How Teachers Make Students Hate Reading

By: John Holt

John Holt, author of “How Teachers Make Students Hate Reading,” explains the reasoning behind how the conventional ideals adapted by many English teachers during their days of schooling have hindered children of today from enjoying reading and writing in school and on their own time. 

  I agree with Holt’s stance on the issue of revising the conventional ideals of reading and writing practiced by many English teachers. Before, starting public school children are exposed to a world of literature, which allows them to express themselves without writing or speaking out of grammatical context. Often time’s teachers become so caught up with the minor details that they forget the big picture. Students should be encouraged to share their take on what they read therefore launching a discussion exploring the different themes expressed throughout the text. As a child I enjoyed reading, it allowed me to enter into worlds not similar to mines. I loved laying by the sliding glass doors in my living room with a pillow underneath my head reading If You Give a Mouse A Cookie. I also indulged in reading books well beyond my reading level never once stopping to lookup the definition of a word. The big words I would encountered never seemed to discourage me from continuing on towards the next chapters that followed. As I entered into elementary and middle school reading became more of bother than an enjoyment for me. I can remember my teachers giving us tests, every day. In high school my teacher assigned books, which sparked controversy on matters of classism and racism. Every night we were assigned two to three chapters and given a quiz the next day. The quizzes were created in a way that my teacher’s views on the issues where incorporated into the questions. Having a difference in opinion on the subjects usually resulted in lower scores. I never understood why we were made to read these long books,but never invited to share our stance on the topics. 

Personally, I believe in order to renew student’s joy of writing and reading it is important to let students sample works of literature and allow for them to create their own questions and discussion topics. Nothing more contributes to a student’s proficiency in reading and writing than being able to journey outside of the academic norm. In order to abandon the conventional ways of teaching it is important that teachers refer to their students for guidance as they hold the key to efficiently crafting generations of well-rounded readers and writers.

Spelling Father By David Marshall Jones

The Comfort of a Mother’s Love

A mother's love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking, it never fails or falters, even though the heart is breaking. -Helen Rice

I was moved by Mr. Davis’s perspective on the role of a mother. Single parents don’t intend to raise their children alone, but due to unfortunate circumstances are forced to pick up the pieces left behind by the other parent. The dream David had is similar to the dreams of children who have experienced what it is like growing up in a household with a single parent. His dream signifies the realities of divorce and the burden it places on young minds of children.  

Growing up, I always was troubled by the emptiness in which I felt because of not having the presence of a male figure in my life. I yearned for the hole in my heart to be filled, constantly seeking out the people around me to give me an insight of the feeling of being complete. Reading this poem I realized that I had never really had been fatherless, I was grasping for what I always had, which was a mother who did everything in her power to lead us down the right path. My mother like all moms have taken on the role of a mother and father, being both the provider and nurturer. The love of a mother is incomprehensible, it is a never ending supply of compassion. The strength and courage possessed by all mothers is inspirational, although the journey in, which they travel is rough they are always mindful of giving their children the life they never had. "We are not all perfect, but the one mistake they never make is abandoning their seeds.” The lessons a mother teaches her child is one of the most important life lessons in, which a person can receive. In this poem David describes his mother as a women who has experienced the tests of time. She has given all she can, but continues to push forward finding the inner strength to be at the beckon and call of her children. The bond that a mother shares with her child is unbreakable. Reading this poem, I remembered what my grandmother always told my sisters and I ,” to always love and cherish your mother, as their will never be another one like her.”

The Child Called It

I was touched by this young boy’s strength and courage.  I would never question a mother's love for her children, but often times as we bare the burdens of life some people are able to survive while others aren't. Child abuse is more than the physical impact injuries. I feel that it so important that parents become more aware of the difference between abuse and punishment for bad behavior. Regardless of what type of abuse a child may suffer from, it is bound to impact his or her future in a negative way if some sort of guidance is not provided. Based on my research I have learned that parents who abuse their children, have been trapped in vicious circle of abuse, steaming from their own childhood. While abused when younger parents often don’t acquire the skills required for good parenting.

I believe that David Pultzer’s intent was to gain composure through sharing his story with others who experience the same trauma as well as those who have thankfully not experienced abuse. Mr.Pulzer has done an amazing job with showing his readers that abuse is not okay. During Mr.Pultzer's recount of his past he shares with us the love he has for his mother and father regardless, of the pain they may have caused him. At first Dave's family was the stereotypical all American family. His mother was amazing always making sure to entertain her children's needs. Suddenly with time everything changed when Pelzer's mother started drinking. He became the "family slave" constantly being referred to as "the Boy." Dave was tortured by his mom daily, being restricted from meals and being challenged to eat from the trash can. 

Freakonomics

What was your personal reaction to this reading selection?
The book Freakonomics has reconfirmed my thoughts on the racial divide which continues to plague the world we call our own. Today African Americans still face discrimination and have been forced to acclimate to the racism which divides whites and blacks. Although we as a nation have made progress, our plan to promote black capitalism and equal treatment has fallen short. My opinion rests solely on my own personal experience of growing up as an African American young lady. Sometimes I often wonder if it is us that is holding each other back. We have grown to blame those who no longer harbor control over the accomplishments that were are capable of. It is important that we rise up to be more than the statistics, honoring the title of the race which does not see life without struggle. The average African American child: has either grown up in a household where no one in the immediate family has exceeded the threshold of gradating from high school, was born to a teenage mother, is living in environment where violence is common on a regular basis as well as living with a single parent who is the main breadwinner.

If you were to create notes to help you remember the most important points from your reading, what style of notes (lists, outlines, thought bubbles or webs, etc.) would you use and why?
If I were to create notes to help me remember the most important parts I would you use the web as it organizes information in way that is universal to everyone. The web also allows me to clearly express my thoughts.

Current Material

Material that I have recently read is Lord of the Flies. As previously stated the author has expressed interest for the two different classes systems represented by Jack and Ralph. With Ralph representing the theme of civilization and Jack representing savagery both dictatorships encounter many challenges. The differing ideologies between the boys, force them to adhere to their current living conditions. The two societies, who fall victim to violence are influenced by many changes, which includes the loss of conditioning and the transformation of a long standing community, of well-behaved boys into a civilization dominated to establish order and a savage-like dictatorship established to convey Jack’s own primal impulses. I enjoyed Lord of the Flies because it depicts the world of today along with our viewpoints which set us apart from one another.

Quiz Diagnosis

According to the quiz I completed on the module I did agree with the diagnosis it had given to me.During the duration of my schooling I have found that fiction is genre which students are forced to become fond of. But beyond reading in school I have grown to adore reading fiction. For example my favorite book has got to be Lord of the Flies. Lord of the Flies is an emblematic novel by William Golding, whereby a classless society of English schoolboys has been created and staged to be stranded  on a deserted, servicing as a foundation for the themes’ surrounding civilization and savagery. Throughout the novel Golding expresses his interests in these two different systems of dictatorships by amplifying the battle between Ralph and Jack. I find that fiction allows for the audience and the author to create a world whereby the imagination is allowed to roam free.