I LOVE LOVE LOVE Reading!

I have always been an avid reader. I don' t know where it started but from a very young age I have always enjoyed reading. When I was in elementary school I would read through recess instead of doing things that other normal kids did. At family parties I would read my books instead of playing with the other kids. Whenever I wanted to escape from the world I would turn to books and lose myself in imaginary worlds. Reading was my favorite hobby and I spent a lot of time doing it.

Am I "good reader"? I am not sure. I love to read and I feel like I read pretty fast but I don't know if that particularly classifies me as a "good reader". I feel like a "good reader" does more than just enjoy a book. A "good reader" should look for symbols, comprehend themes on a deep level, and those sort of things. I do that when I am required to for a college class but not very often when I am reading just to read. So I guess I can be a "good reader" but I am not a "good reader" when I am reading for my own enjoyment. I feel that is the case with most people though.

I read and enjoy several different genres of books. All throughout my life I have always enjoyed science-fiction and mystery books. Since starting college I have also really enjoyed reading "the classics". Some of my favorite books include The Hunger Games trilogy, Wuthering Heights, The Harry Potter series, and Pride and Prejudice. I always a enjoy a good murder mystery too by authors such as James Patterson and Iris Johansen.

The occasions when I really enjoy reading are when the book is interesting, I am reading for enjoyment, and when I actually have the time to do it (which is very rare these days). I almost always enjoy reading for pleasure and sometimes reading for school as well. Most of the time when I enjoy reading for school it is because I find the subject matter interesting and the words lively.

While I enjoy reading the majority of the time, there are also times when reading bores me to death. Reading text books and scholarly essays usually bores me to death, especially if they are really long. I have always felt there is little excitement in these kinds of reading. There is no suspense or surprise and the majority of these kinds of text are written with very dry and boring words. They never seem to hold my attention. I know that these kind of reading is key to learning but it is very hard to enjoy.

As I child I never really felt like my reading was discouraged. I come from a family who really loves reading. Whenever I was trying to find a book to read, my grandma was ready with a million suggestions. I remember my dad reading Stephen Kings books frequently. I feel like reading was really encouraged in my home. I may have been teased a little bit when I read at recess but I really didn't let it bother me much. Eventually I found friends who loved reading as much as I did and  we would would swap books frequently. So I feel like I never truly suffered because I loved to read.

I think in order to help students love reading it is truly important to offer choice and variety. I most enjoyed reading when I was able to choose a book that I truly enjoyed and I think that most students feel the same way. In my own classroom, I will offer students as much choice in reading as possible. I could do things such as book clubs where students choose books that interest them most and work with other classmates to form an understanding of their book. I will also avoid the sort of dry scholarly reading that I know most students abhor. I will use it very sparingly and when I do use it I will try to offer choices to students so that they can read something that interests them. I will make sure my students know that everyone can learn to be a "good reader" and learn to love writing.