An Easy Reader Reflection

“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are,” (Cooley). Throughout our lives, reading has impacted us in many ways. Often times books give people different perspectives on their lives. People with high stress levels often find comfort in reading books to take their mind off of their concerns. Sometimes, people just need to take a step back from their lives and relax for a while; therefore, reading is a great tool. In fact, all kinds of books have also helped me become a better writer. There are many different books that have impacted me over the years.

In conclusion, what I discovered about myself about the demands of reading different genres is that each genre told a story behind it. Even though the genre can be simple, it can express more than it may look. It's necessary to know what category of genre you're reading because then you'll be able to understand the message it conveys, as it may have certain expectations. This knowledge can support my reading and writing in the future because now I won't look at one specific genre, but more than one so that I can gain more information and understanding.

I sat in my fourth grade classroom staring at the bookshelf when suddenly I caught a glimpse of a dark blue book with a heroic being on the front. I lifted the heavy book and began reading Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief. As soon as I started I fell into this mythical world where gods, monsters, and heroes all existed. It was a rollercoaster through my emotions. The thrill. The suspense. The surprising new book had a grasp on me, to stop reading it would be difficult. I felt attached. As soon as I started, I finished. Devastated, my chase of this feeling has never stopped, no other book has given me the same fulfillment as Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief. As a young reader I would love to find the same joy and thrill (as I did back

In this week’s reading Beer discussed the importance of having the right book and selling the right book to your students. Choosing the right books to enhance instruction in the classroom is a significant part of reading comprehension (Fisher,2014). If we have the right books available, we can get students interested in reading. There were two resources discussed that can aid in locating the appropriate books such as an online book list and reviewed journals. If we as teachers take the time to survey our student, we can have books that are age appropriate and interesting to our students. Beer went on to discussed common characteristics that struggling readers look for in books such as short chapters, some illustrations, and plots with

Kirtley and Mrs. Grubb know that demographics continues to change not only in ethnic diversity but also in linguistic diversity. This is a growing need to diversify school and classroom books that are presently in the classroom. Teachers have collected their inventory of books to help improve their students reading skills over the years. Present day student are looking for more up to date reading and with the technology being as it is. Students experience that feature a need of interests from their age group of middle school students. A school librarian at East Hills Middle School discovered that the students could not or would not read. The diverse group of students had not found books that they wanted to read the book with characters who looked like them and with whom the students felt a connection. Her fellow librarians and teacher, books are an effective way to help students understand each other. Also, they will be helping work with National Education Association Read Across America diverse classrooms across the country this year (Diverse Students, Diverse Books, by Anita

In my opinion, a book should have a complex narrative and use of language, and must force the reader to question the environment that surrounds them and drive them to reflect on the life they have been living. The novel Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf, is written in a stream of consciousness and uses figurative language to illuminate its message, while also provoking one to contemplate the emphasis on social standing in English

As a future elementary school teacher, I have always thought the task of teaching kids could be a rewarding and gratifying experience. However, I recently realized that in order to obtain these rewarding experiences the teacher and students must work hard and with determination. Learning to read can be a very daunting task for a youngster. Therefore, as a teacher, it is your job to facilitate positive reading strategies from the start. Looking back at my experiences as an early reader, I can gain some insight as to what might help or hinder my future students.

In past years, writing in an academic setting has always filled me with dread. With its strict structures and limited creative freedom, essays often felt like a regurgitation of the instructor’s ideas rather than an exploration of my own. It felt like I was writing just to affirm the instructor’s own beliefs, or in a worst-case scenario, to inflate their ego. It was not until I took AP English Literature and Composition my senior year that I began to understand the purpose of writing. My teacher, Dr. Nancy Babienko, was difficult from the start, and I knew the simple “regurgitation of information” method was not going to pass. She demanded original ideas—it was refreshing. While at first, I struggled in the class, I quickly adapted and

