Blog #1
A) Hi my name is Annie Michelotti and I am currently a junior. I transferred to CSU Chico last semester from Modesto Junior College. I am a liberal studies major and I look forward to being a kindergarten teacher. I love living here in Chico but I plan on moving back to Modesto after I get my teaching credential. I really enjoy being in classes that are filled with future teachers and I’m looking forward to this class!
B) 1. I think that a good reader begins a new text by thinking about what they already know about the subject of the passage. They think about their previous experiences and then reflect on their current feelings on the issue. Then the reader begins reading the text at a pace that allows them to fully comprehend the context. This sometimes requires the reader to reread sentences or the entire passage. At the end of the text, a good reader reflects back on what they read and formulates new ideas or questions on the topic. I think that a good reader should be skeptic and should analyze what they just read.
2. At my elementary school, there was a program called “Buddy’s Buddies” where 4th and 5th grade students would read stories to the kindergarten and 1st grade students. The program was named after Buddy, a brown mutt who was owned by one of the teachers and who became the unofficial school mascot. I remember being in kindergarten and enjoying the guidance of an older student. This program occurred weekly and I always looked forward to it. When I was in 4th grade, I looked forward to reading to the kindergarteners and being someone that they could look up to. Looking back on the program, I think that it was not only beneficial to the younger students, but it also helped the older students practice their reading and improve their fluency.
3. The reading I do outside of school consists mostly of text messages, social network news feeds, and the occasional short article. I find that I read faster and I am able to comprehend more when I am reading outside of assigned school reading. I think that this is because I am able to choose what I am reading, there is no deadline, and I do not have the stress of being tested on the material. I do not think that the reading I do outside of school connects with the reading I do in school. The assigned readings for classes are not only required, but are not pleasurable for me to read. Therefore I read much slower and I am not able to comprehend the material as well. The reading I do outside of school is far more enjoyable and it makes more of an impact on me.
4. In “A Puzzle to the Rest of Us: Who is a ‘Reader’ Anyway?” Williams claims that we only consider ourselves as readers in an academic setting. He explains that we tend to disregard the fact that we are constantly reading print such as the newspaper and articles. Williams also explains that normally “readers” are considered people who tend to be weird, shy, and disconnected from the real world. He uses the example of Belle from “Beauty and the Beast” where she is described as being in her own world. In the media, readers are usually never portrayed in a positive light. I think that a “good reader” is not someone who reads fast, or who comprehends the material after reading it the first time, is an idea that made the biggest impact on me from this article. I am usually a slow reader and I have to read things multiple times to comprehend the text. I always thought that I was not a very good reader but this article has made me reevaluate what I qualities I consider a good reader to have.