D&Z Chapter 12: Recommendations from Reading Research (What I Truly Believe In)

The final chapter of “Subjects Matter” is dedicated to “point out some of the key studies and reports that are giving an ever clearer picture of “what works” in enhancing students’ comprehension of the nonfiction text genres that comprise our subject fields” (p. 281). There are many conclusions listed and described within this chapter that I find to be important, but there were a particular few that I really believed whole-heartedly. 

In the section entitled, “What students read” I particularly enjoyed and believed in number 2 on the list which explains that “ students should read for the same purposes as literate adults, for both information and pleasure. A sense of personal purpose is key to their reading success”. When I read this line I screamed “yes!” out loud. In all the years I have loved and enjoyed reading, I have always found that the only reading that motivates and inspires me is reading that I personally feel has a certain purpose. I typically have always hated reading history textbooks, articles, etc. because I have never really felt a personal connection with the text. I never could understand the purpose of reading those texts. Of course, now that I am studying to be a teacher, I appreciate the subject of history for our students, but I still do not have that personal attachment to historical texts. Thus, I really believe in what “Subjects Matter” is stating here. 

Within this same section, there is also a list provided from research that identifies the larger motivations students may have for reading. I personally also whole-heartedly believe in this list because I can relate to so many of its components. For example, one of which I connect with is listed as “ social interactions with others about their reading”. I typically love reading books that I can talk to others about. This may be due to my fascination with literature, but I have always enjoyed debating about characters and over-arching themes in different books. Another component on this list that I agreed with was listed as “ a sense of efficacy, of confidence about their reading abilities”. I never actually thought about this, but I always loved the feeling of reading a book and knowing that not only could I read it, but I could read it well and enjoy it. I honestly loved the feeling of carrying around a particularly large book with 600+ pages I was reading because I always felt like people would look at it and just think “wow, that’s a lot of pages!” While this is embarrassing to admit, I think it is something that really does motivate people to read and challenge their reading. 

In the section entitle “What students read” I also particularly enjoyed and believed in number 5 on the list which explains that “Teenagers need genuine choice of reading materials: much of what they read should be self-selected, based on interest and curiosity” (p. 298). From experience I know this statement to be true for most if not all students. I remember in 7th and 8th grade my English teacher would allow students to pick their own self-selected reading books and would make time for us to journal about what we read. This was always my favorite part of that class. Too often is it now that schools just assign textbooks and reading books to students that are only good for meeting the curriculum. Students are not often allowed to choose what they read and, thus, they typically have issues finding purpose within the work, therefore leading to a decrease in motivation. I have always believed it to be important for students to read books that they choose. Through this act of deciding students begin to discover their own interests and become more likely to relate positive feelings with the act of reading. 

I also found this item on the list interesting because it mentions that teachers often worry that students will choose to read things like “trashy novels and fashion magazines”. The book then continues to say that students tend to actually choose better texts than we think. I believe that list provided in the textbook on page 298 did not do the topic justice. The first book on the list was the third book of the “50 Shades of Grey” trilogy which, to be honest, is not appropriate for students to read in school due to its widely-known sexual content. I was surprised by the book titles on the list, and I didn’t think that the authors should have included those titles to back up their information. This being said, I still believe that students tend to pick meaningful and adventurous books. I am a huge fan of YA literature, and I have a huge library of such books. My favorites are: “The Catcher in the Rye”, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, “Looking for Alaska”, “The Fault in Our Stars”, and “The Book Thief”. I think that there is so much in YA literature that may even be more valuable than reading the classics. This may be shocking to hear from and English major who thoroughly enjoys the classics, but I truly believe that YA literature identifies common issues and themes that students (and even adults) typically have to go through in their lives. Many YA books are written beautifully with multiple layers of important insight and wisdom. The classics are beautifully crafted and are filled with history and skillful writing, but I oftentimes wonder what is more important: the crafting and history of a book that no longer applies to students’ lives anymore, or the crafting and relevance of a book that addresses the most common issues that people go through in their lives. It is a hard call. Especially for an English major. Still, because of my firm belief, I too believe it is important for students to choose what they read about. Oftentimes it is something they can relate to or something they are interested in learning more about. Why take that away from them? 

 Overall, I have learned so much from reading this book. Though it was quite a bit of reading, the content was very inspirational and eye-opening at times. I’ve gained new strategies for teaching and new outlooks on what kind of teacher I want to be. I have also learned a lot about what it means to be a good teacher. The book is definitely worth the read. 

D&Z Chapters 10 and 11: Inquiry, Struggling Readers, and Video Game Aggravation

Before reading this text I never really knew exactly what was meant by “inquiry” learning. After reading I am happy to say that I learned a lot. I agree with a lot that the text talks about when dealing with inquiry projects. One of the main goals of this type of learning is “ making kids active researchers instead of passive listeners”. I think that this is a common issue that is often not noticed in classrooms. Students oftentimes look like they are listening to lectures (and some of them actually are), but what is the point of learning through listening? Students do not gain many skills from simply hearing a lesson. They will always become better learners through actually participating in the learning and finding things out on their own. If we tell them everything then what is it exactly that they are doing? I think teachers too often give students the answers instead of making them figure it out for themselves. In order for students to engage with the material more and get something useful out of the content, they need to be given a certain amount of responsibility that forces them to work on their own skills.

