PERSONAL READING HISTORY
GROUP 1: Kathleen Brinton, Audrey Bjerum, Andrew Johnson, Yimu Zhou, Megan Petersen
BACKGROUND
Your first online assignment is to introduce yourself as a reader. Everyone has a "reading history." For some, reading has had mostly positive associations, with supports from which to build an even stronger identity a a reader. For others, being able to reshape a negative reader identity often depends on reflecting on personal moments or experiences that created reading barriers. When students reflect on AND SHARE their personal reading histories, they have an opportunity to view themselves and their classmates more generously, as "readers in progress," with reader identities they can understand and change. I am inviting you to introduce yourself in a new way. I know that you have been working together as a learning cohort for at least this semester and already know much about each other; however, I am inviting you to learn more about each other.
DIRECTIONS:
Create your own personal history of some key moments or events in your development as a reader. Respond to the following prompts, being sure to include both positive and negative experiences:
1. What reading experiences stand out for you? High points? Low points?
2. Were there times when your reading experiences or the materials you were reading made you feel like an insider? Like an outsider?
3. What supported your literacy development? What discouraged it?
Please post your reading history in the comment section directly below this post. PLEASE HAVE READING HISTORIES POSTED ON OR BEFORE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 5:00 PM.
4. Read each group members reading history
5. Reply to your group members reading histories. Discuss what you learned about each other. What were some similarities in the barriers and supports they experienced? What were some differences or surprises? Please post these in the comment section directly below this post (this is the same place you posted the first part of this assignment). Please read each group members reading history and reply/respond on or before Saturday, October 26.
Audrey Reading History:
ReplyDelete1. Reading experiences that stand out for me are those that I have done more for enjoyment then requirement. The high points would be reading books with my children when they were young. We had a tradition of reading from a devotional A-Z devotional book with our children at bedtime. Each page had a lesson and questions to discuss. Even when they were too little to read we would count the lady bugs on each page. A low point would be reading science fiction books for a book club.
2. My reading experiences that made me feel like an insider was when I’ve been involved in reading materials of interest to me. Such as art and craft magazines and music. I’ve read lots of music scores, hymn books, etc. to find the right piece of music for a certain occasion. Outsider experiences would include topics that I’m not as familiar with, such as politics, scientific material and some history books.
3. My literacy development was supported by a family that valued reading and writing through by continuing to learn new things. Until the past year my family would still play “Scrabble” when we were together with my mother who is almost 90. I hadn’t thought of this as literacy until after doing the reading for this week.
I wrote my comments in a hurry yesterday because I thought they were due before class. My mind is still trying to get adjusted to a regular schedule following my major surgery. One of the things that I've been thinking a lot about since reading the selections and reflecting on my reading experiences is the importance of music literacy in my life. As a church pianist and choir director for the past 15+ years I've spent numerous hours reading music and making the music fit in a worship service. This would include reading lectionaries, scriptures and focus of services to have the music selections fit into the theme. Also over the years I've been a handbell choir director and have spent many hours reading about techniques and how to teach them to the ringers. All of these experiences made me fill like a insider in the music world, but yet an outsider since it is for a select group of people. My husband in no way can relate to this since is totally musically illiterate. This reflects my literacy development since this began when I was in grade school and I continue to learn through music literacy today.
DeleteAudrey, sorry to hear about the surgery and hope you are feeling better! It is amazing to know that you are a church pianist and choir director for those many years. I can see the necessarity and importance for you to read in music. I'm a total outsider of the church music, but every time I hear it, I really enjoy it. People like you would do the same research and readings as you to create and prepare appropriate and euphonious music. Also, I learn that the "Scrabble" seems like a tradition in your familiy, through which you have been immerged in reading in your daily life. I think a support family in literacy development is very crucial. No matter they are actively participate or back us up silently, or merely throw bunch of books to me like my dad did :), they all open a door to our literacy development path.
DeleteAudrey it sounds as if you created some lovely reading experiences for your children. I am sure these bedtime rituals will be something they remember and maybe even carry on. You have piqued my interest with the comment about your low point - science fiction books for a book club? Why was this your low? Just curious.
DeleteLike Yimu, I am so glad to hear that you are recovering from your surgery. My hope is that you have a speedy recovery.
