"I Read it, but I don't get it"

One of my favorite chapters in this book is chapter four. It explains how a struggling 10^th grader asked her “How am I supposed to know when I don’t get something?” She clarified that she is a teacher, not a mind reader. This was interesting to me because students’ don’t know when they are confused. They just hurry as fast as they can to get their work done. She mentions that a few of the students just said they were hoping the confusion would just go away. This makes you wonder about the kids going from grade to grade always confused. Some kids may even be shy to speak up about their confusion. Also, chapter five was very eye-opening to me because Tovani explains that when the students are confused and don’t understand their reading, they just give up. What he mentions about this is that they will have to read so many things in the real world. She mentions strategies that students’ can do when they are confused with their reading. My favorite one she mentions is connect the reading to your personal life in some way. I believe that if students do this, they will remember what they just read. I hope to use this example in my classroom as well. I also really like how chapter nine expresses how strategies help students the most. The entire class can work on readings strategies. This doesn’t mean that every student needs to be reading the same material. Each student can pick a reading goal and become stronger readers. Like chapter two mentions, people just think reading is sounding out words. I believe that isn’t true at all. When students read, they should comprehend what the reading is actually saying and explaining. If they are just focusing on sounding out the words then chances are they will never appreciate reading materials. When middle and high school students can read better, they will learn more content. To me, this is the best of both worlds. They will become stronger students all around, and that’s what teachers want the most. I LOVED this book and it gave me so many strategies that I can use with my students. Also, I love how it gives us worksheets and access tools for our students and their reading. This will be a great book to turn to when I’m a teacher and hopefully these strategies will help better my students reading.