Teachers must model the skills they want their students to develop. Yes! We must do this all over the place, including with our Reading Diets! I find myself in heated agreement with the ‘windows and mirrors’ concept (Daniels, Zemelman p. 59), and I want it to be a guiding principle for selecting content in my upcoming days as a professional educator. I want to model this practice of windows and mirrors, I want to, no, SHOULD, explain my selections and how I found them. I know the pain of a long dry spell between good books because everything I picked up was b o r i n g. Choosing what to read is a skill (p. 57). It took me years to find sources I liked to keep up with current events (Melissa Harris-Perry on MSNBC, Rethinking Schools) and other joys and interests I have (this comic, this other comic, this tumblr). I’d love to share my years of experience finding materials with my students, and learn some tips from them!
Some Big Ideas regarding the ‘mirrors’ end of things: If my classroom doesn’t spend time with material that reflects my students and their lives, I am saying “in effect and not by accident, ‘Hey [folks], this ain’t your place’” (p. 59). YES! Did you catch that everyone?! If your curriculum and classroom library doesn’t have some mirrors you are ACTIVELY and INTENTIONALLY telling students that school is not a place for them. Don’t do that!!!
Some Big Ideas regarding the ‘window’s end of things: students deserve an insight into the lives and experiences of others, building empathy is perhaps the most beautiful outcome of reading! I believe schools should build compassionate responsible citizens, so let’s work to make students (and ourselves!) know and learn about experiences that are not our own. Plus, you know how when you look out a window and there’s a little glare and you can can see a faint reflection on the glass? Seeing little bits of yourself in folks you thought you had nothing in common with couldn’t hurt either. Something else I really wanna do with my windows is show students a bit of the controversy and excitement that exists in my field (p. 62). I find myself again in heated agreement with the text that to get this to happen, a Reading Diet with a lot of variety is certainly the way to go. This practice has so many exciting potential outcomes! My students would know how to find opposing ideas, and how to develop their own opinions on the issue. Students would know I encourage a variety of responses and perspectives and will feel safe in my classroom voicing their own controversial ideas. I mean, WHOA. What if I had a classroom where students were not just trying to guess what was in my brain?! So cool.
A final piece of dietary advice I find myself in heated agreement with, before I leave you, dear reader, "We'll say it loud and clear: kids need stuff they can read. This is non-negotiable...If this means bringing third-grade materials into a ninth-grade room, fine" (p.59). Yes! Students will never think reading be enjoyable if we never let them experience joy, comfort, and fun while they do it.
A final piece of dietary advice I find myself in heated agreement with, before I leave you, dear reader, "We'll say it loud and clear: kids need stuff they can read. This is non-negotiable...If this means bringing third-grade materials into a ninth-grade room, fine" (p.59). Yes! Students will never think reading be enjoyable if we never let them experience joy, comfort, and fun while they do it.
YOU JUST GOT ME SO MOTIVATED, COLLEEN, YES! Oh man, sorry, I had to get my intensity out through ALL CAPS! You seem super invested in this, and I cannot help but agree with all of your points. I know that I wrote ion my own blog that the more choice students have and the variety of sources they have to choose from, the bigger the spectrum of ideas and opinions that will be able to perceive, and how can that not be awesome. D+Z mentioned a lot in the chapter how all of this talk about variety and choice are all ways to spark conversation and discussion, and in our field, there is no better class instruction than discussion around are essential questions.
ReplyDeleteThe book did not really get the whole point of the mirrors and windows concept, but i think you did. With a balance of materials comes a balance of that concept also, as we want our students to connect with the reading and also see cultures and perspectives outside of their own. Our ultimate hope though, I think, is that even when looking through the "window," they are still making broader connections, and as you said, developing "empathy." Really cool, Colleen, I am glad that I read your blog.