It is sad to say that many
students in all grade levels are losing their love for reading. Maybe they never developed a true love for it
or maybe the flame is slowing burning out.
Either way, as educators, we have to find a way to re-ignite this love,
but in order to do that we have to look at what might be causing the
disinterest in the first place.
Key Players
Increased
testing = Less Time for Instruction
Let’s face it testing puts pressure on everyone in the
school community. This pressure makes it
more difficult for teachers to allow for more creative, project-based literacy
lessons. When students don’t get these
authentic experiences with literacy they begin to form an apathetic attitude
towards it because they don’t feel connected to it. By primarily only preparing
students for standardized testing we are doing students a disservice. They
learn only to memorize information for tests and then they do not retain the
content. Students need literacy to be
brought back to life for them in order to become lifelong readers and
writers. Providing reading and writing
activities that students can connect with will develop into experiences that they
will actually remember and take away with them.
Student’s
Past Experience with Literacy
Have you ever been in a situation that just made you feel
really exposed, insecure, or doubtful of yourself? Maybe you have tried out a new sport or
activity that you really failed at and decided to yourself that you would never
put yourself through it again. Many
students that have had horrible past experiences with literacy feel this same
anxiety and distaste. Try to reach out
to students to find out what they have tried out in the past, what did they
enjoy and what did they find too difficult?
Also it is important to keep in contact with past teachers and even just
briefly discuss the student’s strengths and weaknesses, and strategies that
they observed work with that particular student.
Teachers
Who Have Lost the Love for Literacy
Students look up to us teachers to model what a
good reader and writer should look like.
We need to maintain a positive attitude towards literacy, even if the
state standards and programs are frequently changing. We can’t let our stress over these alterations
spread to the students. They are highly
impressionable and look to their teachers for guidance and inspiration. If we are voicing our negatives opinions
about what we do not like happening with reading and writing, they may quickly
rub off onto our students. Students
should be seeing their teacher reading for pleasure, keeping a journal, reading
to the class, beginning writing pieces, finding current events, etc. If doing this seems like a chore to you, then
maybe it would be best to re-spark the love of literacy for yourself as well. Has something tainted the subject for you
perhaps? Let’s work on being our
students’ core inspiration and not part of the problem.
Overstimulation
Just like the saying, too much of anything is bad
for us; this applies to technology as well.
Our world is becoming more and more digital every day. Some students are
entering our classrooms with more knowledge about electronics than the
teacher. The problem is… it seems as
though technology can be over
stimulating for students. This makes it
so that they can’t sit and focus on reading or writing for very long before
they become bored, and need help to concentrate back to the task at hand. Many are so used to the fast paced nature of
video games, animated movies, and even cell phones. They have learned to expect instant results
and gratification, and when they don’t receive it they tend to give up on the objective. We need to teach them to slow back down, and
push them towards deeper thinking during literacy instruction. We can teach students strategies to use
technology in effective ways in order to prepare them for the digital world
they will be living and working in.
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