In the beginning of Chapter 2, Wilhelm interviews his students in order to gain a proper understanding of their reading lives (39). This is a totally brilliant task that can help a teacher gain insight into the academic lives of students. It is amazing how students viewed outside reading (home etc.) more beneficiary than in school reading. However, novels read inside the classroom are important pieces of literature that can shape the way someone views the world. My question is: when did reading become such a chore? Many students think reading is a meaningless torture device used by teachers to bother students. As teachers we must be able to show students the importance of reading and help give them a spark in the literature world. I found some wonderful articles on the internet that give teachers ideas on motivating students: General Principles of Motivation. Through these aspects of motivation a teacher can help try further reinforcement techniques in regards to the reading world. Because there are so many new distractions (i.e. facebook, twitter etc.) to entertain students, reading may become a lost art if not conveyed properly to adolescents.
There is also an extremely important self-help book I would recommend to all my future students and that is:
This book greatly helped me throughout 7th grade all the way through high school. It was a key factor in motivating myself to read and understand the importance of being organized in all aspects of life. I believe teachers need to offer students suggestive reading for outside the classroom which students may be more apt to read. For some reason the classroom gives students an "anti-reading" vibe and I want to change that.
The section on "Studying Student Response" was intriguing and gave me new ideas to implement in my future classroom. Teachers are essentially scientists who practice various experiments (lessons etc.) in class; some work while others fail. You must study your students who enter the classroom in order to gain a greater perspective academically. For instance Wilhelm writes, "...I used a blend of interviews, conferences, literary letters, a variety of protocols (or think-alouds)..." (42). He is giving prime examples of some tools he used as a teacher to help gain increased knowledge about his students reading capacity, likes, dislikes, and their comprehension of stories. These types of activities should be exhibited by all English teachers in order to facilitate the ultimate learning environment. YGBB has already taught me many important ideas and examples of challenges facing pre-service teachers. Classrooms cannot simply be lectured power points or you will truly fail at passing knowledge onto students. You must become actively involved in learning about most aspects of their lives in order to gain key understanding that can transform them into successful readers. I knew that I must know my students but I never thought about studying them. So I will study my students: study the way they think, study their actions, study their responses to literature, and study their comprehension skills. If you fail as a teacher to study your students then you will fail to know them, and if you don't know your students then you cannot transfer the wealth of knowledge you have to offer.
Once you know your students you can give them suggestive pieces of literature that they would enjoy. I think students would be grateful to get advice from their teachers on books to read outside the classroom. If you can motivate them to read outside class then they will begin to trust your book choices inside the classroom. The world is constantly changing and if future teachers expect to inspire students to become strong readers, they must give examples. Cite new ways in which literature is becoming even more relevant in our ever-changing society. How literature helps one to view another culture or race in a different atmosphere. Teach students the importance of literature in understanding oneself and transcending your own reality in order to comprehend a new one. And if teachers fail to do so then they have just sent a group of unprepared, uninspired, and potentially unsuccessful students into this complex world.
Once you know your students you can give them suggestive pieces of literature that they would enjoy. I think students would be grateful to get advice from their teachers on books to read outside the classroom. If you can motivate them to read outside class then they will begin to trust your book choices inside the classroom. The world is constantly changing and if future teachers expect to inspire students to become strong readers, they must give examples. Cite new ways in which literature is becoming even more relevant in our ever-changing society. How literature helps one to view another culture or race in a different atmosphere. Teach students the importance of literature in understanding oneself and transcending your own reality in order to comprehend a new one. And if teachers fail to do so then they have just sent a group of unprepared, uninspired, and potentially unsuccessful students into this complex world.
I definitely agree that "classrooms cannot simply be lectured power points or you will truly fail at passing knowledge onto students. You must become actively involved in learning." We can take this into reading as well. Not only can we think of creative ways to teach, that stray away from lectures, but we can teach the actual literature differently as well. Perhaps we could engage students by physically livening the book/ any literature we read in the class by acting it out? That would create involvement opportunities through an alternative way to present, explore, and learn about certain literature.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really like the idea of studying your students. We so need to know our students, how they learn, what they like, what motivates them, etc. If we succeed in this, along with being actively involved in the classroom, I think we will have succeeded in our main goal: teaching.
"My question is: when did reading become such a chore?"
ReplyDeleteExcellent question. And one that will, no doubt, shape your future pedagogy. I was interested as well, in your your distinction between "home" reading and "school" reading. Why is one more compelling than the other. Why do we begin to have an unnatural hatred for books when they are "assigned" to us. How many of us, for example, felt a bit "reluctant" ourselves with some of the assigned reading for this class. Is it good for you? Yes. Is it engaging. The literature itself, I would argue, is amazingly engaging. Why do we "grump and groan" then when we're "asked" to read something? Human nature? I'm not sure. Let's talk about this in class!
