Reading and Shelton have always been a challenge. I can remember vividly my parents reading to us as children and frequent trips to the library. I thoroughly enjoyed reading as an elementary student but as Gallagher stated in Readicide my love for reading diminished. Unlike the students in the reading I have no problem taking standardized test and I finished school before the evaluate by assessment began.
As a student I am still frustrated when I am forced to read. It is a difficult task for me to order and pick up the books to fulfill my obligations of reading for class. I have tried to recall when my passion for reading subsided and I can only decisively say thatin high school I no longer read for instruction. My passion to read for enjoy has subsided a bit but I still read a book a week that I choose. The irony is even though many of the books required for class are actually enjoyable the thought of "having" to read them makes the experience difficult.
As a teacher it is imperative that my students are readers. Marketing is ever evolving and I must read to stay abreast with the latest developments in economics and business. Students are encouraged to read as well but this has become quite a task. I choose several articles for the students to read and summarize but the responds lack critical thinking. Most of the students have a difficult time reading and comprehending newsprint articles. I have even allowed the students to choose their own articles with most of the selections having nothing to do with the course materials. They attempt to select a very short article with the word business in it.
Gallagher's look at low income and minority students is particularly important to me. The reality is that the achievement Gap locally appears to be broaden as we approach the magical year of 2014. As a school we have some of the nation's best teachers and I regularly see them give 110% of themselves in the classroom yet all their efforts are mute when you look at our test scores. We now have the opportunity of added funds being brought to the school we will now be able to add more creative measures of teaching literacy and basic skills. We will soon see if more money will help find a solution.
