Kim Anderson- Blog Post 2- The Pleasure Principle

As a child my love of reading was minimal at best. It was a frustration and an annoyance heaped on me by the very teachers that were suppose to make me love it. It was not until my 7th grade ELA teacher introduced me to the book "The Outsiders" was my interest peaked and I from that moment on became a life long reader.  Making sure that students become life long readers is extremely important. As teachers we must do what we can to make sure that reading becomes an enjoyable experience for out students. Allowing students to have uninterrupted quiet reading time is pertinent in their development into avid readers.  Reading workshop is a time students can become totally immersed in a book. Mini lessons are presented prior to their reading time. Students may be asked to notice things related to the mini lesson as they read, then are  allowed to read without the distraction for uninterrupted blocks of time. Reading should not be a chore or something that is forced upon a student in order to give a reading grade but as a pleasurable experience that the child cannot wait to practice each day. Practice makes perfect or at least it brings us closer to the world of reading perfection. In the world of reading perfection each child loves to read, they will read anytime and anywhere, they choose just right books each time they pick up a book to read, and each teacher has unlimited time to allow this perfect process to take place. Most of the aforementioned statements rarely take place, but as teachers we can make several of them a reality. We have to show students how to "get in the zone". Athletes speak of being in the "zone" when everything seems to be going right. When they are so focused on what they are doing, that they have emptied their minds of everything with the exception of what they are trying to accomplish. They ignore outside stimuli and focus only on that one thing. We must teach our students how to get in the zone with reading. How to focus and become completely enthralled  in a book, so much so that they can feel the same emotions as the character or visualize completing the same task or going on the same adventure. This is no easy feat. The first step is to make sure your students find books that are pleasurable for them. Things that they are interested in. If they are not interested they will not read, let alone get in the "zone".