A few months ago I began keeping a commonplace book, and I wish I’d started sooner. It’s a great way to truly engage what you’re reading by jotting down notes, questions, quotes and summaries. What Is a Commonplace Book? A commonplace book is a notebook where you record notes and quotes from your reading. Here are some things I’ve jotted down in my commonplace book: Quotes Notes for Further Reading Chapter Summaries Outlines of an Argument How Is A Commonplace Book Organized? If there are any hard and fast rules, I’m unaware. Here’s how I’ve organized mine… Use Both Sides of the Notebook If you like to read several books…
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What You Need to Know About Brain Plasticity
This is the second in a series of posts about Maryanne Wolf’s Reader, Come Home. You can read the introductory post along with links to other posts in the series here. “The crux of the matter is that the plasticity of our brain permits us to form both ever more sophisticated and expanded circuits and also ever less sophisticated circuits, depending on environmental factors.” Maryanne Wolf, Reader, Come Home The above quote sums up brain plasticity. A more familiar way to say it is, “Use it or lose it.” A lot of what Maryanne Wolf has to say depends on the concept of brain plasticity. The circuitry of our brain…
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Reading: The Canary in the Mind
“Let us begin with a deceptively simple fact…human beings were never born to read.” -Maryanne Wolf, Reader, Come Home Maryanne Wolf loves words. She has a prestigious background in reading research, but it’s her use of words that betrays her true facination. She’s one of those people I would read no matter what she wrote about–dump trucks, ceiling fans, plastic. Fortunately for me (and for you reading teacher!), she focuses on a topic that is both dear and relevant: reading. In her book Reader, Come Home, she reminds us how the reading brain works, how it can be altered by digital media, and how we can help our students (and…