Another section I responded well to was the section that instructs the reader on the steps in an inquiry project (immerse, investigate, coalesce, and go public). I found it very interesting how I am currently doing the same exact thing with the same exact steps for my SED445 class currently. I am working on an I-search project where I got to choose a topic I was interested in after searching through multiple topics, investigate the topic through research, coalesce around my topic, digging into it with primary sources and performing interviews, and then going public with my information by making a presentation for it on Wednesday. In that class we have to present the “golden nugget” of our research. In other words, we have to present one key idea or key piece of knowledge that we learned from our project and teach it to the class to spread awareness.  I find it so interesting how often things like this project have a formula that teachers can refer to. I oftentimes see this text as a scientific book with a plethora of teaching formulas to try. I think this is one of the most useful and priceless things I have found in this book. There are instructions and descriptions of so many things that are good for the future. 

When I was reading the thorough example that detailed the steps in an inquiry project, I had a little trouble with the “Go Public” section of the example where the students perform a puppet show of what they have learned for the parents. Though I agree that this is an interesting way to assess students and present what they have learned, I also know first hand that it is not always the best way to assess students. My boyfriend had to write and perform a puppet show in 11th grade where he was instructed to reenact a scene from a book. He refused to do the project because he thought that it was too childish for high school and, thus, he thought it was stupid. When he told his parents about the project they said “THAT’S what you’re doing in HIGH SCHOOL?” I must admit that I too find it kind of childish for students of this age. A puppet show may be something that is useful in primary school and maybe middle school, but I don’t think that it is appropriate for high school. I think students should be challenged to present their information in creative ways, but I don’t think that they should be subjected to such childish tasks. To continue the story, my boyfriend ended up writing a paper about the scene and its significance to the story, but the teacher was forced to give him a zero by the department head because it was not what the teacher asked for. I think this says a lot about how we assess students and how we constantly are forced to grade them by the rubric or by specific criteria. I think, at least in this case, the teacher should have allowed some form of choice to be allotted to students who might have wanted to present their information a different way. This was just something that stuck out to me in the text. 

I think one of the best lines of advice in this chapter is one of the shortest: “Don’t start too big!” I completely agree with this statement. We oftentimes are too busy trying to meet so many standards in our projects that they tend to become very large and arduous. We have to remember that our students do have lives outside of school. Too much work only discourages our students and stresses them out, and stress leads to an unhealthy work environment. Thus, by giving them more work, you will oftentimes see less motivation and learning. 

There were a few things in Chapter 11 that also stood out for me when I was reading. I think it is important that the text states that reading is not just something for English teachers to address. It should also be something that is covered by teachers of all content. What is the point of having students read content material if they cannot understanding it? Teachers need to be mindful that with their content also comes new types of materials: lab reports (science), mathematical word problem sheets (math), press conferences and newspapers (history), beauty and health magazines (health), manuals (computers), and so on. There are so many different forms of material that students need to be familiarized with, and it is the teacher’s job to introduce them to the form of material and help them through it. If we don’t then we are not being the best teachers we can be and we are leaving our students to fend for themselves. 

I think my favorite part of this section was the part about “Creating Supportive Relationships”. The book made a statement that I really could relate to very well. It stated “people who have repeatedly failed at something usually cope by focusing their lives elsewhere to avoid still more failure”. I think that this statement couldn’t be anymore true. When I read this I automatically related it to a video game that me and my friends play. Because I have been playing for so many years, I have become much better at it than others who have joined before. While this is true, I always am the loser out of our friend group. I find myself playing one-on-one matches with my boyfriend all of the time (who is an extremely skilled and competitive player and has been to many tournaments) and he constantly beats me. Though I put up a fight, he oftentimes beats me with 2 out of 4 lives still (which is embarrassing). I usually can play 3 or 4 games with him until I become agitated and disheartened and quit all together to go watch a movie. It has gotten to the point where I almost avoid playing him because I always lose. This reactions reminds me a lot of students. When students continuously fail and struggle with something they become disheartened or aggravated and quit all together. This is typically one of the major reasons why students drop out of high school. They feel like the work is too hard and are disheartened by their failure. Thus they avoid the embarrassment and anger and decide to just leave school all together. In order to help with this issue I think students need to be constantly aware of their strengths. Students need to feel like they are good at something and need to feel like they have the capacity to improve. If not, then they are most likely to give up. While we want to address students’ weaknesses, we need to remember to compliment what they do right and praise them for what they can do rather than berate them for what they can’t. 

Above are pictures that I took from 3 of the probably thousands of times we have played the game together. 

Overall, once again, I found the text to evoke many questions and opinions that I had.