Miller’s text (Kerstin Bree)
From what I remember as a kid, I really enjoyed being read to. It was fun to sit around in a circle and have your teacher read to you about the exciting tales of Junie B. Jones books. That is something that I hope to bring to my students. I am most excited to see the types of genres that different children are going to pick and to hopefully see the excitement that they get from reading. What I am afraid of though is when I will have to deal with the students that do not like to read. I am afraid of messing up and ruining their reading spirit because I remember at times that is what happened to me. That is why I really enjoyed reading about how Miller confronted students that were fake reading. I felt like it was an appropriate way to handle a situation so that they understand they still have to read but at the same time is not punishing them from doing it. I also really enjoyed reading about her chart where she had the children write down which page they were on and what was happening in the book. This was a great tool in seeing how much children are reading but once again not shaming them. I also just like how she gets her students to read for thirty minutes and no matter what makes sure that she has that time in her schedule. This is something that even I am considering doing but it really does seem challenging with everything else that needs to be taught. The biggest challenge seems to not only be finding the time to include reading in the everyday schedule but to also help out the students that are being fake readers. Overall I am really hoping that through reading Miller’s text, some of these challenges will not seem as challenging.
One Reply to “Miller’s text (Kerstin Bree)”
Kerstin! It is great to hear that you have always been so enthusiastic about reading; this will be a great asset for a future teacher such as yourself to instill that enthusiasm within your students. I understand what you mean by being scared to turn students off from reading though. I was one of those students who did not enjoy reading that much in elementary school, however, it seemed that my teachers student to a very strict regiment of how reading should be taught. I think that if you try to run your classroom as it is described in Reading in the Wild there is no way your students won’t love to read! She has so many great tips, many of them you have mentioned in this post, and I think that we will both gain a lot from her insight as future teachers. I have also really been enjoying reading was she has to say and I completely agree with you: her text will make some of these challenges, less challenging.