A New Experiment

I'm starting this blog as a little experiment to see if I can't combine my internet addiction with an effort to improve my academic work. I'm currently in my 3rd year of a PhD in Education - and I've spent much of my time in the program drifting. First, I couldn't decide exactly what I wanted to do. Then, I had a baby (a fabulous thing!) which made it even harder to focus. Now, I'm finally getting a clue about my "project" - that means it's time to get down to business.

The project...

I'm a former English teacher and a book junkie. Or maybe I should say former book junkie since I seem to have drifted out of the habit of reading for pleasure. And that's not such a good thing given my "project" is all about the centrality of reading to our lives. My theory is that reading isn't just fun or enriching (although it is that); it is key to helping us negotiate both our identities and our sense of place in the world. I have a special interest in high school students, especially high school students who struggle with being students (and who get labeled all sorts of prerogative and un-lovely terms like "at risk"), and hope my work has relevance some day for how we teach "books" with adolescents. I'm particularly interested in narrative (fiction writing more specifically).

Whenever someone finds out I'm working on my PhD, they always respond, "Oh, what are you studying?" Now, I have my snappy answer: "The role of literature in creating agency in adolescents." - Stay tuned for revisions and clarifications.

What I hope to do here is hold myself accountable for the reading and writing I should be doing. I think lots of thoughts but have the darnedest time doing anything with them. Maybe if I can do it online, I can actually get something down!