Finally Catching up!

I am finally able to catch up!! Ya!!!

After reading, Reading in the Wild, I come back with reassurance of my own ideas but also encouragement to continue to purse teaching. First and for most, reading is fun and should never be treated as a punishment or thought of being tortured. I remember talking to one of my students and she told me her parents used to actually use reading as a punishment instead of using the time out method. Her brother didn’t like reading and when he would get in trouble his parents would make him sit in the corner and make him read a chapter in a book and recite what it was about to them when his time was done. Reading is fun and exciting and for their parents to turn it into a chore or punishment was disheartening for me to hear. I also took away that even though you may have a busy day with lots of stuff to accomplish you still need to take the time and allow kids to read. Even if it’s for ten minutes you still need to give them time to be on their own and read something that interests their own similar interests. Series are always a great choice when giving reading to your children. I can see how this would be beneficial because reading a series and having something to look forward to by wanting to see what’s going to happen next and what happens to all the characters is always exciting! I know right now with my series I can’t put it down and even turned down many times invited to hang out with friends just so I can sit at home and finish my book! Miller wants everyone to encourage reading. It’s not solely just our jobs as teachers to encourage reading. Parents, family, and friends can also encourage reading daily! I wish i would have kept a journal of everything i read so i could go back and see all i have read and even recommend books to my children that i loved when i was their age.

I think i am afraid about not being able to get through and encourage my students about the importance of reading things that they wouldn’t normally pick up. I remember when I was in high school my friends never really read the assigned reading and just read Sparknotes instead of picking up the book. I always wanted to read the assigned reading because I was open to reading things out of my comfort zone but many won’t take the time to do it. Making a difference is something that haunts my dreams!