Most of my students come from households where reading is not a priority. In fact, my students will openly admit that they rarely read unless forced to do so. At school, my students struggle with basic academic skills, and they are fighting against enormous disadvantages such as poverty, homelessness, violence, drugs, uninvolved families, and under funded schools. Many students read below grade level, and because they are high school students struggling with such a basic skill, they resist opportunities to learn and practice new reading skills. This presents a unique challenge in the classroom; how do you reach a reluctant student who feels like a failure every time he or she reads? These students never even give a book a chance to interest them because they are used to shunning reading altogether. I believe that making a reading corner in my room with comfortable chairs, blankets, pillows, and engaging reading materials can help my students begin to enjoy and continue to read.
About my class
Most of my students come from households where reading is not a priority. In fact, my students will openly admit that they rarely read unless forced to do so. At school, my students struggle with basic academic skills, and they are fighting against enormous disadvantages such as poverty, homelessness, violence, drugs, uninvolved families, and under funded schools. Many students read below grade level, and because they are high school students struggling with such a basic skill, they resist opportunities to learn and practice new reading skills. This presents a unique challenge in the classroom; how do you reach a reluctant student who feels like a failure every time he or she reads? These students never even give a book a chance to interest them because they are used to shunning reading altogether. I believe that making a reading corner in my room with comfortable chairs, blankets, pillows, and engaging reading materials can help my students begin to enjoy and continue to read.
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