The first time I heard the word alliterate was during a tutorial session for EDRS6210 and I thought to myself, “Wow! What a profound word to describe about 90% of the adolescent students in our schools today.” Then I asked myself “Why is it that these children who can read, are not inclined to do so?”
Well one reason is the socio-economic factor where students come from underprivileged homes where the focus is on provision of food rather than on encouraging positive reading behaviors. However some may say that this is just an excuse as there are many students who emerged from low socio-economic backgrounds and have been very successful at school.
Therefore home is not the only factor. When asked to give a reason for their poor reading habits, many teenagers say that the teacher is boring. Yes teachers, the truth hurts. Many of us are BORING!! So what are we going to do? I suggest that we “get hip with it’.
No, I don’t mean dressing in hipsters or start speaking slang. I mean get digital. Use the digital technological tools that they are so hooked on to encourage them to read. Have them create poems which they can rap using podcasts which they can download to their Mp3 and Mp4 players. Also you can point them to the similarity between blogging and chatting on facebook, and challenge them to create blogs where they can reflect on their reading experiences. Also, with all safety protocols observed, they can be allowed to share their experiences with other students locally and overseas.
These are just some suggestions and I welcome many more so we can create a compendium of strategies using technology to encourage and sustain positive reading behaviors. This can form a necessary resource for us as budding reading specialists.
2 comments:
Yes I do agree Jewel we do need to 'get hip with it'. Children today are leaving us behind where technology is concerned we as teachers need to 'get hip with it'.
The use of 'Electronic Books for Retellings', struggling readers need to have 'as many opportunities to read and respond to literature daily'. I have allowed my students to access the site www.raz-kids.com which I subscribe to (sorry not free! but great!), they enjoy this exercise and what's even greater is that I do not have to be there with the children teaching a lesson. This constant interaction with the reading level they are comfortable will eventually promote fluency and improve comprehension.
Yes Jewel I also agree with what you are saying, it is sad that we as teachers are left out for technology. The children today are different we are hearing it everywhere we go, people are saying it in terms of behavior and how fast they are growing and the comparison with "long ago you would of never seen that happening". As teachers we need to take heed, its not only those things are changing but the way they learn. They are bored quickly pen and paper not doing it for them. They are techno children so it is fair to use the technology to teach them.
Just like you Jewel I thank God for EDRL 6004, it was rewarding even at times frustrating but that's alright. I was able to learn to impart to my students. As reading specialist we have to know all the available tools, so that our students can benefit from them.
Post a Comment