I just couldn't get into the science fiction books and so made the book club discussion difficult. This has more to do with my limited exposure to science fiction because I've always tended to read things that are more realistic. In fact I've reread classics such as "Little House on the Prairie" series in my 40's. There was no opportunity to even watch Science Fiction growing up and I've read them
DeleteYes, the tradition of the bedtime book reading is continuing with our granddaughter. She has the same book read to here at bedtime that we read to our kids. I could read children's books all day long.
Audrey,
DeleteThank you for thinking outside the box for things that you could read, I forgot about board games as well. They are a great way to get students to figure out words or simple sentience statements. I need to start reading magazines for fun. They always have great ideas and I would help for ideas in my classroom as well.
Audrey I wish you a speedy recovery from your surgery. It is great that you are sharing your love and talent for music with your community. I never would have thought to consider music as a form of reading. It is almost like knowing another language! Being able to read music and make choices in music that relate to the topic of discussion is very much a skill. I can relate in feeling like an outsider when reading topics that you are unfamiliar or less knowledgeable about. Do you think that as humans we tend to stay away from readings like in your case "science fiction" because our initial struggle with understanding?
DeleteAndrew,
DeleteYes, I would agree that I struggle with understanding when it comes to readings I don't like. Also I was not exposed to alternative subjects growing up. School was always the required or classics and my parents would not have allowed me to read "science fiction." I grew up in a different generation and that is reflected in my literacy choices. My children had more exposure to many options and styles of literacy. A thought that comes to mind is how students are exposed to different literacy options in a private or public school setting. How we handle this in our classrooms?
Audrey
1. My father loves reading and he believes that reading is a human nature and people do not need to be trained on it. So he always dropped me dozens of books and asked me to read since I could talk and had memory - without any instructions or co-reading activity. I have been through a lot with “poem reading”. Ancient Chinese poem learning is a start point in our literacy development path in my country. At my poem learning time, my father would read the poems to me because first, he enjoyed them, and second, I needed some translations from the ancient language. However, every time right after his reading, he asked me to recite them immediately because as quoting from him, “it is short and I already explained it to you.” While to a 7 –year- old me, learning the ancient Chinese language was like learning a foreign language. I could not feel the beauty of its rhythm or poetic imagery as he did. Then, two consequences followed: me crying and being punished. I really give this reading experience low point because that reminds me how much I hated but awed poems. Nevertheless, believe or not, among the poems I still remember now, the ones that I learned after being punished are more than the ones I learned under regular circumstances.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when entering college, I could communicate with my father as an adult, and then he realized what my interests were. So he started to share with me his favorite authors and novels, and explained the I Ching (e.g. Chinese cultures and philosophies) theories to me. Those stories and philosophies edified me in my growth. Then, as becoming more literate, I stated to become interested in ancient Chinese poems by myself. I found out my old poem collection out and recited them just for fun and enrichment. Then, poem reading became a high-point experience for me because I could appreciate the beauty of it.
2. In my understanding, feeling as an insider is the time when I can construct my reading comprehension through my own experiences or prior knowledge; while feeling as an outsider is the time when I have no clue of how the materials I am reading can actually affect my thoughts and life. Like I mentioned about my poem reading journey, I felt like a total outsider when I was forced to learn the poems. I did not know why I should learn and recite them, and I had no idea what those short paragraphs were trying to tell me. However, after I established my interests in poem reading, I could feel myself as an insider. By those moments, I could picture what the poets described and could empathize to their moods and feelings. Another example would be textbook reading. At the first time I opened a textbook about Theories in Teaching ESL in English, I felt like I was reading a book from heaven. Besides the barrier of language, the content of teaching and language acquisition was totally new to me. As being closer to a real teacher today, whenever I start a written text about language teaching or pedagogy, I feel like I am in the heaven because I am familiar with what it is talking about.
