Why a good book is a secret door

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Reading in the Wild and Fifty Shades of Grey

Reading in the Wild and Fifty Shades of Grey

     First off, the realization that a student’s possible love or hate for reading could all depend on me and how I teach/encourage/incorporate reading into my students’ everyday lives is TERRIFYING!!! As for me I am that person who carries at least two books I am currently reading (not related to my classes), one of my all time favorite books, and of course my class-related books with me at all times. I am THAT nerd at work who is made fun of everyday for not being able to put a book down when I am on my breaks. I am THAT nerd who reads in my bedroom while my roommate is playing beer pong in our living room with all of her friends. I am THAT nerd who receives Barnes and Noble giftcards from family members on Christmas and my birthday because they’ll never worry that I won’t love that gift. So I am that wild reader who never realized that is what I was. And what I want with all of my heart is to show kids how books are more than just words on paper. They are beautiful words, put together carefully by wonderful people, they are an escape from the sound of your parents fighting, the pain of a broken heart, the stress of life, and so much more. My hope is that all of my future students are able to find some sort of comfort in the pages of a book.

     I love Miller’s book so far. I love how straightforward she is and I love the knowledge that she is sharing (wow there’s a lot of love in there). What stuck out to me was the part where she was writing about her daughter in her natural element as she seamlessly alternated between writing her Hunger Games fan fiction, referring to her book The Zombie Survival Guide, and recommending a good book to one of her friends. I hate the need for some to label reading as “academic reading” and “non-academic reading”. And I hate the term “guilty pleasure” that we use to describe some of the books we read. I think we can all agree that we learn SOMETHING from every thing we read. Yes, I honestly learned something from Fifty Shades of Grey. This may have to do with the fact that at the time that I read this I didn’t completely understand what sex was so Anastasia and Christian’s relationship was very informative… Anyways after reading chapter one I was brought back to my elementary school days and I remember quite clearly the Accelerated Reading program that we took part in 1st-8th grade. This program infuriated me to no end. I loved reading, but I am naturally a very slow reader. I often like to read books twice to make sure I fully read the book. And then of course after FINALLY finishing my book you have to take a ten question quiz on the book you read. Which at the time as a 1st-6th grader tests on computers seriously stressed me out for some reason. So knowing I had to take the test after reading the book was always scary. While already having to these personal stressors, you are also competing against your fellow classmates who all read and different paces and at all different reading levels. I’m not even going to mention the way they so wrongly classify the books into specific reading levels, which sometimes stops you from reading the books you actually want to read. So I believe the AR program is bull shit and I hope that by the time I’m teaching it has been destroyed. If it hasn’t I will have something better to offer my students.

     Have a great week everyone. P.S. – Alma what’s up(:

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