Me as a Reader

My earliest memory of reading was when I was 4 years old. I walked up to my sister, who was reading on her bed, to tell her something, I think Mom wanted her. She wouldn't quit reading to look at me. I watched her brown eyes and noticed how fast they were moving over the page. I made a promise to myself that I would read that quickly some day.

Reading was really encouraged in my family. My parents had their personal library on display and readily available to us. When we would ask questions, my parents would usually try to reference a book when they answered. Or they would make us go look up the answer in a book, usually the encyclopedia. When my brothers and I were bored on summer vacations, we would read encyclopedias. Our family would also take a trip to the library every couple of weeks for us to get an armload of books each. Personal libraries were encouraged. I had my own bookshelf by the time I was in 3rd grade. In fact, in 3rd grade, my teacher created a special award certificate for me because I read and passed the AR (accelerated reading) tests on The Hobbit and The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, written in Old English. I also remember telling my 3rd grade teacher that  I had word recognition, although at that point I did not know what it was called. I just remember telling her that when I read, "I stop seeing the words and start playing a movie in my head."

Our elementary school had a special plaque that you could get your named engraved on if you earned 500 AR points. I shot for that all 3 years I was in Oakwood Elementary. In 3rd grade I was 100 points short. In 4th grade I had at least 575 points, but I didn't realize that the books had to be from various genres, and I mostly enjoyed fiction. By 5th grade there were hardly any books in the library that I wanted to read, but I got my name on that plaque. By that point I was a solid reader. I'm still always reading at least 3 books, besides my textbooks.

I have never disliked reading, except when I was forced to read a classroom book. Classroom reading in jr. high was really painful, because we moved really slowly and high school was only a little better. Looking back, I'm grateful that I was forced to read books that I didn't enjoy because it did teach me to broaden my literary horizons. However, at the time I would always keep one finger in the book that the class was reading (just in case I was called on to read) and my nose in my personal book. I was also really lucky to always have friends who liked that I was a quick study and a fast reader. I do not remember anybody in school making fun of anybody else for being "smart" or "dumb." The only time I tried to appear . . . less smart, was when I was with my rodeo team. Individual members were cool with me, but when we were in a pack I was not generally accepted.

As a teacher, I want to teach my students reading strategies. I want students to focus on metacognition and their before/during/after processes of reading. I want my classroom environment to be one where reading is encouraged and expected. I will require my students to have a recreational reading book from the school library. I think I would even be willing to start an after-school book club. I want literature to become a vital portion of students' lives. I want them to look for literary references in movies. By the time they leave my class, I want students to be able to see themselves as "learned." My dad always called us "learned" if we were well read. I want my students to leave not being intimidated by literature.