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Delete3. I think intrinsic motivation really supported my literacy development. Although I can remember the poems that was learned after I was being punished, the memories are not as vivid as the ones I learned with interests. To me, literacy development is not merely about accumulating reading input. More importantly, it is a process of critical thinking improvement. Only if I am interested in the content or see the benefits I can gain from the reading, I have the willingness to read more. The more I read, the more I can build up from my previous reading and life experiences in my comprehension. Also, I would appreciate my father’s support after I became an independent reader. He is such a resourceful reader and mentor. His insights and knowledge always backs me up in my reading path.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the discouraged factor, I would say it was the punishment. It was like the opposite side of the motivation. Whenever I was punished because of reading, I felt ashamed, scared and bitter. During my teenage years, I worked hard in language arts class and read everything that was assigned, but my score was not good. Now as I’m reflecting on this, I think it might be accounted for I was afraid of being punished. I connected being punished closely with not reading/cannot reciting. Thus, I chose to finish up a reading assignment as quickly as I could rather than really spent time on interpreting it.
Yimu, thank you for sharing this. This is so very interesting. I was unaware that young children in China start with poems. It is an interesting place to start. I know here in the U.S. we encourage parents to sing, chant or read a series of poems to children when they are toddlers called "Mother Goose Rhymes," also known as 'Nursery Rhymes.' The purpose of these, often what sounds like silly poems, is to help children develop the rhythm and rhyme of language. Some of the poems have little to no meaning and originated many years ago. Not as long ago as some of your ancient Chinese poems, but definitely from a different time and place. For example, "Ring around the Rose" is a nursery rhyme (type of poem) that some belief is talking about the plague epidemic.
DeleteRing-a-round the rosie,
A pocket full of posies
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.
Children sing and dance in a circle. It does seem a bit morbid to think that children are singing and dancing to describe a death phenomenon However, children are not expected to read these poems. They learn to recite. Similar to a chant.
When children enter school (age 5 or 6) they are given what is called a controlled text. This controlled text is a series of words that are placed together in a text so a child can have repeated practice with the same words and/or sounds. As words and/or sounds are mastered they are given more. For example, beginning texts will have the words 'I, the, and is' and words that have the /at/ sound. So . .. I sat on the hat. The cat is on the mat. I like the cat.
Each page is basically a new combination of the these same words. Because the focus in so closely tied to decoding the print on the page only and making a sound symbol relationship to letters and groups of letters there is little to NO meaning involved. Nothing like reading a poem which is often packed full of hidden meanings. As a reading specialist this is very interesting to me. I can't wait to learn more about you and education in China.
Thanks for explaining how kids learn to read in the U.S., Dr. Kruizenga. This is exactly what I want to know about. It is interesting to know that language difference can cause so many differences in the means of literacy development. You make me reflect on employing different methods in teaching different languages. English learning is moving from sounds and letters to syntactic and semantic levels. While if applying the same activities and drills in English learning to other meaning-orientated language learning, such as Chinese, it may not work at all. As a future English/Chinese language teacher, it is always fun to compare and contrast the differences either in learning or teaching the languages. Thanks for the eye-opening conversation, and I can't wait to learn more from you!
DeleteYimu, thank you for sharing a piece of your culture. I was unaware that the emphasis on poem reading was such a high priority for the children of China. I agree that intrinsic motivation is the most effective way to learn. Whatever people are interested in, becomes a passion and they want to become somewhat of an expert about the topic of choice. There are a lot of experimenting with project based school that are supposed to develop this intrinsic motivation. At what age do you think this could become an effective way to learn, rather than focusing on the basic building blocks such as science, math, reading, and language the students would be able to dive deep into a topic of their choice?
DeleteYimu,
DeleteI read what you replied to my post before I read your post. I can not agree with you more about that feeling you have when you look at book/sentence/word and you have no idea what it is. Its one of the worst feelings in the world. I feel know being able to comprehend any information is worse for me. When I read something and I cant gain anything from it is the worst for me.
Like you stated with feeling like an outsider, "outsider is the time when I have no clue of how the materials I am reading can actually affect my thoughts and life" That is an amazing inset that I can relate to but never would have thought of. That would make me feel like an outsider as well. I know I have felt that way before and to make sure that never happened again, I would always try to find as much information about it as I can to make sure I ready to talk about it the next time.
