I love to read!! I remember after unch when our 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Cobb, would tell us to pack our bags we were going on a trip. I loved it!!! Since then books have transported me many places. They've allowed me to learn things I never would have known.
However, my heart is saddened as year after year I teach fifth graders who see no value in reading. I'm left questioning what happened that sucked the very love of learning from their souls. Is it society today? Is it the standards based movement? Or high stakes testing? Perhaps we are so driven by data-based teaching that we've forgotten to love teaching and learning as adults? Whatever it is we need to find it!!!! QUICK!!!
Every year we get the same library speech...."You can check out one picture book and one chapter book. You can not checkout anything else until you've tested on the chapter book." No love for reading, no reading for pleasure...just do what I say. Personally, I don't have a problem with the librarian, I've got a problem with the statement.
Reading has to be an adventure...it is the key to developing lifelong learners. Last night at Matt's ABAC commencement the keynote speaker said that every year he challenges himself to read 75 new books. He said he does this just to learn new things. Why have today's fifth graders lost their love for reading?
Kelly Gallagher in his book, Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Rading and What You Can Do About It states the reasons AR is killing a love for reading. His main point is that students read (when indoctrinated into AR) is to earn points. If there is no reward for reading they stop!!! Whoa!!!! I thought we wanted to create life-long readers and learners. That was what I signed on for in the beginning of this career. Well there is hope...numerous studies have shown that free-voluntary reading has long had positive results in building lifelong learners. Unfortunately, as Gallagher says, testing pressure often trumph reason.
So as usual...I seem to be labeled as "bucking the system". Forget that I had to have a parent conference Thursday about AR and the fact that their child didn't want to read the book, but wouldn't take it back because he didn't want to take a test.
So what do I want? I want people in charge to stop saying, "You've got to read a chapter book and test on it before you can check out another book." I want students to develop a love of reading. I guess I just don't understand, because come Monday I'm being called to the principals office.
