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.
Shelton,
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was younger my county had a summer book club with the library. The more books you read, the more prizes you could recieve. I loved reading at that point. When I became too old to participate in the summer book club, I stopped reading. My parents then started giving me fifty cents per book I read. I had to explain what happened to my mom. So I began reading again. However, I was not reading for the enjoyment of reading. There was an incentive each time. I did read in high school just because I was afraid not too. The funny thing is that I love reading books I like now. Reading is still a challenge for me when it is something that is "boring."
Shelton makes several good points. I, too, find myself reading fewer books than I did when given the choice to read. I may not have the opportunity to sit down and read scholarly works which demand more effort but I try to allocate a little time for myself to read simple magazine articles and internet pages. As for my content area of History, I try to have the students read 5-7 pages per night. This is something that I can push but if I force it upon them, they will resist. More and more I am trying to find more primary sources that reveal a hidden history many of the students would never explore or know about. Students, generally, want to learn. They are curious, but we tend to turn them off with demanding text that make little sense and has no value to the student. Maybe this class will not only help me to push my students to read more often and be better readers but also I, too, may be more inclined to read for the sake of just reading.
ReplyDeleteAs an elementary school student, I did not like to read either. However, I do believe that my interest in reading came from home, not school. Sure, I loved story time in the library, and when the teacher would read us books, but I have to give my mother the credit for peeking my interest. When I was in 3rd or 4th grade, just like Gallagher states, I started to dislike reading. It was my mother who convinced me that reading was fun. She started by buying a subscription for the Highlights magazine. When I was in 5th grade, she bought a subscription to YM magazine. I loved reading magazines ever since. After that, she wanted to challenge me, so she started buying my Goosebumps books, and the Wayside School series. When I got to middle school, some of my friends turned me on to Urban Fiction books. When I asked my mother to purchase these kinds of books for me, she did not hesitate. She said as long as I was reading it didn’t matter what I was reading, just as long as I knew it was not true!
ReplyDeleteThis is why I believe it is the parent’s, student’s, and teacher’s job together to make reading more interesting.
I have always loved books. Before I could read them, I loved to turn the pages and look at illustrations. Some of my fondest memories are of going to the library as a small child and even being left in the library while a parent went and ran an errand. I would sit for hours in a pile of books on the floor of the lower level of the Washington Library which was the children section when I was little. Books have always been my friends and even when I was in high school, I would love to read. I did not always like reading what I was forced to read and I would hurry through those to be able to read what I was interested in. Even now when I go to the library, I come out with an armful of books. I am usually reading more than one book at a time. The trigger for me are the illustrations and graphic presentation of the book. I think the lack of illustrations in the present published books, is one of the students problems. There is too much gray space when they open a book. More thought needs to be given to the structure and layout of books. With a little more thought to way the book is presented would be a great way to get more students into reading.
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow teacher of many underpriviledged students, I feel your pain. Often times we are limited by finaces and cannot create the Educational Utopia so many of us desire in our classrooms. It is sad to see that the students who need it the most are often short changed the most. We must continue to think of creative and CHEAP ways to keep our students engagd in learning when it would be so, so much easier if money was not the issue. But I guess that's just the cross we bear as teachers.
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