Week 2

In my last post, I said that I had ordered "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell and I was waiting for it to arrive. On Monday, a package arrived ay my house and inside was my new book. I was excited! I had read a few reviews of "Outliers" and I knew it had been on the New York Times' Bestsellers List, but I really didn't know what to expect when I started reading.

To begin with, the book is Gladwell's take on what makes people successful. He takes a different approach than most people and says that it takes more than intelligence, hard work, and ambition to be successful in today's world. He goes against the well-known saying that says "you can achieve anything with hard work." Gladwell's premise is that a person's environment and background have a lot to do with their future success, or lack thereof. In his mind, a person is successful in life when they combine intelligence and ambition with a positive environment and background.

Gladwell presents some interesting points and uses the stories of people like Bill Gates and the Beatles to demonstrate his points. I'm not sure I agree with everything that he is saying, but he definitely presents some thought-provoking ideas. Interestingly, Gladwell includes one section in his book that is relevant to the world of education. Gladwell first discusses the well-known achievement gap between students from low-income backgrounds and students from high-income backgrounds. He argues that students from low-income backgrounds learn just as much in school as students from high-income backgrounds. The achievement gap, he says, results from the fact that students from high-income backgrounds continue learning during summer vacation while students from low-income backgrounds do not. Wealthier families are able to send their children to summer science camps and take trips to libraries and museums. On the other hand, children in poorer families are more likely to spend their summers playing outside or watching tv. This may not be a bad way to spend a summer, but it does not contribute to increased reading or math scores.  Gladwell provides statistics from the Baltimore school district to back his claims up. Logically, his argument makes sense, but I would like to see more research in this area. Either way, this is an extremely interesting opinion to read about for someone interested in education!

Once I start a book, I have a hard time putting it down. This past week, I almost finished reading "Outliers". I'll be finishing it early next week. Fortunately, I ordered another book by Malcolm Gladwell entitled "The Tipping Point". So, this week, I am looking forward to finishing "Outliers" and starting my next book!

Reading Log
10/10 - 12:00-12:30 am
10/11 - 1:00-1:30 am
10/12 - 12:45-1:30 am

Week 1

Well, I didn't get off to great start with my pleasure reading. When our class started, I didn't have any books at home that I hadn't already read. Thankfully, though, I had a list of books that I was hoping to read.  So, I ordered "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell from Amazon, but it didn't arrive till late this past week. In the meantime, I decided to reread a book that I read a few years ago called "The Life of Reilly" by Rick Reilly.  Rick Reilly is a sportswriter and for many years, he wrote for Sports Illustrated.  Each week, he wrote the article that ran on the inside back cover of the magazine. "The Life of Reilly" is a compilation of these back page articles with a few longer articles included as well.  Although Reilly's articles are always sports-related, they often have more to do with life than sports.  I think this is why his writing appeals to me. I enjoy the sports aspect of his writing, but his articles also have an emotional side that is more important than sports.

One of my favorite articles from "The Life of Reilly" is about a elementary school PE teacher and coach in Illinois who also officiates high school sports. One of his goals was to officiate a state championship football game. After years of officiating, he finally receives the letter saying that he has been selected to officiate in the upcoming state championship game.  Unfortunately, in the semifinal game prior to the state championship, he makes several inaccurate calls and the state subsequently forbids from officiating in the championship game. Also, he receives death threats and hate mail from the fans of the team that lost the semifinal game. He takes all of this extremely personally, enters a state of depression, and eventually attempts suicide. Fortunately, a neighbor gets him to a hospital and the doctors save his life. In the hospital, many of his former students and players come to visit him. At this point, he finally realizes that so many people love him and he still has a lot to live for besides just refereeing a state championship football game.

Stories like this are why I enjoy reading material by Rick Reilly. I enjoy reading about sports, but I really enjoy the extra meaning that his stories have as well. Below, I have included my reading log of dates and times when I read. As for next week, I am excited about starting my new book!

Reading Log
10/3: 11:15-11:45 pm
10/4: 12:00-12:30 am
10/6: 11:00-11:30 pm