1. What reading experiences stand out for you? High points? Low points?
ReplyDeleteI was never a fan of reading growing up because I thought I would never be good at. Most of you know that I have a learning disability, so reading was always a struggle and a sour spot for me. I hated pop corn in my classroom and if we were reading thought a passage in a book, I would count ahead to see what I had to read and review it till it was my turn to read it. Just so I wouldn't make a fool of myself! I was already made fun of because of it, I wanted to make sure that stopped. The high point for me was when I picked up a Harry Potter book in 7th grade and was able to read it and it made reading fun. It was this really cool place that I could go to and I could talk to my friends about it because they were all reading the same book. I started to become fun and I wanted to stay up all night and read! I would go to midnight opening of books and have long discussions about books with people.
2. Were there times when your reading experiences or the materials you were reading made you feel like an insider? Like an outsider?
When I was little, I felt like and outsider because I wasn't reading what everyone in my classroom was reading. My reading level wasn't up to theirs, I was reading at a much lower level. I made me want to push myself so I could be reading with them.
When I started reading the "Popular books" and I could read what everyone was reading made me feel great about my reading and about myself. I was finally an insider! I started reading more books because of that. My friends started recommending books to me and I started building my library. I started reading books off of TV shows and enjoying ever moment.
3. What supported your literacy development? What discouraged it?
My biggest support was my family! They would always buy me any book I wanted because they knew that would be the best support for me. They knew that if I was into a book, I should keep going and enjoy reading.
The times when I was discouraged was when I was made fun of for my stuttering or my in ability to read the word. When I would try to spell out the in front of everyone was the worst, because I know I didn't know it and time seemed to slow down and it felt like everyone was staring at me. It wasn't fun at all.
Megan, your stories are really inspired me! As a English learner myself, I totally understand your struggle feelings, especially when speaking in front of a class and reading something with too much unknow vocabulary. I like how you devote yourself in reading what you like and develop your literacy in such a diligent way. To be honest, I never finished an English-language written fiction, because I didn't believe that I could finish one. However, I think maybe a Harry Potter book would be a good start for me, isn't it? (I apologize in advance if this is inappropriate to ask here, but does anyone have any recommendation to help me start my American literature journey?:) I'll appreciate it!)
DeleteYimu, Thank you pointing out the important connection to what we can learn from Megan's story.
DeleteMegan, thank you for being brave enough to share this story with us. You bring up a good point as far as "pop corn" reading or what was once called "round robin" reading. We have a lot of research to support why this is not a good practice. What we know is that it does create a lot of anxiety in students, it actually lowers comprehension and is a signal for a lot of children to disengage with what is actually happening in the story and in the class. Pop corn reading is a bit better than 'round robin', but as Megan's story illustrates does not differentiate or meet the needs of all learners.
Yimu, I could give you many suggestions as far as American Literature. What do you typically like to read? What are your interests?
DeleteMegan,
DeleteI'm so glad you shared your story with us. As a future teacher this will be very helpful in working with students that may have a learning disability. I've never read the Harry Potter series and has been on my list of things to read. As you said, finding something we like to read makes a huge difference in how we view reading. My family was also super supportive of reading of all kinds and my Dad read all types of publications until he died.
Audrey
Dr. Kruizenga, I like to read stories about people, life and philosophical novels. I read the translated version of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and this is one of the typical types of book I like to read and want to start my American literature journey from here. Also, I read couple of Gabriel García Márquez's books (of course, translated version), such as the One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Clolera. These are the kinds of books I'd like to read several times in my life, so I can gain different insights in different stages. Thanks in advance for your suggestions!
DeleteMegan it sounds like we had a very similar experience especially when reading out loud in class. Maybe counting ahead and trying to read your section before called on was much more common among students than I realized. I still have a fear of reading aloud in front of my peers. I am very comfortable speaking in front of groups, but asking me to read something in front of a group is a whole different ballgame. Megan when you see a student who is struggling with reading aloud to the class, how would you address this issue to ensure he or she is not being made fun of?
DeleteAndrew,
DeleteI don't know what I would do. Because I haven't had any reading aloud yet in my classroom. I don't know what I would do. I would try to help them and then if someone was made fun of I would talk to them alone and well as any students that laughed at them.
One thing I do in my classroom is I tell me students I have a learning disability, this way.. If I did have a miss spelling or anything like that, they would know the proper way to address it and not to make fun of the person. I feel this helps students address that issue well in my classroom.
