they had to improve their readings skills to be more effective at their chosen work. They
helped me understand what it means to connect to students.
While teaching in this school, I found a used bookstore where they sold action and adven-
ture books for 10 cents a piece. They were horrific tales of people getting eaten by ants, and
the students loved them. My students got interested in reading from these books. I also
bought simplified versions of the books they were supposed to read in class. In class, we dis-
cussed books, movies, television, art, why people or things were good or bad, anything that
stimulated their curiosity and got them to read. I like to use the sports cliché, “Practice
makes perfect.” That is how it works with reading. As teachers, we have to find material that
interests and challenges students so they want to be readers. That way, as they practice,
they improve.
In my English education classes for preservice teachers, I stress the importance of valu-
ing student experiences and connecting with their lives and interests. Both teachers and stu-
dents have to be comfortable with the texts they are examining. The material has to be ac-
cessible to students to be useful. This does not mean that it has to be watered down to the
point that it is too easy, but it does mean directing student attention to key passages and
providing help with vocabulary words. Perhaps the most difficult job of the teacher is bal-
ancing the need to connect to where students are academically while challenging students
to move to a higher level.
In secondary schools, even though students should already be reading, there are areas
that they have to improve. For example, students need to be active, speculating, questioning
readers and learn to examine material carefully, so they can find deeply imbedded meaning.
Before my student teachers have their students read a novel, I have them hold the book up
so the class can look at the cover together and discuss what they expect to discover.
When I teach a novel, I have a very structured approach. We read the first page and a half
together and discuss what the author is saying to us. Do you trust the author? Where do you
thinking the author is going with this book? Then we finish reading the first chapter together
and we talk some more. We have a lot of discussion because I believe it is important that stu-
dents draw their own conclusions about a text.
As we read the book, we also watch sections from movie versions and discuss whether
the directors capture our image of the characters, setting, and mood, and present accurate
summaries of the plot. My grandmother always said you could teach everything with just
two books, the King James Bible and the Sears catalogue. The keys are connecting with stu-
dents and challenging them to think.
Many contemporary English education theorists stress the process of reading and writing
over the content of what is being created or examined. I try to balance a concern with proc-
ess with a commitment to exploring literary content because students need to experience
both doing and appreciating. Reading quality literature helps students learn to express com-
plex ideas clearly and stimulates them to ponder serious philosophical questions. It also
helps them develop a sense of taste, of style.
Many teachers complain that students do not read alone enough because they are en-
grossed in television, pop culture, and the Internet. Instead of complaining, I tell student
teachers to have their classes read and write in school everyday. A book that helped me
think about my teaching of English isBeat Not The Poor Desk, by Mary Ponsot and Rosemary
Deen (1982). Ponsot worked in a college with nontraditional students who had poor aca-
demic skills. While the other teachers complained that their students could not read, she in-
spired them to read. Her approach to teaching is wonderful.
I am also a big fan of Nancy Atwell, author ofIn the Middle(1987), a book about teaching
middle school students to be readers and writers. One exercise I really like is encouraging
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