Randi Rovetto: Blog #2

Reading in the Wild: Chapter One

What are your take-away ideas from the Miller text so far? What ideas are resonating? What seems challenging? What are you most excited about in terms of teaching reading? Most afraid of?

Whenever I imagine myself thinking about teaching elementary school, I always struggled imagining ways to creatively motivate children to read…. and to actually enjoy doing it. So far, I feel this book could potentially answer a lot of my questions. I enjoy reading Miller’s experiences and how she develops ideas for her class through her own reading. I never considered reflecting on my own reading practices to help encourage children to create their own. In addition, I like how Miller provides the audience with examples of different reading strategies that have been successful in her own classroom. Sample reading logs and direct quotes from students were a nice bonus.

My favorite part of the book (at this point) is how Miller surveys various adult readers and compares their recreational reading practices to those of her students. How can we use this information to shape the way young minds view reading? How can the opinions of the surveys adults model wild reading?

Lastly, the funniest thing about the reading is how it has forced me to zoom in on my own reading practices. I initially though, “When I am going to find the time to read this book?” Automatically, I began reading during my quick breakfast in the morning, in the middle of switching loads of laundry, and while cooking dinner. Unknowingly, I am a wild reader. Now that I realize this, I hope to dedicate more “wasteful time” reading. I was surprised how much reading I was able to accomplish in five minute increments.