Hello everyone and happy summer! If you’re not on summer break yet, hopefully you are getting close and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As I’m recording this, I have about three weeks left, and all of the end-of-term busyness is definitely starting to pick up.
This is actually my first year supervising college students all the way through graduation, and I have to say, it’s been really exciting and inspiring watching them prepare to become teachers. Seeing how much they’ve grown this year and how passionate they are about education honestly gives me a lot of hope for the future.
I was recently in a conversation with one of my students about classroom culture and what it really means to create a culture of reading. We started talking about the difference between a classroom where the teacher clearly values reading and a classroom where students actually begin to value reading too. And I think that’s such an important distinction because those are not always the same thing.
I think most ELA teachers value reading. Most of us genuinely care about books and literacy and helping students grow. But students don’t automatically feel that just because we say reading is important. Students experience classroom culture through what consistently happens around them. Through routines. Through conversations. Through the atmosphere in the room.
When I think about classrooms that truly feel like reading classrooms, I think about classrooms where reading feels normal. Students talk about books naturally. Teachers reference reading in casual conversation. Students recommend books to each other while class is starting or while they’re packing up at the end of class. Reading doesn’t feel like a separate activity that only happens during independent reading. It feels like a regular part of the class conversation.
I think that’s one of the biggest differences between classrooms where reading is simply part of the curriculum and classrooms where reading becomes part of the culture. In one classroom, reading mostly exists through assignments, quizzes, and required tasks. In the other, reading becomes part of the social atmosphere of the room. Students begin seeing books as something people talk about, recommend, debate, and enjoy together.
I also think middle school students are constantly trying to figure out what is truly valued. They are incredibly observant about what teachers consistently protect and prioritize. If independent reading time constantly disappears the moment things get busy, students notice that. If books are only mentioned on library day, students notice that too.
But when teachers consistently make space for reading conversations, reading routines, and student recommendations, students see reading differently.
And I think consistency is key. Students need regularly repeated experiences that communicate that reading is valued in this room.
Summer is often when we start thinking about the year ahead. Even when we’re taking a well-deserved break, ideas for our classes have a way of finding their way into our thoughts. We start thinking about classroom organization, seating charts, first-week plans, procedures, pacing guides, and all of the things we need to prepare before students arrive. And obviously those things matter.
But this conversation asks us to think about something a little different. What do we want students to experience when they walk into our class? How do we want them to feel about reading? And What can we do to facilitate that?
When I think about the strongest reading cultures I’ve seen, I don’t think students would describe them by talking about class routines or specific reading activities. That’s not to say those things aren’t important. In fact, they’re often what makes a strong reading culture possible. But students don’t usually experience culture through the systems we create behind the scenes.
If you asked students what made those classes feel different, I think they would talk about how they felt. They might tell you that they weren’t afraid to try a book, that their teacher cared about what they were reading, or that people constantly talked about books in class.
And that’s where reading culture begins.
Before students build stamina, before they become more engaged readers, and before they start seeing growth in their own reading, they need to feel like they belong in a reading environment.
That can be challenging in middle school because students don’t walk into our classes as blank slates. By the time they reach us, they’ve already had years of experiences with reading, and those experiences shape how they see themselves.
Some students arrive excited about books and reading. They already have favorite authors, favorite genres, and a growing list of books they want to read.
But many others have had very different experiences. Some have struggled academically. Some have spent years avoiding reading because it felt frustrating. Some have rarely finished a book they enjoyed, and some have already decided that reading is simply not for them.
What makes middle school interesting is that many students have already developed a reading identity, whether that identity is accurate or not. We’ve all heard students say things like, “I’m not a reader,” or “I hate reading.” Those statements usually aren’t based on one experience. They’re often the result of years of struggle, assumptions, and comparisons.
That’s one reason classroom culture matters so much. If a student walks into our class believing they’re not a reader, every experience we provide either reinforces that belief or slowly challenges it. Over time, students begin paying attention to the messages they receive about who belongs in the reading community and who doesn’t.
The strongest reading cultures I’ve seen send a very clear message: there isn’t just one type of reader. Some students love fantasy novels. Others prefer nonfiction. Some enjoy graphic novels. Some listen to audiobooks. Some read constantly, while others are still building their stamina and confidence. The goal isn’t to convince students that everyone should read the same way. The goal is to help students see that reading has a place for them.
Another thing I’ve noticed in strong reading cultures is that reading becomes surprisingly social. That may sound strange because reading itself is usually an independent activity, but readers are constantly sharing ideas, recommending books, talking about stories, and discussing things they’ve learned.
Think about your own life. Chances are you’ve recommended a book, shared an article, sent someone a podcast episode, or told a friend about something interesting you recently read.
Students need opportunities to see that side of reading.
Too often, students perceive reading as something that happens to them rather than something they actively participate in. They read an assigned text, answer the questions, complete the activity, and move on. What they don’t always see is that reading can be a way to connect with other people, exchange ideas, and contribute to a larger conversation.
When students begin talking about books with one another, recommending titles, sharing opinions, and responding to each other’s thinking, reading starts to feel less like a task and more like something they have ownership over.
One of my favorite things to observe in a class is when students begin recommending books to each other without any prompting from the teacher. And I know some of you might be thinking, “My students don’t do that.”
Honestly, we probably don’t see it as often as we’d like or as often as we used to, but it does happen. I’ve seen students finish a book and immediately walk across the room to hand it to a friend. I’ve heard students debating whether a series is worth reading or telling someone, “You need to read this next.”
