Affective Dimensions of Reading

Being a senior means that I’ve now been asked the “What’s your major?” question approximately 5,720 times; and, of the many responses I’ve had to my reply of “English Teaching,” a few have been most memorable: 1) (said in complete seriousness) “Oh, well, I don’t talk to English majors, because I know you’re all just judging my grammar and not really listening to what I’m saying.” 2) “Oh. I hated my high school English teacher. I blew up her dog.” and 3) “Oh. You must be a really fast reader.”

As one might imagine, I didn’t… er… really know how to respond to any of these; and while extending the discussions about the first two might make for an interesting blog post, it’s the general assumption alluded to in statement #3 that is a good lead-in to my discussion on the affective dimensions of reading.

Assumption being: that to enjoy/love reading, one must be able to mentally intake and process written texts at ridiculously high speeds.

This, to me, is one of the top 5 (if not top, er, 2…) reasons why so many of my friends and family members tell me how much they either “hate” or are “just not good” at reading and/or writing and, therefore, don’t engage in either. And the worst part about it is that, I think, schools are more often than not where this horrible belief is first encouraged.

See, if reading and processing information quickly is the mark of a good reader, I am not one. While my teachers always knew that I could read things at blazing speeds out loud, the fact that I was actually understanding none of the words flying out of my mouth was never really recognized. And while my lack of reading comprehension skills for some reason, never really affected me in high school (a good topic of another possible blog post…), it was in college that I finally realized that I wasn’t a genuinely fast reader and, consequently, when I began to full-out loathe reading for the first time in my life.

What taught me that I couldn’t “read well” was what I think teaches most people who feel this way about themselves: that I was assigned to read TONS; and, quite often, those assignments felt completely “pointless.” These three reasons (the words in the bold) are what I think teachers must properly address in order for our students to come away from their high school experience with a love for reading.

Some ways I might address these three problems:

1)      ASSIGNED

a.       Give my students options as much as possible! Not only allowing them to choose from, say, 3 young adult lit. books, but to sometimes decide whether they’d like to “read” a short story, poem or even a painting can teach students that being able to comprehend and enjoy Julius Caesar is NOT what indicates whether someone can enjoy and gain great benefits from reading.

b.      Give my students a say in what types of materials are assigned. Since units themes can generally be taught using many different texts, giving students a genuine say in what they will read will encourage them to think about texts they could enjoy reading and then, I think, feel more motivated to try to actually find enjoyment in them as they read.

2)      TONS

a.       This one sounds pretty simple: Don’t assign a ton of reading—either in OR out of class. Actually doing it, though, might be difficult, considering that things like AP tests often require that our students need to understand lots of material. Right now, I don’t really have a solution for this one… Only that a solution needs to be thought of. Great answer, huh? J

3)      POINTLESS

a.        While some might disagree with me, I think it is both important and possible for EVERY text being read in class to have some relevance to students’ lives and/or incentive for understanding it other than just getting a good grade. The trick, I think, won’t necessarily be finding stuff that is relevant, but effectively showing (and convincing?) students how the texts we teach are meaningful for them. How this should be done will, of course, depend greatly upon what the texts are, who the students are, and the teacher’s own personality and interests. Being willing to put in the extra effort to try and make these connections is necessary for this to happen.

As always, improving our students’ attitudes toward our subjects requires two sometimes-hateful words: MORE WORK. Being willing to put in the work is, though, what creates teachers capable of making a lasting impact for good upon students. Hopefully by addressing these big 3 issues in my English classroom, I can not only avoid having any of my pets blown up : / , but get to run into a few of my students years down the road and have them tell me how much they still love to read. 

Aly's Absurdly Excessive Tech Usage / Cool Ways to Incorporate Technology in the Classroom

After a week of tracking my technology use, I realized that my use of technology is ridiculously more excessive than what I’d expected it to be. The following are some of the data I ended up with:

-I usually checked my email 6 or 7 times a day, not counting the times I’d just left my Gmail up.

-I used my Ipod everyday—usually for around 30 minutes—and usually when running, washing the dishes or walking to early morning classes. I usually listened to one of several podcasts I subscribe to.  

