This may be a slightly sensitive topic for a public forum, but has anyone had any experience of working with a colleague who actually puts kids off reading?
I have worked with a teacher who has no patience when it comes to kids (usually boys) who claim they do not like to read. My reaction when a pupil tells me they don't like to read typically involves feigning horror, joking with them, talking to them about their other interests, and trying to match them up with a book that will suit their interests. However, my colleague is more likely to respond with something like "Tough, this is a library! The point is to read books."
Now, there are all sorts of things wrong with that statement, but my present concern is that it is reinforcing the negative stereoptypes these kids have of reading and libraries. I have tried modeling my behaviour for this teacher, but I think a more direct approach is needed.
Has anyone been in this situation before? What do you say to a colleague when you disagree on their methods of getting pupils to read? Feel free to respond off forum by contacting me at erin.colleen.cecilia@gmail.com.
Many thanks!
Replies
I am a poet and I write with rhyming and rhythmic poetry, and often children's story poems. From the point of view of literacy, rhyming and rhythmic poetry is not only fun but actually helps children to develop phonemic awareness, ie the ability to break words down into sounds. I am finding that my poems are going into classrooms all over the world, ie to classrooms where English is the first language and also where English is the second language. How many of you are using rhyming and rhythmic poems for the teaching of reading. It is not only fun for children but very useful too. Visit my website by Googling JOSIE'S POEMS. You could start with a Christmas poem perhaps.
Made me think about what I do and how I do it. I don't think it's really what you're looking for, but I would be interested in other people's reaction to it.