Jenny Wasson: Take-Away Ideas from Miller

I really enjoyed reading Miller’s text! I love the way she writes, it’s very easy to understand and has opened my eyes to different practices of literacy. Teaching reading is extremely important and many of the practices she discusses are things I would’ve never thought about using in my classroom.

I thought it was interesting that she pointed out that our students also have busy lives. We seem to underestimate what pressures our students deal with on a day to day basis. Many students participate in extra-curricular activities and those all come with demands of their own. Spending 8 hours a day at school, attending football or softball practice, or piano lessons, or robotic club, there is a lot going on in their lives. To expect that our students will read at 30 minutes a day at home is unrealistic. Many students don’t feel like they have the time and are so exhausted by the time they get to their homework that reading for pleasure isn’t something that sounds relaxing to them. Miller had a great point when she was talking about our expectations of our students at extra-curricular practices versus our students reading practices. We expect our children and students to perform well and spend most of their time practicing their instrument or football plays, but we don’t expect them to practice their reading skills. If we put as much emphasis on practicing reading as we did practicing their sports skills, there would be a huge difference in their abilities.

I also liked the community she creates in her classroom. Not only does she have her students spend time doing independent reading, she creates an environment where they live like readers. They discuss their books, trade books with each other, sharing observations, and recommend books to their peers. It’s a great way to engage her students in reading and creates a safe and comfortable environment for her students to read at their level. Her students are able to read a book without having to make a book report or diorama, or take a test on the details of the story. I think her practices are refreshing and very different from what was taught when I was in elementary school. It has definitely changed my ideas of how to teach reading in my classroom. Her conferences are also something I want to bring into my classroom one day. Meeting with each student after observing them is a great way to see where your students are with their reading, as well as establishing a relationship of trust and respect with each of your students. Students are also able to talk about their struggles or challenges without feeling embarrassed and share their accomplishments with you. I think it’s really important as a teacher to know who your students are and understand what their strengths and weaknesses are. It’s also a great way to see if your students are fake reading or really doing their work (which is always important!).

In terms of teaching reading, I really want to instill the love of learning in my students. As early as I can with my students, I want them to love learning and love to read. I want to give them choices of what to read, but I’m concerned about how to connect all of what my students are reading to the content and standards I want them to learn. I want to create a comfortable and safe environment for my students to read and feel like they can read at whatever level they are at (and that it is okay to read what you can). I want to try to get away from the traditional ways of teaching reading and find ways to spark the interest of reading for all of my students in ways that work for them.