Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Post #2

I have often considered myself to be an avid reader. The opportunity to transport yourself into different times, situations and even worlds has been a great draw to me at certain times of my life. As a youth, the appeal was especially strong as the dramas common to that age reached a fevered pitch. I remember devouring action, adventure, mystery and especially fantasy books as I sought a reprieve from the day to day grind. I'm sure many individuals thought I was 'nerdy,' but at the time I didn't know it so I didn't care. Overall, I felt myself to be a 'good' reader considering the accelerated reader tests (I'm not sure if they have those any more) proved not to be much of a problem.
As I've matured my taste for literature has changed. I find myself much more enthralled by the authors use of language and symbolism than even the story line. A good example comes from the writings of my favorite author, John Steinbeck. Steinbeck's ability to tell an ordinary story in an extraordinary way is what I most love about his books. I still consider myself to be a 'good' reader even though I don't have the opportunity to be tested as often.
As a future educator I honestly believe everyone has the potential to be a 'good' and avid reader. While not all my future students will have the same desire to read that I did, I feel it apart of my goals and philosophies to encourage the practice of reading. I feel that by giving students access to interesting, gritty and human primary source documents, I will be able to foster the kind of reading necessary for success in the discipline of history. By making the material relevant to the present, and to the student, I feel their desire to know and understand the readings will increase. I plan on spending much of my classroom time devoted to classroom discussion where students will have the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings concerning their readings, thus making the material their own.      

2 comments:

  1. I also love the idea of introducing primary sources in the classroom as much as possible. They are an important aspect of our society and students are not exposed to them nearly enough. They do not understand the drastic effect these items have on their life today and unfortunately that makes them a little ignorant. The more they are exposed to these sources the easier they will be to understand which I think will help make them not seem so daunting.

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  2. The very best teacher I've ever had was a history teacher--my AP European history teacher. One thing I loved about her was that she required us to read fiction, as well as primary source documents and informational texts. We had to read Candide by Voltaire, Bleak House by Dickens, 1984 by Orwell, and others. If you taught a similar course, I think it would be a great idea to give your students opportunities to read the genres that you loved as a youth through giving them options of novels that they could read, yet that still would teach them something about the time that the novel was written. To those of us who prefer fiction to nonfiction, this would be an engaging approach. Steinbeck would be a great author to include in there too. :)

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