Ring.  Ring.  Ring.

 

I saw Ja flash across the screen.  Why is she calling me?  What does she want?  She only calls when she wants something.

 

“Hello.” I answered.

 

“Guess what, Je?!?!”

 

“What?”  I was surprised at her excited tone.  What could it be?

 

“I finished Twilight already!”

 

“The book?  Didn’t you just start it the other day?”  That couldn’t be right.  She had barely finished a book in her life, let alone one for fun…and only in a few days!

 

“Yes. I couldn’t stop reading.  I was picturing Bella and Edward in my head as I was reading-  since I knew what they looked like from the trailers.”

 

“Wow…Wait, you didn’t usually see pictures in your head?  With other books?”

 

“No.”

 

That was the first time I truly realized that the reason I loved reading was the movie that was happening in my mind as I read.  Ja never had that before.  But because of the movie trailers out for Twilight, she saw the “mind movie” and she enjoyed reading.      Because of this realization, visualizing became a much more significant part of my reading instruction.

 

The book changed everything for Ja as a reader.    The book changed everything for me as a teacher.