‘’You Gotta Be the Book by Jeffery D. Wilhelm

I’ve only read the introduction and the first two chapters of our book club book, but I already feel it will be instrumental in my teaching of post-secondary reading. Wilhelm shows his passion for teaching by expressing his sense of urgency to reach every student. He talks about having experiences with the books he has read and he wants to expose his students’ to the same kind of engaged and reflective reading that he enjoys. The author reveals a fantasy he has of letting everyone in on the secret of reading and it resulting in an America of readers.

This book has been a real page turner for me. Last week I was wishing I didn’t have homework for other classes because I felt as if I would have read the whole thing over the weekend. I guess what is most appealing for me about the book so far is its practicality. As I was reading and annotating this book I felt compelled to write a list of important teaching take-aways in some blank space I found within the book. This is what I wrote:

* To be a good teachers of reading, we must read.

* Modeling is a primary mode of teaching.

* We need to listen to each other. Teachers listening to teachers.

* Use the social contract and students will love you J

* Try new things in the classroom. Don’t be the teacher who teaches one year thirty times. Teach 30 years.

* Use texts that are approachable for students. Something that relates to their experiences.

  The Social Contract (Smith & Wilhelm 2002).

·         My teacher will try to get to know me as an individual.

·         My teacher will care about me.

·         My teacher will address my interests in some way (either outside or inside the classroom).

·         My teacher will assist me to learn and will work hard to make sure I have learned.

·         My teacher will be passionate about the subject and about teaching.

All of this came just from the introduction. I was thinking, I am so glad I picked this book and imagined myself keeping it on a shelf in my teacher’s office to consult throughout my career. Wilhelm discusses Rosenblatt’s argument that there are two types of reading the efferent and aesthetic. From what I understood the efferent stance of reading is when the reader reads for answers and the aesthetic stance of reading is when the readers lives through the reading and has an experience. This got our book club talking about the differences of reading for pleasure vs. reading for academia and we agreed that there was a disconnect between the two. We brainstormed in our session thinking about ways we as teachers can bring the aesthetic stance of reading into our classrooms for our students. A couple of the possibilities that came up were through a book club like the one we are in or through designing a unit around a novel.  Wilhelm goes on in chapter two to take more of a case study approach where he looks at successful student readers to try to discover what makes them passionate about reading. I look forward to reading the rest of this book and future discussions with my club.

Schooled Literacy

I found the article Learning "schooled literacy": The literate life histories of mainstream student readers and writers by Rick Evans very interesting and beneficial, but probably not for the purpose of the author. I was a little confused by the conclusion of the article. Was Evans in his conclusion saying that the system is working the way it is? If so, I do not agree. Sure these students are having success in academia, but at what cost? In the case of Kelly she lost her desire to read. Other examples showed that students detested academic reading and writing because they felt like it was forced.

This article confirmed my beliefs that as reading and writing instructors it is important to incorporate expressive writing and group discussions into our lesson plans. I also feel we should give students a choice of what they want to read because it could foster intrinsic motivation within our students. Feedback also seemed to play an important role in students attitudes towards reading and writing. When they received positive feedback from their friends and peers they were more willing to share their work. This shows the importance of community building and creating a safe environment for our students to share their ideas in class. I want to find ways to incorporate leisure "popcorn-trash" reading into my lesson plans so students are less anxious about the reading and writing they have to do in school. I have to admit that I also feel at times the reading and writing I do in school feels like a task, but the majority of the time I  like school work because I approach it with the attitude of enjoying the process and learning from it.

Most provocative passage for me: "Most students remembered being read to by their mothers, grandmothers, or sometimes even by their big sisters (rarely by their fathers); and, in turn, when they could, reading to them." What are the fathers doing? I can remember my Dad telling me when I was a kid that he would take me to the movie Star Wars after I read the book. I remember hating having to read the book before getting to see the movie at the time, but then being really happy I did. Now as an adult I enjoy reading the novel before seeing the film. This passage also shows me the importance of parents reading to and with their children when they are young because it instills in them a love for reading at an early age that with many of the students in this article has stuck with them into adulthood.

Chapter 2: The Reading Apprenticeship Framework

It was refreshing to read how an 8th grade science teacher instills the importance of reading to her class. I think if more teachers across the disciplines did this type of  thing they would greatly help their students not only transition into academia, but also foster them in reading fluently.

This chapter shows how students may not realize how complex the reading process is and that we as teachers can be mentors to our students. We can and should share with them the knowledge we have gained as well as the strategies we have used to be academically successful.

Take aways:

- Reading is problem solving and there are many ways the reader connects to the topic they are reading (e.g., their own ideas, memories, background knowledge, etc).
- It is important for me as a teacher to be aware of my reading process so I can give insight to my students.
- Fluency for developing readers comes from frequently reading accessible texts and rereading more difficult less accessible texts.
- It is important to expose our students to a wide variety of texts from different genres.
- Not all students that struggle with reading struggle with all types of texts. (e.g., I may be fluent in reading Japanese literature, but have difficulty reading science journals).
- Community building and creating a safe environment in the classroom is important in helping developmental readers.
- Extensive reading may enable students to expand their knowledge.
- Using books that appeal to students may foster them in becoming intrinsically motivated and could be contagious in the classroom.
- Students benefit from authentic discussions and group work on readings in class.