Educational Advantages of Kindles

I recently got my first Kindle, and so far I have been loving it. Last night I was reading Lorraine Zago Rosenthal's debut novel Other Words for Love. Though I have no qualms with underlining and making notes in the margins of my professional books, I would never make notes in novels, and post-it notes can get cumbersome as well. Last night part way through the novel I started highlighting with my Kindle and making brief notes about different teaching points as I went along. Mentions of plot technique, writer's craft, and literary devices, as well as my own reader response to show insights into the way that I thought as I read along.

In the future, it will be easy to do searches for specific types of teaching points and have authentic excerpts within my reach. Just as keeping a blog recording the books I read has been an invaluable resource in order to recommend books to students and refresh my memory of the different books I have read, my Kindle notations will add another level of benefits for teaching.

Another example advantage of being able to capture my thoughts long term is with different grade levels. This particular book is probably better suited for high school readers, rather than my current middle school age. Yet, who knows what the future will bring. Now I have my thoughts documented so that when I am working with high schoolers or college students, my thoughts on various points of the book will still be fresh.

I am excited to continue unlocking the potential that having a Kindle implies for enhancing my teaching.