Tuesday, February 14, 2012

SCED 4200 Post 3: Affective Dimensions of Reading

I've never thought of myself as anything but a good reader, but I wouldn't be surprised if teachers I had growing up might disagree. I love to absorb information on topics I enjoy, but the opposite is true with subjects or material that don't interest me as much.

I mostly gravitate toward science fiction in my reading preferences, and most other texts I read point back to that genre one way or another. I've been an avid comic book reader since I was young, and have practically devoured novels based in the Star Wars universe. I've read a lot of biological texts over the last few years, especially those that provided insight into my xenobiology project.

I've never really disliked reading in general, and have always been encouraged by friends and family to explore stories in multiple media. Over the years, I've come to appreciate what I've read in other genres, be it fiction and non-fiction. There may occasionally be a text that I just can't get into, but such events have never soured me on the enjoyment of a good book.

I hope to convey this love of reading to my students in the future, and help them see that even if we're covering something in the class there are things they do enjoy reading about and that they should cultivate the skill for use in all aspects of their lives.

2 comments:

  1. Evan, I really enjoyed this blog post because I think it shows that there are a ton of materials to read. I especially think the fact that you enjoy reading science fiction materials will be great to show your future students. The fact that any student can find something to read that is interesting to them is a vital part of any literature class and you can obviously connect that to your love of science reading materials.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can see how your experiences as a reader have shaped some of how you will incorporate text and other reading assignments as a teacher. These perceptions we have of ourselves as good readers or poor readers can be surprisingly sticky and can inform so much of what we do with our own reading habits. It becomes clear how what we do as teachers will also either reinforce or negate labels our students enter our classes with. Thanks for sharing your experiences and for taking the time to reflect on how this will influence your own teaching

    ReplyDelete