EduBlog Insights

getting students to read, but getting them to enjoy reading - develop a

real love for it. Al Logsdon is a retired high school principal from

Indiana.He told a gripping story about how his school accomplished this

goal.  First order of the day Al said is to set high expectations

and then go about  putting things in place to help students

achieve those expectations. He did just that. Students, faculty, and

staff members participated in SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) for the

first 20 minutes minutes in grades 9-12 and the first 30 minutes in

grades 7-8. Al studied the research and used Stephen Krashen’s “The Power of Reading”

as his guide. Al pointed out how we probably have all been down the

road of SSR which sometimes can become “Silent Sustained Waste of

Time”; Not so in Al’s school! This principal walked the talk! He

monitored it, he encourage it, and stressed it continuously. He got the

entire community involved- even down to meeting with all the local

pastors. Later these local pastors wanted Harry Potter books 

removed from the reading list. Mr. Logsdon said no but his earlier

sessions had laid the groundwork for kids to read books of interest to

them. His prior meetings enabled them to understand.. Al had laid the

groundwork to  convince them as well as his faculty that students

had to be involved in the process of selecting reading material.

It was a lively and informative talk.

At one point he pulled out a tshirt that said “Real Men Read”. His

coaches and other teachers sported this around the halls.The crowd

loved the tshirt and all that Al had to say.

Al was one of 3 speakers. After he

sat down I passed him a note asking permission to take a picture of his

tshirt. I told him I wanted to put it on my weblog for others to see.

Then I told him he needed a weblog. We needed his voice! After the

session we had a few minutes to talk. He shared a few other stories

that were heart warming. He admitted he didn’t know what a weblog was

but he could learn! I have no doubt! We need more administrators like

Al Logsdon. He also shared that he was coming to Atlanta for training

from SREB as a literacy coach! I love it!