Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Choice

Reading has always been difficult for me in a school setting.  It doesn't mean that I can't read well or that I don't understand what is being said.  It has more to do with the fact that most every time I have had to read something in school, I didn't enjoy it.  Being forced to read something is not my cup of tea.  I'd read however much my teacher wanted me to read as long as I got to choose the book.  I don't like that most teachers tell you that you have to read this certain book and usually we have to write up a reflection at the end stating what we liked about the book.  My response frequently consisted of not liking the book at all.  I would have had better experiences with reading in school if I was given the choice of what to read.  I like to read, but on my time and my genre.  I hope to give my future students the choice to read whatever they would like from my discipline.  It could be hard to make the students interested enough to want to read a book about math, but then again, if the student is choosing the book to read, it could change the students perception of both reading and math in general.

3 comments:

  1. Yeah, I had an English teacher who let us pick our own books. It made all the difference when I was reading the book. We had to still write a report on the book, but I enjoyed reading the book a lot more than those books that the teachers forced us to read. Now, to find some cool math books...

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  2. Thanks for your posting--choice is such an important aspect of motivation.

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  3. I definitely agree. I loved reading when I was younger, but when I got into high school and I had to read specific books, I hated reading them. It's so much easier to write a report or reflection on something that is your choosing and to your liking. When I have to write reports or reflections on things I really don't enjoy, I end up feeling dishonest because I have to fill them with "fluff" to make them be the right length. I hate that. I'd much rather choose what I read and when I read it. Choice is crucial to enjoyment.

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