While reading these chapters, I was reminded that it is very
important for teachers of all grades to reinforce quality reading; that is,
teachers should continually seek to improve students’ ability to read rather
than just assume students have adequate skills. I also think it is important
for teachers to gauge where the class is and provide a variety of different
options. By this, I mean that when I was in school, I remember having to do the
“divide the paper in half and write quotes on one side and notes on the other” technique.
At the time, I was already a pretty great reader, so I found such activities
tedious and boring (not to mention a waste of half a sheet of paper); however,
an activity that was better suited to my ability might have allowed me to
develop my skills further (such as one focused more on making claims rather
than just adding commentary). Therefore, I think it is necessary for teachers
to not just use the one-size-fits-all technique in things such as this, but
rather to offer several methods to students.
I will
say that Tovani has some pretty decent ideas about getting students more
motivated to read. I found her discussion about inner voices particularly
engaging because it seems to me that a great deal of wasted reading could be
attributed to the “distracting voice,” as she calls it. I know that when I am
reading a particularly uninteresting piece of material, my mind tends to wander
off, and I know that’s when I tend to lose the gist of what I’ve read. I also
know that if I absolutely have to get through the material, I have to focus
more instead of thinking of other things, so I am able to see where Tovani has
a valid point in saying that students need to eliminate that “distracting voice”
when they read in order to be good readers.
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