"Readicide"

Kelly Gallagher has always been my go to author when it comes to education.  He has supplied me with so many useful tips and ideas on how to become a better teacher.  Readicide is another book of his that I find to be very useful. Today, the love and want for reading is declining immensely for students.  This is something I can actually compare to and understand.  When I was in high school, I hated reading.  I never wanted to read.  When he had to read in class, I wasn't ever too thrilled about it.  I also would never read in my spare time, for I would have rather done anything else. After high school, I started finding more joy in reading and actually started to enjoy to read.  Today, I find myself reading all the time and I even like to read in my spare time.  I now see the importance, benefits, and fun in reading and I want to find a way to get my students to this spot as well.  This book has helped generate ideas on how I can do this.

One idea that I absolutely loved from Gallagher is to "bring the library to the students".  Instead of having the students go to the library, I can surround the students with interesting books in my very own classroom.  In my practicum classroom, I see this idea at work.  My mentor teacher has some of her favorite books in her classroom for students to borrow.  During silent reading, there are always books in the classroom for students to read.  A lot of students will ask about our favorite books and then they will want to read it since it is easily accessible to them and they know that we enjoyed the book as well.  I want to be sure to have an abundance of books in my classroom, that way students are constantly surrounded by great books and will be more likely to pick one up and read it.

Another aspect that I love that Gallagher included at the end of his book is book choices that he has found students to love.  Being that I didn't start enjoying reading and really reading until after high school, I don't have a ton of book recommendations.  This is something that worries me because I want to be able to supply my students with tons of different knowledge and ideas on books that will spark their interest.  Since Gallagher provided me with book choices, this will really help me to pick out books that I want in my future classroom.  Many books on the list I have heard of, but there are some that I haven't, that I can now include on my "to read" list.  I want my students to enjoy reading, not just required reading, but I want them to enjoy novels and texts that aren't required as well. By providing them with lots of different book choices, I think I can really help get my students to enjoy reading!