Creating Readers

My entire life i’ve been told; read this book, read this many hours, read this genre…I could go on forever about all the reading restrictions i’ve had throughout the years. I was one of the crazy kids who actually enjoyed reading but I know so many people who think they hate reading when in reality they hate being told what to read. There are so many kids out there that don’t realize that they like to read. Reading is about find a book that you enjoy not reading some book someone else wants you to read.

Donalyn Miller’s article simply amazing. I love the way she completely changes the way children have to read in her classroom. She gives them the free will they want to be able to make their own decisions. She doesn’t force anyone to read anything they don’t want and by doing that she is creating kids who actually want to read and enjoy doing it. I truly admire how she took this step and really went into uncharted waters with it.

Yes she makes her students read in their free time but she doesn’t dictate what they read. She wants want to help them stimulate the mind. I also like that she has free time reading, like in between lessons and then she also blocks out a period of time for her to read to the class as well. This gives the students a little bit of time to settle down and relax I feel like.

When I start having a classroom and start my teaching profession I aspire to be like her. I want a classroom where my children enjoy to read and have fun with it. I plan to use her reading during free time idea. Kind of a nice way to keep the kids focused instead of being a distraction. I also am going to implement her idea of blocking out a time to read each day. I will probably use it as a way to wind down at the end of the day though. It’ll be a good way for the student to relax before they go home for the day.