While reading Chapter 2 of Subjects Matter, I began to realize a lot about the way I think from a literary perspective. The authors do a great job of catching you where you feel uncomfortable with a passage, and then using that feeling of uncomfort to highlight what exactly is going on in your head--so that you can understand what is going on in the heads of your students. The section about "clicking" was particularly interesting to me, because I had always wondered why sometimes reading felt like a breeze, while some other times it felt like I needed to read the same page four times in order to actually understand it. Now, I know that one's ability to understand the text comes from a variety of reading skills that happen subconsciously (at least for a college-aged reader).
One thing that stood out for me was the authors' ability to create worthwhile analogies for the processes that happen while reading. I thought that the analogy of driving a car to a friend's house (and promptly daydreaming the entire way there) versus driving to somewhere completely new and constantly looking at the GPS did a great job of highlighting exactly how subconscious these processes are. I also like how the authors made sure to show how different professions, such as mathematicians, scientists, and historians, all look at text in different ways, and how that can relate to different kinds of students acting in a similar way with a classroom text.
Overall, I thought the chapter did a great job of explaining different ways that people interact with text while not being repetitive or boring. The reading was interesting and constantly had me analyzing my own actions, and I will keep that in mind when comparing my reading strategies with that of my students.
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Michael,
ReplyDeleteI think you made great points about what you learned in the assigned reading. I thought the author made a great point with the driving analogy. I never approached that idea in relation to reading, but I love how the author tied it together. I think it is important for us to remember those subconscious thoughts and to encourage students to talk through those seemingly basic ideas, so that students can learn from each other’s point of view. I enjoyed your take on the reading! Great job!
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I really enjoyed reading your post and also wrote about the same thing. Comparing reading to driving is definitely very relatable and points out how reading can be very subconscious. When we did that reading in class, not many of us knew what it was about, but we could all read it and understand each word. I tend to do this a lot with subjects I don't understand, such as social studies and science. I will read it with my eyes and not my mind, and when I get done with the massage, i realize I understood nothing.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! Very relatable!
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"I tend to do this a lot with subjects I don't understand, such as social studies and science." Everyone does. Be mindful of when this is happening and employ these reading strategies.
DeleteAnalogies are great! They help to tap into schema.
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