Readicide

          In my 408 class, we read a Kelly Gallagher book called “Teaching Adolescents”, and it was about teaching kids how to read, but in an effective way. I really enjoy Gallahger’s outlook on reading because it helps me as a future teacher prepare for what I am about to face. 

          In my class, today we were talking about teachers preparing students for the test. Now, this seems to be a hot topic in all my education classes because it is an issue that we, as future educators, realize is ineffective because students become bored with the subject. Gallagher states, however, in his book Readicide “that teaching to the test is the foundation of good teaching, and when every minute counts, teaching to the test provides necessary focus, so time is not wasted” (12). It isn’t about teaching to the test, but instead it is about teaching shallow tests. I love this statement because it is so true. We as teachers, are educating our students to practice for a multiple-choice test, yet we create prompts for essays that hold more value than state test questions do.

          A quote that really stuck out to me was on page 106, “if you want to kill the love of reading in a student, plant innumerable stop signs in the text that will require the student to exam his reading process from each stop” (Gallagher). This quote applies to over analyzing a text, meaning the teacher is over teaching the material.

          The differences between over teaching and under teaching a text are very interesting. I didn’t know that it was hot and cold, I just thought it was underteaching. I don’t know what grade I’ll be teaching, but I like how the author talked about if my students are higher level, have them read a book and come back and discuss it as a class. Otherwise, if my students are lower level then I should incorporate mini lessons into how to read better. Gallagher gives the example of having students mark spots that were confusing in their books.

          This whole book was well written and I enjoyed reading the author’s point of view on how we are killing reading. It makes me think, as a teacher, how I am going to teach reading to my students. While yet, following the state standards.