MY READING REALITY

• As the child stood in front the class; with his reading book in hand, I could see the discomfort in his eyes, his face contorted; he scratched, he fidgeted; he seemed unable to find the page of the reading lesson. …Unknowingly to me, all of these “antics” were made because of his inability to read which came as a shocking surprise.

• I sent a note home to a parent one afternoon; the next day as I arrived at school, the parent was there waiting on me. I was a tad concerned as to why she was there because nowhere in the note did I ask to see her. As our conversation ensued…it was revealed that…she was unable to read, she could not even read the note I sent home for her.

Reading has always been one of my passions; and for a while I think I existed in a fantasy world by holding the assumption that this was the same for many others. When I became a teacher, I assumed that students would perhaps share this same passion for reading that I possessed. Unfortunately, such was not a reality as I soon discovered.

Fresh out of teachers’ training college placed in my second school, I was eager; in fact, I was VERY eager to put into action all that I learnt. However, this enthusiasm soon dwindled when “the real” situation of my classroom was presented. Many of the 6 and 7yr old children who sat before me could not even spell their names! Many of them could not read, few of them belonged to homes where both parents could read. This was all new to me. I didn’t know what to do! I had no idea where to begin. However, I am never one to give up! I tried many new strategies I found online and slowly engaged my students’ interest but this was not sufficient.

The teaching of Reading is no easy task. Having little to no training in the area of direct literacy instruction I sometimes felt powerless and I too became overtly frustrated when attempting to teach these students “the basics”. This is why I decided to become a reading specialist. It is my hope that to some extent I can help expel this daunting reality; so that in our classrooms there will be readers, motivated readers!