How do elementary teachers do it? I have so much respect for my sister (who teaches first grade) and her ability to teach reading. What a responsibility! As I read the chapter and the authors' discussion of all the various parts of reading, I realized I know how to do those things, but I don't know if I could teach a child how to do it. Which is something else I'm worried about. Most of you know that my wife and I just had a baby. I am already reading to him at night, but what happens when I have to start teaching him to read? I am already intimidated by all that successful reading encompasses.
Another item that jumped out at me during the reading was all the various programs handed down by the federal government. The federal government! "You want money? You will use this program." And there are so many. I'm loving high school more and more.
Speaking of high school, we take it for granted that these kids know how to read. But what about the supposed 1 in 5 that the book references that are struggling readers? We can't have them read a section from their history book and expect them to be ready for class. They probably hate reading and won't complete the assignment. On top of that now they're not ready for class. What do I do? I like the metaphor about the bike riders. If I have a student who can't steer straight with training wheels, how do I ask him to not only ride, but do tricks and jumps?
A final question I have refers to the section about how kids read online more than from print. I want my son to read, and I want him to enjoy reading. But when do I let him decide what he wants to read? We have tons of books in our house. We subscribe to several magazines. We have Internet access. How do I know when to allow him to read what he wants in order to keep him reading?
I know the intent was for us to think about our students when we read this chapter, but you can understand how a proud papa is focused on his little boy.
