Chapter 4 in the book was especially interesting to me because it's the chapter on teaching reading. This is what I ultimately want to do with my teaching career, I plan to get my masters degree in Reading Education. I've known ever since I was put in a reading class in middle school because most of the electives were full. After I took the first test they kicked me out because my reading level was too high. But while I was in there I loved it. I especially liked helping my classmates with reading comprehension and the like. That's when the idea of teaching really started for me.
The entire chapter was interesting, but the part that interested me the most was the Reading for Appreciation section. If there's one thing I've noticed about school-age children, it's that the older they get the less appreciation they have for reading. I want to change that. It is one of my main goals to impart my love of reading to as many students as I can.
In this section he quotes Nacie Atwell in saying that "teachers sometimes deminish the seer power of stories by taking them apart." I completely agree with this. Atwell believes that there should be a "'reading zone' a space free of intrusions where students are free to explore." This is what I want my classroom to be. I have many ideas as to how to bring this about
One is to have, as Burke suggests, a "strong in-class library" with books that my students are interested in.
I also want to have open discussions about the pleasure books we're reading. Just an exchange. One thing we did in my creative writing class in high school, I'd like to do in my own classroom. Everyday a student would talk about a book they liked and read an excerpt from it to the class. Students who hear about books from their peers will be more interested that way. As Burke says they will "infect others with [their] enthusiasm.
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