Reading Is Fun!

One of my biggest goals as a teacher is to try to help students genuinely enjoy learning. Reading is the core subject of this goal, because when I was a student I hated reading. I saw reading solely as a task that had to be done, with books that I had no interest in.  I want to provide my students with options for reading materials, in hopes that their opinions will help them find something that they like and will want to continue learning about.

When I thought back about my experiences with learning how to read, a couple people in particular stuck out in my mind. My family played an important role in teaching me how to read. I am the youngest of three girls, so I always wanted to be able to do what my sisters could do, including reading. Both of my sisters read to me and with me often, along with both of my parents. I am fortunate that I had many people close to me helping me along, including my 5th grade teacher. In 5th grade, although I had already been through foundations of reading and knew how to read, my teacher helped bring out the pleasure of reading. After learning how to read, until 5th grade, it was my least favorite thing to do in school. I dreaded everything about reading, due largely to the fact that I had a very hard time comprehending what I read because I was a slow reader and felt that I had to rush to keep up with the rest of the class. My 5th grade teacher put a big emphasis on reading, and right away I had a new outlook. I was started to actually enjoy reading and doing so on my own at home, something that I rarely did before. From my experience, I have learned how important reading is to the foundation of learning and education. I want to find a way to make learning the most enjoyable and beneficial that it can be in the classroom. I want to have different choices of books, all varying genres and levels, so that each student will be able to find something suitable to them. I, like my 5th grade teacher, want to put a big emphasis on reading.

 

Similar to the Jones family, my environment made a big influence on my educational experience. The community I grew up in was large, but supportive and cohesive. A vast majority of parents were frequently at the schools volunteering, visiting for lunch, reading to classes, etc. This encouraging community gave me a healthy and positive outlook on school, especially at a young age when learning to read. I remember more than one of my classes having "Mother's Day Muffins" or "Dad's Donut Day", in which your parent would come and have a snack with you and other classmates families, and afterwards the class would read aloud the the parents in sections. These special occasions made students look forward to reading while incorporating families in the school, creating a motivating atmosphere. These are some things that I would like to bring into my own classroom in the future, as I remember only good experiences with them.

Did your schools have similar "Mother/Father Reading Days"?

What other ways can a community promote fun reading?