Hello bloggers,
*disclaimer* All student names have been changed and placed in asterisks to help with confidentiality*
So as the second week of school is coming to a stop, I started to notice little things about my class. First, my mentor teacher has the students read from a book of their choosing every class period: when they are finished, they write down the page that they stopped on in a journal that they created on the first day of school. The first day of reading, I noticed a student "John" had a very large book sitting in front of him. *John* was a student that my mentor teacher had had the previous year and had told me that he was the only student in her class to not read a single book during the school year last year.
Now this got me thinking about the reason why the student was not reading. At first, I toyed with the idea that maybe he did not know how to read- which was thrown out the window after my mentor teacher told me that he was an honors student and was extremely smart and fully capable. Well now, that just threw everything out the window for me.
Back to *John* though, on the second day of class my mentor teacher gave the students a chance to, not only go to the library and pick a book out, but also their first chance to read during the class. As I sat reading, I looked up and noticed that *John* was the only student who was just starting at his book, PAGE ONE of his book. After the fifteen minutes of reading time, my mentor teacher got the students started on another assignment. I walked up to *John*, looking at his book with wonder, and asked him what his book was book. *John* said "I don't know". I said *John* we just spent fifteen minutes reading. *John* looked up at me and with a straight face said "I hate reading". I was completely and utterly confused. Yes, I know that there are people in the world who do not like to read. But seriously, the students are allowed to pick ANY book that they want to read. He could have picked a COMIC book for all my mentor teacher or I cared!
A little later, I walked up to *John* and I asked him if maybe he would like to go back to the library and find a book that he might find more interesting. He said "Nope, at least this book I can carry around with me all year". *slaps forehead really hard* SERIOUSLY?! I always knew that this day was going to come: the day I would have a student that did not want to do the easiest assignment of the year. But now I want to take *John* in as my special project: how do I get this young man to, at least, tolerate reading?
Oh my little project sent me on a research journey that lead me to Elena Aguilar. She wrote an article: Ten Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading in Students (though some of these are not activities that I can really do). I felt like Aguilar does a great job talking about some of the simple things that you can do to encourage reading. Now I feel like my mentor teacher is going down a great path having students read every class period, it is giving the students a chance to read things that they enjoy. But I know that *John* is going to take a little more convincing than just reading every day.
Well that is all for today! I'll update you on *John* next time. Wish me luck!
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/cultivating-love-reading-students-elena-aguilar
*John* is lucky to have someone that cares. I wonder if he would be open to being read to or reading with you. My son (gifted) also hates to read. If I read part, he will read part and eventually, he just takes over and reads on his own. We did this for several novels, and now he's doing it fully independently. Maybe he would be open to being read to? I'm excited to find out how you help *John*.
ReplyDeleteThis is a topic I am afraid to tackle. Getting students to like reading can be difficult and seemingly impossible (especially for those stubborn students). Hopefully, you will finds ways to connect with *John* and, in turn, find ways to connect him to a genre that he enjoys. Have you though about modeling the way you find interesting books? Also, maybe if you could find out what type of TV and or video games he likes and start from there? I love the tone and style of your blog post! I look forward to reading more of your blogs in the future!
ReplyDeleteI love the story you tell in this post, Ms. Perret! John (and students who share his disdain for reading) sounds like the perfect “special project” for your internship. Engaging in inquiry on how to get students to love reading is something that you could pursue throughout your career.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, Penny Kittle has done just that with her book Book Love and her book love foundation. Many teachers at your placement school have read Book Love, and I bet they’d be willing to share some ideas with you. Check out Kittle’s website too: http://pennykittle.net/. And look for a session at the KATE Conference on book love.
I look forward to updates on your work with John! The fact that you initiated a conference with him is right in line with what we’ll read in Randy Bomer’s book, and it’s what Kittle advocates in her work. Keep up the great work!