SED 407 Reading Response: Daniels & Zemelman ‘Subjects Matter’ Chapter 12

This last chapter is a good summary of important things to keep in mind as a teacher dedicated to helping students develop literacy skills. I want to keep this entire list as a quick reference when I am teaching to remind me what is most important about helping my students develop the skills of good readers and thinkers (and it’s good to know this stuff is backed by research). But rather than relist all of D&Z’s important points, I’ll talk about one that really stands out for me – the idea that “a sense of personal purpose is key to reading success.” Personal purpose can be extrinsically or intrinsically motivated, but as D&Z point out, “it is the intrinsic motivations that lead to greater learning in high school subject areas.” When I read this I thought how important teachers are in sparking and maintaining intrinsic motivation in students. Intrinsic motivation can develop and thrive in engaging, relevant, and rich learning environments in which students feel like a valued part of a community of learners that supports their growth and exploration. When students are encouraged to question and debate, when reading is a social activity, students can take ownership of the learning experience and find motivation in the learning itself. (I drafted this paragraph before reading D&Z’s conclusion paragraphs, but this gets at what they are saying in the last paragraph – those final two paragraphs pack a good punch in terms of getting to the big ideas of this book.)

Also just a note on the skills of good readers. As D&Z point out, good readers visualize what they read and make deep connections with the text. They say, “In contrast, those who don’t read well experience none of these things, and simply do not recognize that they are possible.” Even though we have talked many times about how the strategies we as experienced readers use when we read do not come naturally and were at one point taught to us, when I read this it was still surprising to me – goes to such just how much I take my reading skills for granted. I am so grateful to be a good reader and I want my students to experience the benefits of good reading skills as well – so I am glad to have identified those internalized skills and been exposed to strategies for teaching them. As D&Z point out, “bad readers” think that “good readers” read effortlessly with natural born skill – I want to breaking down that wall and give all students access to the power of good reading.

SED 407 Reading Response: Daniels & Zemelman ‘Subjects Matter’ Chapter 11

 

When reading about the importance of creating supportive relationships as a strategy for helping struggling readers, I was reminded of our class discussion of “the gremlin” (after listening to the Radiolab piece on the “Obama Effect”). The gremlin is that voice inside us that speaks loudly when we are challenged, telling us that we aren’t good enough or smart enough. The gremlin believes that we will fail and its voice is so distracting that we actually end up failing, proving the gremlin right and making it stronger. But the gremlin is wrong – and once we learn to talk back to it, to quiet or silence it, we can free ourselves from its damaging effects. For students who struggle with reading, the voice of the gremlin is loud. It may be so loud and have gone unchallenged for so long that they have given up. As teachers, the first thing we can do to help struggling readers is to help them recognize that the gremlin actually exists. The gremlin may have had control for so long that the students can’t separate it from their own voice. Recognizing the gremlin as something that can be changed is the first step. Next, we can teach students to talk back to the gremlin. This involves two things. First, we must be a counter-voice to the gremlin, telling students that we believe in their ability to learn and succeed. We have to approach our students with a growth mindset and be understanding of where they are coming from. As D&Z say, students need to know that “they’re in a safe place where they won’t suffer further hurt if they don’t succeed on the first attempt.” Next, we must set students up to succeed by using strategies like those mentioned by D&Z in this chapter an others.