Is Developmental Textbook Reading Headed for a New Future? What will be the future

You probably think that technology is my passiion. The participatory part of it is. It allows me to continue to read past my collection of books and magazines and to expand my knowledge. My advocacy of learning started with sit ins. Not for sandwiches, or to use an amusement park. I wanted to read the books in the library.There probably are no historic pictures of us sitting in the libraries. But I know we had the best of sit-in experiences. We could entertain ourselves.

My only regret was when I started to read a book I could not borrow, have access to, or finish. Learning is my passion.

My hobbies are gardening, cooking, STEM, and just anything that captures my attention. Children can develop a passion for learning using whatever media there is. Reading is a key.Museums were the places I wanted to go. Fortunately I live near the Mall in Washington DC. Museums here are free.

A Confession

After three years of teaching, I had had it. I hated the endless reading circles and the worksbooks and the materaisl associated with reading in schools. If you did all the things you were supposed to do, there was in my mind only time for reading and math , and well, PE. I left teaching for a while.Peers told me. Skip the science, and social studies and only do the reading math and language. I refused to do that.

I went to Europe to work. Eventually I found my way to DODDS schools and could teach using my own ideas. I did not have much in the way of materials but there was great diversity in the educational community, the families and the PX and individuals helped me to create magic in the classroom. Never mind that I had 38 stduents from time to time. It was how I learned to put the humanities and individualzed reading into schools. Don't ever say Open Court to me. Babble. Sitting in reading circles can make you brain dead.

Reading? Old Style

You remember it. You have to remember it. SItting in an endless circle of reading listening to people stumble or glide over the stories. Some kids read the whole book in a few days. How I think about textbooks is that the books are like a sandwich of good stories fashioned together to entice people to read. So we teach kids to go for the best part of reading, not to wander, wade, worry about the stories and its characters.  A bite of a good book is not enough.

Children and I abandoned the old style reading. We individualized.. that is, we started to read our passion. We were limited to the library at first, but the school system in Arlington had great books. Most of the time everyone could find a book they wanted to read. Not like Facebook, but we were pursuing stories that we wanted to read. I was kept busy because I had to evaluate the individualized reading. Actually, I enjoyed the reading of books selected by children. It took me in different ways , on different pathways, and helped me to know the children I was reading with. So from the old books, Spot and I forget the rest of the family, to Wanda Gag, in" Millions and Millions of Cats".. I found a bridge. The interest of the child.Ok and I had a closet of wonderful things I collected over the years. No child I ever taught would forget that closet. I borrowed, worked for and bought museum quality things to help transform my room in to a learning laboratory. NASA, Natioinal Geographic, NOAA, and various offerings from the Smithsonian

were partners in my assault on ignorance and lack of passion for education. I would gather books about what we were studying.

National Geographic gave us books, and atlases and maps and materials. We had enough so that each child had his or her own atlas. We learned to make maps and to make movies. My first movie was distributed by National Geographic.

Along Comes A Media Specialist( or Librarian as they were called then)

I took a course, it was on Independent Reading. The teacher had us to wander through the Dewey Decimal System. Do you remember that? Within each section, we had to find the stories that we like in that area. We also had to share

the stories in presentation to other teachers. Hmn.. I thought interesting. It was fun. Some people were extremely creative . I learned a lot. THen I also found a mentor for kids.She taught me to have kids find , the poetry that they liked. I added finding the art that children liked. The National Gallery of Art has a borrowing program.http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/

The Power of Story

I learned to take the story and make that the excuse for reading. THree things came along that helped me.

THere were programs called NGS Kidsnetwork. THere was the Fish and WildlifeSuitcase for Survival.. and then

there was NASA and George Lucas. All of the groups taught cooperation, collaboration, working toward objectives and goals and real depth in learning. We read books on our way to the learning. Incidental , The Rainforest studies, and the

Voyage of the Mimi 1 and 2. I did the Whale videos, but a supervisor tried to time how I had to teach it.

We partnered with the Jason Project. Imagine being a 5th grader and knowing that project well. The pride was wonderful. Knowing that they knew as much as high school kids was empowering. 

Important to know is that kids being delivered the technology wanted to know when THEY could use it. Did i have a bunch of kid friends. We worked together.Sometimes they created their own stories. Now that is reading . We actually made our own little books. Not like in today's multimedia, but still fun. I have kept a few of the books that children wrote.

A woman whom I do not know empowered my class by giving us sets of books whole books to read. Here's the thing, if they read and reviewed the whole book, they got to keep it. I thought, these are a little too much for kids, but she spent a lot of money because the childrens loved the sense of ownership. Most kids read 20 books and children's books, the hard back ones are a bit expensive. What a joy it was to watch them read so they could own  a book and then writing about it. 

It might be important to know that I was not all that interested in the technology. I just wanted to be a good teacher.

I had some students that everyone considered a pain to teach. Technology was a part of my prescription for learning and we all learned together.They always gave me the kids that others had trouble teaching. I think ADD is one thing but boredom in schools is a real problem. Especially now. Time out? No technology? That does not work for all students.

I attribute a lot of my understanding from meetings at the George Lucas Educational Foundation. What a great series of meetings we had. What we all learned from each other was remarkable. I loved learning that George was not all that interested in schools as they were.

I believe that technology is an extension of reading. We can explore, examine, get engaged in a subject through technoolofluency. I don't have all the new E readers, or new tools , but I see the effect that they have. I just hope that they won't do what the grocery stores do and limit the titles and books we can aquire. Also I love OWNING a book.

I like re-reading a book to see what and how I am different and what I have learned since the last time I looked over its pages.

Today

A small relative who can hardly talk was playing around with the IPad. It was fascinating to watch him manipulate the reading application. He is barely talking and certainly is not a qualified reader. But he reads on Iphone! and he adores the interactive lessons on the Ipad. Fearlessmess and not the quivering voice in the reading circle.

Here are some links to think about Free for early readers.

www.literacycenter.net

A program in the cloud.

Award Reading

 http://www.awardreadingonline.com/

Whyville . I am new to virtual worlds but I believe that this is one of the avenues that will change teaching and learning.

Whyville is partnering with Great Books. Oh the magic they could make. www.whyville.net

 Jean Gralley does amazing things with three dimensional art. She has a book the very boring alligator. Better yet to see her work in person.

Reading is the beginning of many learning journeys. Ebook or book. Let's get it on!!!

National Reading Day

January 24 is National Reading Day, a literacy event designed to encourage Pre-K–3rd grade students to develop a strong reading foundation. If you’re looking for a good book to incorporate into your classroom, check out this collection of lessons and tools Science NetLinks has created using award-winning science books. Since 2006, we have used the SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books winners as inspiration for lessons for all grade levels. Read a "user's guide" to our brains, observe the beauty and diversity of eggs, or replicate some of Thomas Edison's simpler experiments.

How to Create Nonreaders

http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/how-to-create-nonreaders-439.php

PLAYBACK: What Do iPads in Classrooms Have to Do With Education Reform?

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 10:15 AM PST

More schools embrace the iPad as some question the cost and purpose; smartphone apps improve the teaching experience; the future of the book is collaborative; internet now the main news source for people under age 30.

 I am sure traditional reading practices will survive. There is a whole industry that vendors these products. But in future think? Where should they go to capture the digital revolution ?