If I did have readings in my classroom, I know I would never do the pop corn game in my classroom ;)
1. I’ve always struggled with reading my entire academic career. I don’t enjoy pleasure reading, but once and a while I will really get into a book. The issue is that I am a very slow reader. It has been frustrating watching classmates buzz through books or readings that seem to take me an eternity. I used to be terrified of reading out loud in elementary school to the point where I would try to analyze what page or paragraph would be mine to read out loud and proceeded to read that section so I would only have to re-read when it became my turn. This was really a counterproductive way to read in class because I wasn’t even listening to my other classmates and often didn’t know what was going on in the story. I would say this is one of my low-points in my reading experience. I was one of the slowest readers in my class I’m not sure why my pace is so slow, but what I do read I retain for the most part. Many times due to time restrictions over the years I have resorted to reading chapter introductions, summaries, or areas of the textbook that seemed important. My intelligence and ability to recall previous knowledge gets me through and I have always traditionally done well on exams as long as I have adequate time of course. My reading speed has improved as an adult. I’ve had moments where I felt that I was reading incredibly fast and I think to myself this must be what it feels like for other adult readers.
ReplyDelete2. I have experienced the feelings of both an insider and an outsider while reading. I have enjoyed reading some scientific journals and also some investment type articles. The terminology and concepts presented in these writings make me feel like an insider, because I know that others have a difficult time understanding them. I think that I’ve always been drawn to this more technical reading, because it puts me on a level playing field with others because the average reader has to slow down their reading speed just to comprehend what the author is stating. I typically feel like an outsider when reading a novel that is supposed to have symbolism, foreshadowing, or some other literary term that usually goes over my head.
3. My mother has always been a key supporter of my literacy development and forced me to read books as a child, which was probably very much to my benefit in the long run. As odd as it sounds I really think that the development of instant messenger and even text messaging has helped me in literacy development. It was a social outlet at a young age that just gave me so many additional hours of reading and writing that I never would have had otherwise. I give much credit to my mother who would insist that I would use the correct typing form and proper grammar while instant messaging friends. My own attitude was probably the largest negative impact of my literacy development. I would often become discouraged with reading and I was way too stubborn to ask for help or suggestions. I have always been an individual that needs to figure it out on his own and the majority of the time that is not the most efficient way to learn.
Andrew, you are probably much more cognizant of your reading strategies than a proficient reader. Much of what a proficient reader does is hidden even to themselves--it is just what they do. Your knowledge of who you are a reader and how you read will be an important tool that will help you as a teacher. This can help you, to help your student, gain insider status into the reading world.
DeleteAndrew,
DeleteYour understanding of your reading ability is excellent. I had not thought of the technical side of reading and you've really made a good observation about it. That all readers have to slow down to read technical stuff, makes so much sense. I can relate to being the slow reader and would jump ahead to be ready to read when it was my turn. My daughter brought to my attention that I did a lot of skimming and scanning when I read. I've really worked at really reading after she pointed this out to me. Do you think the timed reading or getting to the next level in elementary school hinders those of us that were slow readers?
Audrey
Andrew, you are right, we can be insiders or outsiders when encountering different types of readings. When people have interests and motivations, they can fluently follow the texts; otherwise, like children who are forced to read, they may stare at a word for 2 minutes without any moving. I have a similiar wondering as Audrey after reading your experiences. The timed reading seems to make young kids be nervous more about the timing rather than focusing on the reading to some extent. As teachers, what should we do to help the students adjust to this?
DeleteI guess I haven't thought of my struggle with reading as an opportunity to assist other student with developing reading strategies. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how I read, how the brain interprets symbols, and how I can improve my reading speed while still maintain a high level of comprehension. Audrey and Yimu, I am not a fan of any assessment that is timed. I do think that timed tests makes students nervous and stressed to the point that stupid mistakes result. I have felt like it was a race against the clock on so many of my exams. I understand that there needs to be limit to the amount of time taken, but that time limit should be based on slowest reader's pace of being able to read and understand every question. Teaching reading strategies or helping students develop more efficient reading techniques is a more effective use of class time then 2-min reading drills over and over.
