be a great teacher. <strong><a href="http://www.soyouwanttoteach.com/">So You Want To Teach?</a></strong> is the ongoing story of that quest for educational excellence.
http://www.SoYouWantToTeach.com

4 thoughts on “Less Stress: Deepen Your Relationships With Books

  1. I love reading too! I am constantly reading when I’m eating which tends to drive my husband crazy! I don’t read a lot of education books either (not counting education blogs).

  2. It is very rare that I don’t read at least for 20 to 30 minutes before falling asleep. I read all kinds of things, from classical literature, best sellers, to books I think my students might be interested in reading. It allows me to de-stress from the day and relax my mind enough to go to sleep!

  3. I have found that at the end of a long day, when I can resist the urge to flop in front of the television or a video, and instead curl up with a novel, memoir or collection of essays, the evening passes much more slowly and is far more satisfying. I go to bed feeling rested (although I may have trouble putting the book down) and my brain feels focused and soothed, instead of agitated. I also find that immersing myself in a story this way takes me much further away from my troubles than any episode of “Heroes” can (even though I do love an episode of “Heroes.”) Sometimes picking the book up feels like too much work, but once I do, I’m always glad I invested my precious time in it.

  4. Wow, I won’t say that I read nearly as much as most of you who have commented already, but I will say that I read a WHOLE lot more now than I did when I was in school. In fact, I used to not read books at all. I don’t think I ever completed an assigned book from the time I was in 8th grade until I graduated from college. It wasn’t until about two years ago that I really started getting into it again. Having 30 minutes of designated reading time at school really helps me to get time in.

Comments are closed.

Top