I chose to read Section 1: Not This because I have personally been struggling with being supportive during independent reading time. Being a new teacher, I have been struggling with independent reading time. I was not really taught how to teach during independent reading. I was only really taught how to do guided reading groups. So the new world of independent reading and conferencing is new to me.
The first thing that jumped out at me was this: "they learn that reading is something they can do that empowers them to control their lives, connect with each other, and make the world a better place." I found this important because children need to know that reading is not something that we just do in school that we make them do. Reading is something that can take you to another world, connect with other people, and change the world.
While this is a good philosophy, many times reading turns into something that we push to the side that we don't have time for. We have so many other things in our schedules that we have to do that we can not devote enough time to reading. To me this does not help foster a love for reading. If we can't ever spend more than 20-25 minutes reading, when we are supposed to spend 30-60 minutes on reading, how are students supposed to be able to grow in their reading?
I was encouraged by some of the suggestions to find the time for reading while reading the chapter. I know personally my transitions and lining up can take forever and I lose a lot of possible instruction time with that. I am working on keeping these things short, but sometimes even a timer does not help. But those are 2 areas that I know I will work on to find more time for instruction.
Independent reading is a new concept to many teachers and sometimes it almost seems too simple, too good to be true which is what makes it almost difficult. Making time for anything in our busy schedules is always a challenge which is why Miller encourages us to look at how we are using the time that we do have. Tightening up our procedures is definitely a good start but looking at other instructional choices is important too. If we know that more reading with support is the most beneficial way for students to become successful, is there anything else that can compare? Just by trying to honor this concept and practice it daily, we become better at providing for it and our students will reap benefits from it as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your honesty. It takes a lot of courage to admit something is a struggle, and professional books can be great sources of ideas--and comfort! Knowing the areas you want to improve is the first step, and you've set some great time-consolidating goals for yourself! :-)
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