Before I came back to school, I would put myself up on that high pedestal as a good reader. Now, I realize I belonged on one of the bottom rungs. My reading style consisted of skimming and skipping along to the "good parts." I missed the nuances, word play, and even flaws the authors left scattered throughout their novels. I read articles missing the bias and the statistics without meaning. Through life experience and classroom work, I now peer, ponder, and peruse the text, subtext, inferences, metaphors, allusions, on and on of even a shampoo bottle or a magazine advertisement. I am a "decent reader" in my current state progressing towards "good" and hoping for "great." As a boy, I read all the science fiction I could find such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke. I rarely leapt out of the Scifi realm except for the occasional classic such as To Kill A Mockingbird or Dante's Inferno. I also read encyclopedias. No internet existed for me until after high school so I devoured all could of my family's Encyclopedia Britanica. My mother even relates stories of me passing up playing with friends to finish an exciting part of "L." As I grew into a teenager, I started to read other books that challenged me in one or another such as Mein Kampf or the philosophies of Nietzsche. Information and fictional adventure became as sweet as honey and as essential as water. My parents always pushed me towards finding my own answers mainly I think because they became tired of all my questions and so established my voracious appetite. Even those who would thwart my reading like the local librarian who told me I was too young at 10 years old to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy inspired my reading (I read all four books in the span of four weeks and then slammed all four books on her desk BEFORE the due date). Not really a short answer. I think that comes from reading too much Tolkien.
Now I arrive at the hard part. How do I foster the climate of reading enjoyment in my classroom? I never really had to try so I have to understand students that hate reading. I think I must first find the passion of each student. What drives and motivates them? I can look at incorporate texts that tap into that passion. I also must bring books to life. If I am ready to make a fool out of myself to dramatize and inject a novel, article, informational text, poem, etc. with passion and vigor then I succeed. No lesson plans especially in English can be "throwaways," so there must always exist reading whether it be a novel passage, a quote, another peer's work, interpretations of digital media, graphic novels, the list continues forever. I must look for that specific type of text that speaks to that student and show anyone can be a reader. Maybe the text might be the lastest specs for the World of Warcraft expansion or a text discussing whether Lebron or Jordan are the greatest basketball players of all time. The text might laud the latest fashion trend or review different types of snowboards. Texts do not only exist in the classics. With the advent of the internet, each student has access to their passion and I must be a smart enough teacher to find out how to tap into that well.