Writing is difficult. It is difficult to begin, difficult to stop and difficult to plan. However, it is surprisingly satisfying to create something that is entirely your own, made from your mind and a topic. Or at least this how I, as a eighteen year old college student, perceive the act of writing. I don’t write all that much outside of class or for a specific task, but when I do write something, I must force myself to start but after that it’s hard to find a good place to stop. The way I write is constantly evolving as I find new ways to express myself and reading articles informing me the best way to make a cohesive essay. As such,

It never occurred to me before to take some time and evaluate my reading process and my reading habits. I’ve done tons of readings throughout my whole life, including articles and abstracts for school and just some novels and fiction books for entertainment. However, I barely paid attention at any of my reading routine. All I was concentrated on were either getting the information I need from the text or, in case of a novel, enjoying the plot. Up until recently I had no idea if the way I was reading is productive or not, but after accomplishing my assignment for English class to read the texts from “On Creative Reading”, I tried to look at my reading process from a different angle.

Writing has always been something I dread. It’s weird because I love talking and telling stories, but the moment I have to write it all down on paper, I become frantic. It’s almost as if a horse race just begun in my mind, with hundreds of horses, or words, running through my mind, unable to place them in chronological order. Because I struggle to form satisfying sentence structure, it takes me hours, sometimes even days, to write one paper. It’s not that I think I’m a “bad writer,” I just get discouraged easily. Needless to say, I don’t think highly of my writing skills. When I was little I loved to both read and write. I read just about any book I could get my hands on, and my journal was my go to for my daily adventures. Although it’s

My 3rd grade teacher Ms. Drew helped me learn how to read. Out of all my teachers I ever had I really appreciate her because she wanted to help me and had patient’s other teachers didn’t have with me. Without Ms. Drew in my life I would not even be where I am today because now-a days without being able to read you will be considered stupid and uneducated. She built up my confidence in reading by telling me I can do it, it worked because all the time and patients she put in me. I knew I can read I just was a hard-headed kid who needed somebody to sit down with me and show me how important it is to know how to read as an black male. Some problems I had when reading out loud is going skipping over words, struggling pronouncing words and just feeling ashamed and stopped reading when I miss pronounce a word.

Of all the topics covered thus far in my coursework at National University, I found the readings in differentiated education to be of the greatest practical value. This is because I teach middle school in a school where learning-disabled students are included in regular classes. In my classroom, I employ various Google products (Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, Classroom, and associated add-ons including Easy Bib, Speech Recognition, Select and Speak, etc). I also use SeeSaw (where students create digital journals) and Adobe Spark (which allows students to make educational videos) to help me with differentiation. Through trial and error, I have found these technological products invaluable as assistants for teaching learning disabled (and gifted) students. The material in this unit gives me the theoretical understanding and guidance I need to better differentiate instruction across the curriculum, with or without the use of technology.

It was my second grade year, I was only 7 years old, when I first found my hatred of anything that had to do with reading or writing. Every week my teacher would give us a lengthy list of vocabulary words that we had to memorize before our spelling test the following week. I would study for periods at a time trying to memorize this gruesome lists of words, that I could never commemorate. When it came down to the day of the test I would see all my classmates at ease, while I would panic trying to remember what I studied. When it finally became time to take the test, I heard the teacher call the word “island”, but I couldn’t concentrate. I was frustrated, I couldn’t think, the teacher would ask “is everyone ready to move on”, but I wouldn’t say anything, because I was too shy. After a couple of days I would get my score back, and wasn’t surprised when I found out that I had failed the test. Weekley this was recurring theme when I got my spelling test returned. Eventually, I accepted the fact that reading and writing was not for me.

The four writing prompts over the course of the 2017 fall semester, have brought out different strengths in my writing. In the past, my English teachers gave similar prompts and I began to feel comfortable in those forms of writing. This semester has challenged what I always knew and made me work harder to produce a finished copy. In each project there was a different target audience and also a different tone and voice needed to successfully complete each assignment. I have developed deeper skills in critical thinking and revision skills as well as became a more direct writer.