I think reading has always been a bit of a chore for me because it was always forced onto me (although that's what made me like certain books and series). But to me, reading feels most like a chore when the teacher fails to make the book interesting and doesn't understand how much the students are capable of reading. It was always worst for me when the teacher assigned 60 pages of reading for the next day, as if I only had that teacher's class and not bio, history, math, and Spanish homework to do too. That's one of the most important things about teaching English: accurately assess students' capabilities and how much time they'll need to finish your assignments.
ReplyDeleteI love the question you ask: when did reading become such a chore? If you asked me this now, I would reply that it's because I have over 40 books to read this semester... so it resembles having to change the cat litter or clean the toilets. Back in high school, my mom couldn't ask me enough to put the book away. There was a time at the dinner table when I pulled out the dictionary and started asking my family questions about words I found. It's definitely our goal as teachers to make reading fun, not a chore. By incorporating a lot of Wilhelm's techniques, I think we'd be able to achieve this!
ReplyDeleteYou touch on a lot of good points, like so many distractions these days for kids and why the classroom gives off an "anti-reading vibe". In my opinion, I consider technology one of my ambivalences, it promotes learning but can also serve as a way to detract from learning. Of course access to the internet and having computers is a great tool for the students, but on the other side of the spectrum (like you said, twitter, facebook, etc.), students often get caught up in all of this that they can't be bothered to read a book or pay attention in class: why would they? their phone just vibrated and they have five new text messages and two comments on one of their facebook pictures that they cannot wait to check. Get what I'm saying? I think many students just consider the act of reading of a book as something obsolete these days.
ReplyDeleteAnother point you brought up, the teachers just aren't getting to know their students well enough. I remember Wilhelm having success with reluctant students because he personally got to know them and worked with them to express what their interests were via reading and writing. I think too often students just feel too seperated from their teachers, as if the teacher doesn't really care about their ideas in the classroom. If the teacher doesn't put any effort into getting to know his/her students in order to build a meaningful relationship with them that could benefit both parties more throughout the year, then everything would be a waste. The students would start to get the same vibe the teacher emits, that he/she is only here to put his/her time in and then get out, and the students would soon follow example...
I'm happy to see I'm not the only person who wonders why and when reading became a chore! I can remember feeling that way myself through school, and even at Shippensburg I tend to feel that way on occasion. Sadly, I feel as if leisurely reading had been more instilled in my values growing up, I would be less apprehensive about some of my assigned reading today. I definitely feel as if reducing lecture time in the classroom can help students feel more excitement about reading assignments, because using things like small discussion allow students to have a better grasp of WHY things are happening in the book rather than just when and where.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how you said that reading may become a lost art. This is such a true statement, and one that scares me as a future English teacher. Students are so caught up in texting their friends and on Facebook and Twitter, that reading an actual hard copy text and interacting with it must seem so distant to them. Worse than that, these things will most likely be happening right under our noses in our own classrooms if we do not monitor cell phone use. Being a teacher never used to mean competing with electronic devices and social networks; but today it does. However I completely agree with you about getting to know our students. I think if students can tell that a teacher is really making an effort with them and cares, they will listen to and respect that teacher. This is how we can get our students' attention, attempt to make them love reading, and perhaps even win the cell phone war.
ReplyDeleteI'm having tech issues... I posted something to you but realize it didn't go through! Is this blogging stuff getting slower for anybody else? Maybe it's just my home network.
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to be commenting on your quote: "when did reading become such a chore?" Admittedly, I've fallen prey to challenges with tackling all the reading required and keeping up with my non-school life. I always feel so much more accomplished when I've finished a good book but for some reason it's becoming harder to focus on reading for pleasure. I graduated college before the Internet was available on campuses. I truly think cellphones, texting, Internet searching have really changed the reading landscape so much. Having gone to college before most people owned cellphones/blackberries/iphones, and ipads -- I can honestly say that it was SO much easier THEN to sit at the library and focus on THE BOOKS. Now I'm always in touch with friends, family and this can definitely be a distraction. The challenge is greater for children now to focus (incidentally, this past weekend we removed all movies from the kids' iPad and iTouches because they weren't focusing on the educational games and books... instead they were becoming iPad zombies -- literally crying if they couldn't use).
Thanks for the recommendation of Sean Covey's book. I will have to check it out. Some of our most senior research sector analysts fully embraced Stephen Covey's ways (and Sean is his son)... We even had Franklin Covey folks come in and demo to our analyst teams. At any rate, I will check out the teen book. I could use some tips myself!!!