Saturday, November 8, 2008
Reflection of myself as a reader
My earliest childhood reading memories began way before I could read. Every night before bed, brother and I would cuddle with my mom on the living room couch to hear a story from our children’s encyclopedia series. We looked forward to that time together and never missed a night. As I got older, I enjoyed reading mystery books like Goosebumps or girlie stories like The Babysitters club. I always had great fluency but I struggled with reading comprehension. As I would read, my mind would wander and I’d miss the concept or meaning of the page. This posed a real problem for me academically. I would sometimes read the same chapter from a textbook two or three times just to grasp some of what was going on. Over time, I learned that I had to read in a quiet place, away from any distractions. That meant going to the public library or the local park. When reading academic material I realized I needed to summarize and make outlines for myself in order to stay focused and retain the information better. I must say though, it was a long road before I found the right reading method best for me.
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2 comments:
I understand everything that you are saying. I had trouble with reading comprehension and at times I still do. I would have to read a sentence up to 5 times before understanding what it says. When I am reading I always look at what is going on around me. It still is hard for me at times to understand what I am reading. I love that your mom used to read to you and your brother together and that you looked froward to it. As a child it is very important to be excited about reading.
As a young reader I often had problems that were similar to both of you. I always (and still now) have to be in a quiet room with no distractions to really comprehend what I am reading. I also use to remember how my mind use to wander. I still have this problem as an adult. The other thing that both of you said about reading sentences over and over to understand was definately something that I use to always do.
Also,I did not have parents who could read in English to me so everything I learned about reading was on my own and of course through my own teachers. It is important to remember that even though we may have struggled in this area as young students, we have the ability to teach our students reading strategies so they are not weak in comprehension. I may have been weak in comprehensio, but I will teach my students to have strength in this area. The article on Reading Strategies that Dr. Spencer gave out was a great read. It is important to keep reading strategies in our minds as we teach our students.
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