The year after graduating from college, I was hired to teach high school social studies. This was great! I majored in History and felt comfortable teaching my assigned World History curriculum. However, I soon found myself more than a history teacher; overnight I had also been labeled a reading teacher. Due to low state standardized test scores, all teachers were expected to teach reading skills by embedding them into the content of their subject area. As a new hire, I was also required to get my Reading Endorsement within two years to keep my job. It only took me one, but I soon found myself also teaching an Intensive Reading class. I guess you could say things changed very quickly.
As an avid reader myself, I had big plans of helping each student find a book of personal interest and begin each class with fifteen minutes of SSR. At the end of the first week, after everything appeared to be going well, I ask students to share a brief summary of their book thus far and either make a comment, share an opinion, or predict what would happen next. Within a few minutes, I learned that many of the students could not provide this information as they were simply staring at pages as if they were blank and turning them every few minutes to create a facade of reading. Luckily, no behavioral problems ever resulted from this "free" time I was giving the students everyday, however there were many missing books and stories left unread by the end of the year. I never realized so many students were so reluctant to read. I guess that explained the low test scores.
So how do we solve the problem of having reluctant readers? In the article The Best of Both Literacies, Magaret Weigel and Howard Gardner (2009) suggest that digital media is the answer. Although there is a major difference between online reading and offline reading, and many pitfalls surely need to be addressed, reading online can become an active, hands-on ways to engage students and make them responsible for their own learning. In addition to building basic reading and writing skills, "New digital media have a powerful ability to link students across time and space, capitalizing on their natural desire to socialize with peers" (Weigel & Gardner, 2009, pg. 40). To me, using computers and the Internet to interact with a text seems like a logical solution when addressing literacy issues in a technology-driven society.
Wiegel, M., Gardner, H. (2009). The best of Both Literacies. Educational Leadership,
66(6), 38-41.
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Katie,
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed wth the blog, and especially with your thoughtful posting. I've been teaching language arts at the high school level for 10 years and at the middle school level for two years, and I agree that many students who conscientiously avoid reading books will eagerly read online.
Becky Polzin
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI really like the ideas that you have and all the thought that you have put into finding ways to get students to read more, but I have one question/thought. You talked about students being responsible for their learning when it comes to online reading, but what happens if they don't learn? Do you have ways to measure what they have learned? Have a great week!
Kate Jorgensen
Hi Katie
ReplyDeleteFrom reading your blog I can see that you are prepared to make something happen with your students.
You stated that "To me, using computers and the Internet to interact with a text seems like a logical solution when addressing literacy issues in a technology-driven society.", this tell me that you are ready for the challenges that will come. I wish for you success and that your students will find joy in reading.
Barbara