-TV was the one area I didn’t feel embarrassed about my excessive use in. I only watched one movie in the week (“Slumdog Millionaire”—what a great movie…).

-I use my cell phone almost all day long, and receive between 25 and 40 texts daily [mostly from my mom or dad... lame, I know :)].

-In looking at my history on my computer, I had lots of various websites I looked at frequently: Facebook, FoxNews, a church website, several electronic databases on the USU library website (Early American Imprints), various blogs (including UtahBrideBlog, which I’m semi-addicted to), a wiki created to share ideas about teaching various Young Adult Literature titles,  YouTube videos, Pandora, Google Spreadsheets to track my running, Google Docs to help my dad edit a Kindle book he’s submitting, Blackboard and Canvas, Thesaurus.com, Google Maps, pumpkin carving ideas, Skype, Sparknotes (…), recipe sites, Wunderground, Wells Fargo, Wikipedia, and various others.

A week of recognizing both how much technology is part of my day-to-day life and yet how little I really know about what great, educational stuff is out there definitely increased my motivation to use and teach technology in my future classroom. I think an English classroom is an ideal setting for incorporating cool technology into the classroom. Here are some random ideas I found or thought-up:

-Have my students use Prezi (especially if they are already very familiar with PowerPoint, which is likely) to create unit presentations

-Have students use Audacity to create podcasts in which they discuss impressions of a class service project they participated in

-Create a WebQuest for students to go through when being introduced to a new unit topic—for instance, if a Shakespeare play is about to be taught, create one which has students complete several tasks that require them to do background research on various relevant topics

-Have students use Wikispaces to write their own “create your own adventure” stories (like this one… so cool! https://thecavesofmull.wikispaces.com/)

- Use Wimba (which is sort of an “educational Skype”) teaching students who aren’t all able to be in the classroom at the same time. Students have the option to type, speak or make video responses to the teacher, and the teacher can present slideshows while lecturing… very cool

-Have students use Pinterest to create visual journals of quotes, images, artwork, and videos, or to collaborate with one another on group projects

-Have students use Facebook to check out the pages of potential presidential candidates and critically analyze what kinds of photos, status updates and events they choose to include and why

-Encourage students to use GoogleDocs when doing group research papers

Side note: As I was thinking about technology use this week, I found a really interesting podcast called "The Social Hour" that basically has weekly (I think…), hour-or-so-long discussions about new kinds of social technology coming out, current debates being had over different kinds of social media, etc. Thought perhaps it would be a good podcast to listen to every once in a while in order to keep up on new, awesome social media that could be incorporated into my classroom. 

Affective Dimensions of Writing

The first writing experience I really remember was in 2^nd grade when, for an assignment, we were asked to write a short fictional story that we would then have to read in front of the class. Mine ended up being about a small alien that ended up stealing my mom’s Paul Mitchell hairspray to refuel his space ship with. As horrible of a storyline as that sounds, my classmates ate it up. I still clearly remember the satisfaction I’d experience each time I read an intentionally humorous passage and, in response, hear my peers' appreciative laughter. No New York Times bestselling author has felt more beloved or admired than I did during that reading. I so thoroughly enjoyed this experience, and the praise I received afterward from fellow classmates, that I not only somehow convinced my teacher to let me give another reading of a story I decided to write later that week (an equally engrossing tale in which my classmates and I built a time machine, boarded the Titanic and bribed the captain to not drive so fast with a Milky Way bar—thus saving thousands of lives), but then changed my “What do you want to be when you grow up?” response from “marine biologist for dolphins” to “writer." 

While my 2nd grade aspirations of writing best-selling fictional novels faded almost as quickly as they had started-up, my identity as a writer has continued to develop. My days are almost always packed with writing: from text messages, emails, and Facebook posts to analytical essays and lesson plans for my classes to personal journal entries. I love being a writer--not because I am particularly "good" at it, but as was mentioned in class the other day, that writing allows us to do many things: "to remember, to express, to organize, to communicate and to connect." For these reasons, I am definitely looking forward to teaching my students about writing. 

