I read everyday but I read for work rather than for leisure. My reading diet is inextricably linked to my desire to introduce good prose in the classroom. Well, I should be so lucky that I can mix work with pleasure? But how pleasurable can work be? My bloodhound-like instinct to sniff out a piece of good prose and turn it into a teaching resource has affected my ability to read for pleasure. Instead of lingering on Hemingway's masculine prose and feeling disorientated by his writing style of juxtaposing different narratives and points of views while reading On the Quai at Smyrna, I was subconsciously thinking about how to use the short story to teach descriptive writing, characterisation, dialogue and the list went on and on. Sigh. When can I regain the pleasure of reading for pleasure again?
4 comments:
Dear Ms Lim,
I share your sentiments too. I barely have time to read books for leisure nowadays. Weekends, which I usually have time to read books, are now occupied by tons of homework and projects. Nonetheless, there are still books like Nothing But the Truth, Village by The Sea etc for us to read, but now for a purpose. Well, this, I feel, will spoil the fun of reading as we are required to understand the meaning of the story well and we will feel very pressurised when reading this way. Fortunately, there is the June Hols coming up soon, so I hope to catch-up on my reading then, and hence enabling me to update my weread account. Sigh, I miss my books...
Hi Ms Lim,
It was disheartening to know that reading has become work rather than leisure to you. Well, I think that it is a "no choice situation" for you to mix work and leisure in reading. Well too bad. You are a teacher. Some things in life aren't a choice. That's all I can say.
Dear Ms Lim,
Hi Kenneth Yuen here. Well, I do have a habit of how I read my books. That is to read it all during the holidays, especially long holidays like June and December. I remembered I read about 15 English Fictions last December holidays. I was searching high and low for the books I want from Jurong Library to Woodlands Library. Now like Derrick, my day is very routined (sounds like Mary Maloney)school, afternoon lessons, homework, revision. Everyday including the weekends is of this format. I had hard time already to do ACE and project work, be it reading during weekdays or weekends. I really wished my school life was not so hectic, I mean ACE, project, revision and lifestyle seem to be competing in my life. Is HCI going to give such experience to we Sec1s only?
Well I agree very much with you Kenneth. Homework, revision, tests, school, afternoon lessons, tuition, everything. In HCI, it's just like that. It's no longer the same as it did when we were in primary school. Its as if all we do everyday is either work or worrying about tests. Seniors and teachers say that sec1 life would be easy. Is that really so? Well, with this hectic schedule almost everyday, it would be advisable to only read during the long breaks as that is the time when we have less or no worries about our studies. Reading is a pleasure, not an obligation. To really enjoy reading, put aside everything and enjoy the story.
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