Blog #4

            It seems as though in many of the classes that I am taking there is this idea that as times are changing, so are our students. With the many changes in technology for example, a traditional classroom is boring for many kids. This chapter deals with how to capture the attention of our students in what they read.

            I have not read most of the books that were mentioned in the chapter, but I can still grasp the idea of the author. In my early education, I read books in school that I thought were difficult to read, but they were interesting because they made me think. I read The Giver in sixth grade and I thought it was the weirdest book, but it was different from reading textbooks, so it was fun. In seventh grade, I read The Outsiders, which was more interesting to read because I was able understand it more. My favorite class had to be my Topics in Literature class, which I took in high school. In it we read books from all over the world. I liked it because the stories were mostly non-fiction and showed us a different world. For example, A Long Way Gone is told by a boy from Sierra Leone who loses his family during a civil war and is forced to join a guerilla. IT really helped open our eyes to real life situations that we know are there, but we never talk about them. I think that as a teacher, it is important to know what students are interested in reading so that they actually learn something. I know that there are topics and books that we will have to teach, but I think we can also make those books enjoyable for the students.