To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.

I’ll admit, a lot of these quotes will be book-related. This one comes from Victor Hugo, whose work I’m not too familiar with (I know of a couple titles, just haven’t read them yet), but I saw this quote in a reading planner and fell in love with it. I read with a young girl last month, and hearing her sound out some of the words and then getting them right warmed my heart — it was an honour to be next to her through this process! As someone who has been so driven and determined to teach high school English, I’ve never considered these milestones before — like the fact that students need to start somewhere in their reading journey (since most would come to the secondary level being able to read). Part of my Teacher Mentor’s expectations  in this practicum is for me to take on a group of students during guided reading, and my personal goal for these guided reading times (besides the obvious: guiding the students through reading) is to treasure the moments of student reading success, to be excited by these sparks that will (hopefully) light a permanent love-of-reading fire.