In the game of craps, the timing of 7 means the difference between winning and losing. After listening to Steven Layne last Friday, I realize that students must feel like this in the classroom. They hear a lot of teachers preach about reading. Read, read, read, say all of the teachers, but then they will follow with "not that." Why do we care what our students are reading? I understand that we should censor some of the books. Fifty Shades of Grey, is not something our students should be reading, but outside of books that are explicit about adult themes, why should we slow them down. If they only want to read comic books, let them. If they only want to read graphic novels (which I hate), let them. We try to tell them that a story from the Puritan days of an adulterer wearing an A on her chest is awesome. Unfortunately, our students know at least three people in their neighborhood who have committed adultery. No it does not make it right, but it is not taboo like it was 30 years ago. We have to change in order to get students to read. With all of the technology, they no longer need to read, but to learn it is still a staple of education. Practice makes perfect, and reading, even if it is not something we care about, is good.
Read about igniting a passion for reading:
http://www.stevelayne.com/
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