Everyone is a wild reader

Our class is currently reading “Reading in the Wild” by Donalyn Miller, and let me start off by saying I was instantly hooked from the very first page; the heart touching quotes in regards to reading make each chapter even better. I appreciate the thoughts and personal examples that are continuously incorporated throughout the text. There are a couple of things that have stood out to me; these things include the comparison of kids who read vs. those who don’t, the way a wild reader is categorized, and thoughts on the feelings reading provokes.

The first thing I took away after reading the text was the relation between children who read and their performance in school. I had always known reading was an important part of anyone’s life but I hadn’t stopped to think exactly how important it was. After reading that children who read outperformed children who didn’t, the thought made my stomach turn because I kind of thought to myself “if the solution to reaching success lies in reading, then why aren’t we focusing on providing more reading time to students?” As I continued to read my question got answered. The goal to have students read more isn’t the major goal, the major goal is to spark students’ interest in reading and have them love the concept instead of process. As written in the introduction, “we teach skills that can be measured on multiple-choice tests and secretly hope that our students pick up along the way that reading is a worthwhile endeavor.” I think this is something that is really important to keep in mind because it’s incredibly true, as a future teacher I want my students to understand that reading is something that is worthwhile and not something that is related to academics.

I enjoyed reading about what made a wild reader a “wild reader.” According to our text a wild reader dedicates time to read, self-selects reading material, shares books and readings with others, has reading plans, and shows preference for genres/authors/topics. After reading through each description I figured it was actually easy for anyone to become a wild reader. This part provided me with ideas of what to look for in my future students when observing their reading habits.

In addition, there is a comment that is made that I didn’t necessarily agree with or I might have possibly misinterpreted what was written. It was mentioned that reading should be something that is not seen as “remarkable or rare” rather something that should be seen as part of everyday life. I personally think no matter how much a person reads it should always stay remarkable! I consider myself a reader and find every book I read amazing and life changing. I don’t think a person should ever become comfortable enough to the point where they no longer feel it’s significance, I sure hope to never get to that point.

As a future teacher I look forward to providing my students with a reading environment and emphasizing that they can make time to read, no matter how busy their lives may seem. I think the biggest takeaway for me was realizing I had so much more time to read than I thought. Before this class I considered myself a binge reader because I used my Sunday’s as days to read. I hadn’t thought about taking my book out while walking to class, waiting in line, or simply reading instead of checking my phone. I look forward to having my students understand at a younger age that they don’t have to sit still and read for a certain period a time to be considered readers, they can read a little here and there. I’m excited to see how they’ll progress, as readers and I can’t wait until they find the book that sparks it all.

While the thought of teaching reading does excite me I guess what frightens me is the fact that I can get my students to read in school but not knowing how they’ll be at home. I know we all live different lives and it’s scares me to think not all my students will have the same support or comfort level at home to read. The book mentioned we as teachers can set up the environment at school but if the student doesn’t make time on their own then they aren’t getting the same benefit, because ultimately they have to make time as they grow up. I hope that I can spark interest in students and have them have some sort of passion as I do for reading. It sincerely is something beautiful and that’s all I want them to understand. I want my future students to associate reading with happiness and life rather than have it be tedious and tiresome.