Week 8 - Harris (response)

The readings for this week really encouraged me to think about myself as a reader, and my development as such. It was interesting to me to read about various reading strategies and comprehension types, and to be able to identify those that align with my own practices and behaviors. The goal of learning to read text is to, ultimately, be able to comprehend it. I agree with Julia, that it could have been very beneficial if, in schools, teachers placed greater emphasis on comprehension, as opposed to just 'reading'. Also, consider the Applegate text, like Julia and Janine, I would classify myself as a 'politician'. Throughout my grade school years, I always strived to provide a response that I thought the teacher was looking for, instead of engaging in deep thinking. Still today, as a reader, I continue to engage in the five steps of the reading process covered in the Tompkins text, which include prereading, reading, responding, exploring, and applying. Like Janine, I do not engage in this process when I am reading for leisure, however, I do when I am reading articles and texts for classes, in order to better comprehend the main ideas within the text. Aside from identifying the type of reader I was as a young student, the text also enabled me to begin to identify the types of readers that the students in my placement classroom can be classified as. Along with classifying each student as a certain type of reader, the text also provides ideas for interventions to conduct with students to effectively encourage deep, analytical thinking and thorough comprehension of text. The students in my placement classroom are capable of engaging in all five steps of the reading process, however, they require guidance and encouragement from the head teacher in order to do so.