teacher+as+reader+1+(bartley)

Teacher as Reader Journal Entries

//1. What is your favorite book or genre? Why is it your favorite? What does it offer?//

It’s very hard for me to choose a specific book as my favorite, but if I had to chose, I would say that the //Harry Potter// books are. I have a lot of very distinct, clear memories of my experiences with and around //Harry Potter//. I began reading //Harry Potter// when I was in fourth grade. Every week, we would go to the library and have a book read to us. One day towards the end of the school year, our Librarian brought out a book called //Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone//. I didn’t think that I was going to like it very much. I usually didn’t enjoy story time because I had been reading by myself since I was four, and didn’t see the value of having someone read me something that I could have read better and perhaps faster by myself. Also, none of the other students in my class liked story time, so it was hard to pay attention to what was going on. However, a chapter in to Harry Potter, we were all hooked. We asked the librarian to lend the book to our teacher so that in spare moments, we could have her read it to us. I have a very distinct memory of being read the chapter where Harry enters Platform 9 ¾ for the first time. I remember the way that the librarian read the last sentence and smiled at us as she closed the book, smiling at us and ignoring our pleas for more. The school year ended too soon, however, and as a class, we were not able to finish the book. I made my parents drive me to the on the last day of school so that I could buy the book, and I discovered that there was not only the first book, but a second one out. My dad bought me both of them, but made me promise not to read the second one before the first one. I read that first book faster than I had ever read one before, and I read the second one similarly fast. That summer was the beginning of a very long relationship between Harry, Ron, Hermione and I. I think that what drew me so much to Harry was that I was relatively the same age as he was in the first book when I began reading the books. I feel like I grew up with the characters. The last book came out when I graduated high school, so it was like Harry was leaving Hogwarts as I left my school. Harry carried me through so much- the death of a close family member, moving to a new school, and a big fight with my best friend. Through it all, I had his pages and his adventures to turn to. I truly believe that the value to be found in //Harry Potter// is indescribable. By adventuring with Harry, students learn about bravery, honesty, and loyalty, among countless other values. These books can teach students about embracing each other’s differences and liking people for who they are. For example, Neville, a seemingly minor character who is goofy and always losing things throughout the beginning of the series, emerges as a major character later in the series and basically saves everyone’s lives.