EDRG 3321 Chapter 1: Believing in Living Literature

Teachers always have and always will influence their students more than they might ever be truly able to understand. Going into teaching knowing this we have to be the best teacher we can be and in turn be the best reader we can be. Our beliefs on reading feed our students. If they know we like to read they will follow by example and read more too. It is our job to make reading fun and more interesting to them and make it seem like a game and something enjoyable instead of a task like chores that they are expected to complete. While the job of inspiring kids to read should not fall solely on the school system it often times does. Another thing that can be learned from this chapter is that in being a parent we should also inspire our children to read so that the job does not fall onto the teachers. It is the job of parents to give their children the tools to succeed in school before they enter into the classroom and enjoying reading is one of those ways.

In wanting to teach high school I will have the task of re-teaching some high school students to love to read and that reading is important to their growth and development as a human and a student. Re-teaching these kids to read is going to be tough but a challenge that I am more than willing to accept. Breaking them of the “all books are like text books” mentality should be something that will not be too hard to accomplish. It is getting them to want to pick up a book and read, understand and imagine that is going to be the hard part. I too suffered from this mentality and it was only broken by picking up books that I would actually enjoy or was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed that the circle was broken. One of the books that reminds me of when this cycle began to break was in 6th grade I read a biography about the man who invented the atomic bomb. It was one of the most interesting books that I had read in a long time and the fact that I got credit for reading it by taking a quiz on it was a huge plus. Non-fiction as well as fiction needs to be re-integrated into the curriculum.

The one thing that I enjoy most about reading is using my imagination. It is like watching a movie in your head and you don’t have a production budget for it so it can be as magical, intense and out-there as you want and you get to bring the characters to life. I am an avid reader and by reading so much it flexes the muscles in my imagination. Imagination is key to reading and in life. If people didn’t have an imagination movies, books, television and many other things would not exist and by reading we can foster that imagination that is an integral part of society.

As an English teacher my goal is to inspire kids and teenagers alike to pick up a book and to start using their imaginations again.