Reflection

Last week, I came to an understanding about Leo, one which is probably true regarding many of the children in his class. Leo doesn't like to read - and I have no idea what to do about it.

After our literacy survey, I had an inkling that he wasn't entirely enthusiastic about reading, but this week's observations have given me a fairly solid view of his ideas on books and literacy. He is fairly evasive when it comes to talking about reading. Last week, I gave him a book handling assessment. Trying to get him to tell me about the story based on the pictures was like pulling teeth, and he displayed the same avoidance of the subject matter by talking about Star Wars instead of the questions I was asking him. After reading "Snowy Day, I asked him what he remembered about the story. He said he didn't know, and when I pressed him, he told me, "I remember that I didn't like it." I was shocked. Leo is a great kid, and I know that he's smart, but his response took me completely by surprise. I do not believe children can be good readers unless they are excited about what they read - so how do I get him excited about reading? And how do I broaden his interests beyond Legos and Star Wars? I think children should be able to read about whatever they are interested in, but there will come a time in their lives when they have required reading. This time is when many children lose their love of reading - and I think that's a tragedy.

I've also noticed another pattern with Leo. While he is a good student, and does exactly what is expected of him, he does no more than that. He just doesn't seem excited about learning. It seems that he's mainly extrinsically motivated, which is why he follows directions so well.

These recent observations have caused me to add another Guiding Question to my list - how can I motivate students? How can I get them interested and excited to learn - and most importantly - how can this motivation come from within?