While my 2nd grade experience with writing was positive, I've definitely experienced a few bad experiences with writing in school since then. And while many factors have contributed to this, the two that stand out the most two me are 1) lack of direction and 2) lack of applicability. Some of the worst experiences I've ever had with writing occurred because the paper requirements and/or rubric weren't detailed or clear enough. Not only do the instructions, rubric and teacher expectations all need to match, but be presented in a way that students clearly understand what is being asked and how to go about it. On the other hand, having to write papers on topics that I felt absolutely no connection to (i.e. a 12th-grade research paper about Type I Diabetes) made writing, in those moments, a mind-numbingly dull and tedious chore that I would dread, procrastinate, finally toss out the night before it was due, and then never want to look at again. As a teacher, I (among other things) want to be sure to always give my students clear explanations of what will be expected from their writing and never force them to write on topics that don't have some relevance to their lives.

Growing Up with Reading

Growing up, books were part of the big moments as well as the everyday.

 It was from my frequent contact with books that I gained the love for words that led me to where I am as a student in the English Teaching program here at USU. Here are some of the lessons I learned about reading from my experiences with books (Warning: I was feelin sappy-ish when I wrote these…)

1)      That reading can form/strengthen relationships. 

One of my favorite things as a little girl was sitting on one of my Grandma’s lap (BOTH read to me often...) while she would read me a story. I still remember my favorites: one about the famous "little engine that could," and another about an old Russian babushka whose kindness earned her an enchanted goose that could lay brilliantly-colored eggs. These stories connected me not only to the fascinating characters in the books, but to my grandmothers, to whom I’ll always attribute at least part of my love of learning to. There’s nothing quite like reading and appreciating literature with someone you care about.

Image from the book Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco

2)      That reading shouldn't be taken for granted.

When I was about 12, it just so happened that the latest Harry Potter book came out the day before our family’s yearly backpacking trip. The hike required to get to our camping spot was no cakewalk, so only the absolute necessities could be brought along—which, of course, meant that a 10 pound Harry Potter book didn’t qualify. While I stayed up late into the night trying to devour as much of it as I could before our trip, I only made it halfway (I was having to take turns with my mom and sister, too!), and left on our trip the next morning thinking that I’d just half to finish it in a few days. It was later the next day, after a long hike around the Lake, that the most memorable part of the trip occurred, when my dad handed me a photo-copy he’d made of the chapter I’d left off on. He’d snuck it into his pack! Suddenly given something to read in a world with no books was like being given a giant, cold Diet Pepsi in the middle of a desert or something (bad analogy…), and as I savored those written words, I think I gained a slightly better idea of how precious and thoroughly awesome reading can and should be.

A shot of our annual backpacking destination (near Ten Sleep, WY)

3)      That everyday reading makes life rich. 

Many of my memories of the everyday while growing up involve reading of some kind: my mom, in the blue armchair, relaxing with yet another book she was able to find which, strangely, always seemed to have small-town preachers as their protagonists; my dad at the dinner table excitedly relating some shocking fact he’d learned from the latest biographical audiobook he’d listened to on anyone from Dean Karnazes to the Kennedy’s; my  half-awake little sister, still in her Dora pajamas, slowly sounding-out each letter in the Bible verse when it came her turn to read during morning “Scriptures”…

An OLD picture of the fam! Including both sets of my grandparents (all of whom were teachers). I'm the nerd in the red.

While I had the opportunity to grow up with reading, I recognize that many of my students will not have. Knowing this, I guess, has been another motivation to become an English teacher. There are several things I plan to do as I try to help my students gain a greater love for reading. Some of these are:

1)      Choose books, poems and other written materials that A) have content relevant and intriguing to students, B) are written at a level which will challenge (yet not discourage) them as readers, and C) I am passionate about. 

2)      Frequently give my students opportunities to make personal connections with the class readings, by doing things like journal writing, small-group discussions about content as well as personal reactions to the readings, etc.

3)      Make improving some aspect of my students’ reading skills a daily goal in my instruction, teaching methods such as how to take good notes, ask as well as find the answers to questions, and make connections and predictions while reading.

Looking back, I know that my frequent contact with reading while growing up has had a big impact on me. Hopefully, my teaching will help my students gain a greater love for reading, too.