Blog Post 2, Miller

So far Miller has some great ideas on involving reading in a classroom environment. It’s a good take away that I know I can use in the future. Reading the first chapter has actually had me thinking about how reading for fun is important. I have been trying to read more and I’m starting by reading my series book more and so far I’m loving it. For the second chapter she had a lot to say that I took away from but she did bring up some important points that I agreed with her on. One of the points she made had to do with students being able to pick out their own book to read, if they are able to do this then it increases their interests and motivation on reading more. I can relate to this because I don’t really read a lot but when I do I’m really into the book. In high school when my teachers would assign books for us to read it would take me a little longer to read them because I wasn’t interested in them.  Another point she made was regretting not reading aloud to her students as often. This made me realize that reading aloud to students can help them take stress off their shoulders and even be interested in the book and want to read it on their own or find a similar book. This can give them an idea if they like it or not and move forward with it to reading more of those types of books or by that author. I also like the idea of bringing up abandon books to your students. I like that Miller is so open with her students that she would talk to them about a book she abandon and would even ask if they wanted to try reading it and see if they like. It lets them read widely and experiment to see what they are interested in for the future.

What I found challenging in these first two chapters is finding books for your students that they will be interested in reading. There are so many options out there and so many kids in your classroom that you will have to get to know and be able to understand them. But while reading this book so far I have learned that it is a good strategy to have little meetings with them about the books they pick out and if they are interested in that then it will be easier to just work around those genres and for the kids who can’t really find what they are interested in then those kids you meet with a little longer. Asking them what they like and are interested in is a good way to start, from what I read in Miller’s book. She does have a lot to say that I know will help in the future.

I’m most excited to be able to connect with the students on what they are reading and being able to see what they have to say about their book. They will all have different interests and being able to see them into something they like and is not being forced is a good feeling. They will be able to learn about themselves from taking the time to read in and outside of the classroom. What I’m most afraid of is not being able to help them out in finding a book they are interested in, I would want them to enjoy their reading time and not think that it’s a waste of time or even think that it’s nap time, because kids can learn alot from just picking up a book.