- Often, teachers forget that their
avid readers in class also have some bad habits.
And, um,
I learned--
I began thinking about these
by examining my own behaviors, as a reader.
One of which, is reading too fast.
So, bringing the same reading speed,
that I'd take to a thriller or a mystery,
and use that in a book that really requires slowing down.
Tom Newkirk's book, by the way, is brilliant,
on this idea of sometimes a tortoise, sometimes a hare.
We want students to be: good, able, fluent readers,
who can skim and scan when necessary.
But, other books, books of poetry,
for example, require a different pacing,
a different kind of thoughtfulness.
Other bad habits that good readers have,
often, they're so confident,
that they make snap decisions about books.
And then, they're--because everybody in the class
knows they're good readers, A-student,
when they declare that a book is boring,
that makes it harder for the teacher, for everybody else.
'Cause, 'cause people follow that student.
A third thing that, that bad habit
of good readers is they can get stuck
for a very long time in a genre.
And, whether it's science-fiction, or fantasy,
and I approve on one level, I think we should
follow your passion, follow your interest,
but, as a teacher I want to just keep challenging that book.
You know, Teri Lesesne's ideas of reading ladders,
where, there're more sophisticated books here,
and I want you to grow as, grow as a reader.