DeleteAndrew,
DeleteThank you for your post and the reply to mine. I thought I was the only one aswell that had this problem with reading. I thought I was the only one to read ahead to make sure I didn't make a fuil of myself. I was always made fun of as a child and I wanted to make sure this wasn't one of them.
I am also a slow reader. It just take me so long to read that I get frustrated with it as well. I just want to give up sometimes. but just like your mom, my parents pushed me to give it all I had. I remember that now a days when I have all these readings for my classes. It nice to know they will always have our backs.
Yimu,
ReplyDeleteLearning about your reading experiences is very different that mine. You have a strong reading background in ancient Chinese poems and how important that is in your life. Also that you still have those readings available to you is fantastic. Poetry is not something I had a lot of experience with, expect for required readings in school. Maybe there is a connection between the poetry reading you did and academic texts.
Audrey
Audrey, in fact, most of my primary poem learning was from schools. That is a main part of Chinese language arts subject:). We learned, analyzed, recited and be tested on it throughout the K-12 grades. It is interesting but not uncommon that some Chinese students are better at ancient Chinese language than in morden language, because they have been drilled so much on the ancient language.
DeleteKSP 669 – Assignments Kathleen Brinton
ReplyDeleteDay 1
1. What reading experiences stand out for you? High points? Low points?
In grade school I spelled phonetically. I had an awful time with spelling class. It was such a concern for my teacher that I was assigned a personal spelling tutor during the school day. This spelling concern made reading very hard and not enjoyable. I spent the junior year of my undergraduate college studying at the College of Saint Paul and Saint Mary in Cheltenham, England. The British College Course requirements were 2 essays, hand written, for every 2-credit class. This was a time before the Internet and personal computers so I had to look up the words I didn’t know how to spell in an old fashioned dictionary. Imagine that! I successfully completed 34-credit hours during the year I lived in England. Yes, doing the math, that means I wrote 17 - 1,500 word essays and 17 - 3,000 word essays without spellcheck! This was a defining moment for me. Though writing was a personal struggle, I have benefitted in many ways through my pursuit of additional master degrees, in the corporate world, and in helping my children dig deep to take the time to understand spelling, writing, and reading.
2. Were there times when your reading experiences or the materials you were reading made you feel like an outsider?
Yes there were two times in particular. The first was reading Jane Eyre for a literature class in England. I really couldn’t understand the detailed inferences the teacher and the students were making from the book. I often felt lost in these discussions. The second was when I was promoted into the training department at Knoll, BASF, New Jersey. My background, undergraduate degree, was in business marketing. I was promoted to teach the scientific knowledge of how our products were metabolized and affected the human body, and the medical terminology associated with human anatomy to the management and representatives in our sales force. I felt unprepared. As a result, I pursued and completed my masters in Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, CMR Degree while learning my new training position. This degree is personally valuable to me. I better understand the Latin root of many scientific terms. My clearer understanding helps me to process scientific terminology and abstract ideas.
3. What supported your literacy development? What discouraged it?
My parents were the first support. They read the newspaper every day and we discussed current events as a family during dinner every night. My parent’s are avid readers, when I was growing up they had a habit of reading in bed before they fell asleep. They still read daily in retirement. What discouraged my literacy development was a lack of appropriate (junior) novels. I chose books that really didn’t catch my attention. Today there are many series for young readers. My children were young, early elementary school when Harry Potter was first published. I read the book aloud to my kids. We had to wait for the next book, and then we read it, and waited again. This reading aloud to my children allowed them to ask questions and critically think about the story, the plot line, and even speculate about what might happen next.
Kathleen,
ReplyDeleteYou had an excellent opportunity to study in England. As you did, all of my first college experiences were done the old fashioned way. Typed on a typewriter and there was no correction tape or spell check back then. Having experience with scientific terminology and abstract ideas would be beneficial in so many ways. During my recent medical issues I always give all the medical stuff to my husband to read and then explain to me. He also has extensive training in medical and scientific terminology as a funeral director. That has always seemed very foreign to me because I'm more of the fine arts person. Like you I also read to my children a lot and they continue that tradition. Literacy development can happen whether we read in our families, tell stories, listen to music or play board games.
Audrey