Thinking Out Loud

One thing I learned from tonight's class (which focused on motivating students to read) is that students get much more out of their reading if they talk and/or write about it. Both is better. Makes sense to me.

Since my go-to talk-it-out person is several states and a time zone away tonight and it's too late to call anyone else, I'm going to share my learning with you, dear blog audience. Questions from several of you have probed my thinking (thank you for asking!); here are three of the major thoughts now rising to the surface. I hope you're getting some learning out of your summer, too, wherever you are. 

Connection: Class to Teaching

Being a student is giving me empathy for my own students. It's not easy!

This grad class is by far the most challenging classroom situation I've encountered in at least eight years, and I don't quite have my land legs yet! My professor is sharp. Wonderful, fun, but really with it. She's pushing me, and it's good. She's human, though. Tonight, she misunderstood a question I asked and then told me I was wrong; I was surprised by the level of emotion that surged up within me. I know I've done that to students of mine (sometimes the level of adrenaline that I've got running during my middle school class makes slowing down and actually listening really hard), but I hadn't realized the depth of frustration it caused. "Did I answer your question?" is an important one to ask. (Good news: I calmed down and thought about it more like an adult once I made that connection.)

Connection: Reading to Life

Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games was my favorite read this week. Since I'm sick of writing annotations, no review from me, other than to say it drew me in to the story in a big way AND gave me tons to think about. Though not the central theme, one tension in the book (futuristic sci-fi) is between the capital city, in which the people live glamorous, push-button lives centered around appearance, comfort, and entertainment, and the twelve surrounding districts, which are ruthlessly kept in poverty and forced to produce commodities for the capital city. Those who live in the city are blind to the cost of their lifestyle. 

At first, I was annoyed by the city characters; then, shamed as I saw myself in them. I live a comfortable life, often with no thought to what goes on below the poverty line to make me able to live as I please. I don't consider my own connection to the tearjerker stories I hear from around the world or across the street. To recognize the cost with integrity would mean to be willing to bear more of it on my own shoulders. Awareness should bring change.

In my Bible studying recently, I've been constantly tripping over verses about the church being the body of Christ. If one part suffers, the whole part suffers. In this book, it was so clear that the "health" of the capital city is an illusion. It is bought at a horrific price, one which costs everyone at the soul level. 

Literature is influential! I know these things already; I've had multiple conversations with friends about these topics just in the past few months. But seeing it played out in a story (powerful things, stories), caring about a character fighting against a terrible disadvantage, well, somehow that poked it furthest into my heart. 

Connection: Research Reading to Teaching (and a pat on the back to myself)

There are a lot of small things I can do to motivate my students to read. And I actually did a few of them this year!

1. Give them choices. (Wildly successful with my middle schoolers - not directly related to reading, but just engaging with the class.)

2. Relate with them. Know them. Make personal connections. (I've been hearing this message everywhere!) One part of this is to recognize, respect, and make room for their preferences.

3. Make sure they get to write and talk about what they're reading.

4. Only reward reading with rewards that are connected to reading itself. Like earning a new book for having read so many pages. Lots of research tells us that disconnected rewards (say, a toy or treat) decrease motivation.