Reading on the Edge

Chapter one

Miller discusses and brings up such important points about reading that I’ve never realized. I had one teacher in the fourth grade, Mrs. Schmidt, who reminds me so much of Miller and the way she conducts her classroom with a great emphasis on reading. Mrs. Schmidt was the first teacher I had to ever care about her students enjoying the books they read and she was dedicated to doing whatever it took to get her students to read. It’s because of her that I have some wild reader characteristics in me. I want to find my way back to being a wild reader and Miller inspires me to change the way I see reading while providing concrete evidence supporting how and why it’s necessary that I teach my future classes how to be wild readers as well. Throughout the book, but I’ll just discuss the first chapter, she consistently challenges the standard concept of reading, for example she compares required independent reading time in class to band and choir practice within school, students in these extra curricular activities are expected to do well given the extra time in school to practice, well why isn’t the same logic applied to reading?

When I lived in the city, there would be a lot of times I had to wait for the bus or bart so I began carrying a book with me everywhere I went just like in “reading on the edge” and “reading emergencies”. Reading in the wild, especially as an adult, you have to take advantage of those sacred moments because getting a straight uninterrupted 30-minute period is rare. It’s only the first chapter and already, Miller has made me realize the flaws within my own reading habits and methods; going through this process of self-realization and teaching myself how to become a wild reader, will only strengthen my ability transform or shape my students reading habits into becoming wild readers.