Those moments may seem small, but they tell us something important. Reading is no longer just an assignment. It has become part of the classroom community.
And that’s where culture becomes visible. Not because students are completing reading logs or answering comprehension questions, but because they’re interacting with books the way real readers do. They’re sharing experiences, exchanging ideas, and building connections around reading.
That social component also plays an important role in confidence. Students are far more willing to take risks when they feel safe. They’re more willing to stick with a challenging text, participate in a discussion, or ask for help when they need it. When students believe growth is possible, they approach reading differently.
Over the years, one thing I’ve learned is that confidence often comes before achievement. Students who believe they can become readers are much more willing to do the work required to become readers. That’s one reason you’ll hear me talk so often about the importance of early successes.
Those early successes do more than build confidence. They also help establish trust. When students experience success early in the year, they begin to see their teacher as someone who values them, believes in their potential, and genuinely wants to help them grow.
That’s especially important for students who may have struggled in the past or who walk into our classes already doubting themselves as readers.
That’s why some of the most important growth we see isn’t always reflected in a test score or assessment. Sometimes it’s the student who voluntarily picks up a second book. Sometimes it’s the student who reads for fifteen minutes without giving up. Sometimes it’s the student who stops saying, “I hate reading.”
And if you’re listening and thinking, “Okay, this all sounds great, but what do I actually do to create that kind of environment?” I think that’s the question most of us are really asking.
Because reading culture isn’t something we can hang on a wall or check off a list. It has to show up in the everyday experiences students have when they walk into our class.
When I think about creating a culture of reading, I keep coming back to the student experience. What do students experience when they walk into our room? What messages are they receiving about reading? Do they feel like their opinions matter? Do they have opportunities to talk about books?
Do they see reading as something people genuinely enjoy, or does it only exist when there’s an assignment attached to it?
Those are the questions to think about because students are constantly trying to figure out what is valued in a classroom. Not necessarily what we say is important, but what is seen and observed as important.
I think sometimes we assume culture is built during the big moments. Maybe it’s the first week of school, the launch of independent reading, a special project, or a major unit. And those moments certainly matter. But when I look back on the strongest reading cultures I’ve seen, they weren’t built because of one particular lesson or activity.
They were built in the ordinary moments.
They were built when a teacher remembered what a student was reading and asked about it a week later. They were built when students had opportunities to recommend books to each other. They were built when reading time was treated as something worth protecting. They were built when students had regular opportunities to share their thoughts and opinions without worrying about finding the perfect answer.
None of those moments are particularly dramatic by themselves. In fact, if you looked at them individually, they probably wouldn’t seem all that significant. But over the course of a school year, they add up.
That’s really what culture is. It’s the accumulation of experiences students have day after day. And the sum of those experiences shape their beliefs.
Students begin believing that reading has value. They begin believing that their opinions matter. They begin believing that readers belong in this classroom. And perhaps most importantly, they begin believing that they can be readers too.
I think that’s why creating a reading culture requires us to think beyond activities and lessons. As teachers, we spend a lot of time thinking about what we’re going to teach and how we’re going to teach it. But students often remember something different. They remember how they felt in your ELA class. They remember whether reading felt like another task to complete or something they could genuinely engage with.
Years from now, most students won’t remember every novel they read or every reading assignment they completed. But many of them will remember whether they felt successful.
They’ll remember whether they felt seen. They’ll remember whether reading felt frustrating or enjoyable, whether their ideas mattered, and whether they felt like they belonged.
As we spend time this summer thinking about the year ahead, maybe that’s the question worth coming back to. What do you want students to experience when they are in your class? Not just what do you want them to learn, but how do you want them to feel?
As we wrap up today, I think it’s worth circling back to where we started.
When we talk about building a culture of reading, we’re really talking about more than helping students read more books. We’re talking about helping students see themselves as readers.
That’s why this conversation is so important. Reading culture isn’t just about encouraging independent reading. It’s about creating experiences that help students believe they belong in a community of readers.
It’s about helping students discover that their opinions have value, that growth is possible, and that reading is something they can participate in rather than something that simply happens to them.
As teachers, we can’t control every reading experience students have had before they walk into our class. Some students will arrive excited about books, while others will arrive carrying years of frustration and self-doubt. But we do have an opportunity to influence what happens next.
We have an opportunity to create an environment where students feel safe taking risks, sharing ideas, and growing as readers. And over time, those experiences can begin to change the way students think about reading and the way they think about themselves.
If this is a topic you’d like to explore further, I have several related blog posts and podcast episodes that I’ll link in the show notes. So whether you’re catching up on podcasts during a road trip or doing a little reading from a lounge chair by the pool, you’ll find a few more ideas there.
We’ll also be continuing this conversation inside our free private Building Strong & Confident Readers community for middle school ELA teachers. It’s not a Facebook group. It’s a dedicated private community where teachers come together to share ideas, celebrate successes, work through challenges, and support one another throughout the school year. We have weekly check-ins, monthly trainings, and plenty of opportunities to learn from other teachers who are focused on helping students become stronger, more confident readers. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy being part of, I’ll include a link to join in the show notes.
And if you enjoyed today’s episode, I’d love for you to like, follow, and subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes. Also, if you have a colleague who would enjoy this conversation, feel free to share the episode with them. Great teaching ideas are always better when we can talk about them together.
Thank you for joining me today. As you enjoy your summer and begin thinking about the year ahead, I hope you’ll spend a little time reflecting on the experiences you want students to have in your class and the reading culture you want to create. I’ll see you next time.