Me as a Reader

Reading has to honestly be one of my most favorite pastimes. I am the type of person that reads everything every chance I get. For instance, if I'm waiting for an Internet page to upload, or if I'm on hold with someone on the phone, I start to read anything in front of me; from the backs of cereal boxes, random labels...really anything around me! I have two books that I am currently reading for entertainment. I only get enough time each day to read a couple of pages, but those few moments are golden to me. My husband thinks I'm nuts because I rather read than watch Gossip Girl with him! My favorite genres are definitely non-fiction such as biographies, realistic fiction, historical fiction, cookbooks and cooking magazines, educational books (love Jonathan Kozol). A professor, Dr. Onore introduced me to one of Kozol's books, and I was hooked. He reminds me somewhat of Ralph Fletcher - how he writes and his experience in inner city schools. The stories he has are so harsh yet are real. His stories are captivating.
I had a very positive experience reading as a child. I can remember the first book I ever read on my own. My first grade class had just been to the school book fair and I had bought a book with a big, friendly blue dinosaur on the cover. His name was Bronte and he decided to move into the city. I remember finishing the story by myself and just feeling overwhelmingly excited. I ran over to Mrs. Longobardi to tell her the news, and she gave me the biggest hug. After that I could not keep my hands off of books. I read everything from picture books and later to more non-fiction science books. Reading instantly became so easy for me. I always excelled at reading and writing as a child. While many children had issues or struggled with comprehension, that was my strong point. I looked forward to reading assignments ...they were fun for me! Reading came naturally, as opposed to math.

During high school and college came a few negative experiences with reading. In high school I was assigned many texts that I did not enjoy at all, even loathed at the time. We would sit in English class analyzing and then over-analyzing things like Shakespear and the Canterbury Tales...we overkilled the texts so bad I did not enjoy them at all. In college I was introduced to more expository texts, and was asked to do the same thing - study them to death. We were then graded on our opinion, which I thought was unfair.

I am very glad for my initial positive experiences with reading. I was fortunate enough to have these good experiences. Unfortunately not all children experience reading the way I did. I can see how very negative experiences could make enjoying reading later in life very hard.

Community in the Classroom

The first step in creating a community in the classroom is having a strong basic foundation with the students as a whole. I believe there are basic ideals that have to be taught and modeled for the students to maintain a community in the classroom.
- Respect - The teacher must model respect for her students. The teacher must always display respect for other teachers and adults as well as her own students. Talking about what respect is and why it is important not only in the classroom with each other, but outside of school and home as well. A good way for younger students to respect each other in the classroom is by sharing toys, books, crayons, pencils - all the items they used throughout the day. Older students can demonstrate respect for one another with the help of group sharing and group projects. By having students share their work with one another, they learn to use respect when addressing and critiquing their work. A respectful classroom will also allow students to feel comfortable sharing their ideas and their work as well as voicing their opinions. A community thrives on good communication, which will happen in a classroom that values respect.

-Talking about and celebrating our differences - Instead of teaching that everyone is the same, teachers should celebrate similarities and differences between the students. Appreciating every ones different strengths and weaknesses, different ideas, different cultures and traditions can help strengthen the community bond within the classroom. Fostering a classroom where every child gets to know their peers on a personal level also strengthens the community feel of the classroom.

In Walking Trees, Ralph Fletcher creates communities in classrooms by inviting students to share their work and really putting their heart and soul into what they write. Not only is he modeling a respectful and caring classroom, but he is fostering an environment that allows the students to write about what they believe in; really using their writing as an outlet for their experiences and ideas. This really allows the students to get to know each other on a more personal level and really helps them to feel connected to each other. These are the very basic and vital pieces of a classroom community.