Teaching Reading

Reading Gallagher's Readicide as well as Smagorinsky's texts has really opened my eyes to establishing reading in the classroom. There is a right way to introduce reading and it shows in their research as well as their own experience in their classrooms. Being out in the field has also really opened my eyes to recognize that Readicide is happening everyday. While Readicide is mostly apparent in my 9th grade classroom, I can see it happening with the 8th grade students as well. Everything that Gallagher has stated NOT to do, I am seeing it in my 9th grade placement. It is so hard not to hand over the novel to my Co-Op too! (I am not sure if that would be insulting or a nice gesture?!) Stopping after every page and summarizes the text as well as stopping after every chapter for a few days to complete an activity about that chapter is literally killing me (and the kids)! I can see it in their faces...and the schools wonder why kids hate reading now. THIS IS WHY. I also see that it is not only teachers killing reading. A lot of it is parents. In the Carlisle School District, all English teachers are being asked to remove their classroom libraries. A student brought home a novel from a teacher's shelf with a few pieces of language that were not appropriate. The parent is now threatening a lawsuit against the school district if this type of material is in classrooms.The administration is now forcing teachers to get rid of their "free-read, SSR" books. First off, are you serious? I am so upset about this issue! I went to a meeting the other day with the English teachers and discussed this and many said they are going to refuse to remove their books. "I am an English teacher. This is an English classroom. I will teach and allow students to read books. I would never put a book that was inappropriate on my shelf." I just cannot believe what education is coming to. It is really upsetting. I cannot imagine what it would be like if I was in that school district as a permanent teacher and I was asked to remove all novels from my classroom. Anyway....back to teaching reading! I am hoping that when I am a teacher, I am not sucked into doing mundane worksheets and activities after every chapter or lesson in the novel I am reading. I would hope my fellow English teachers would be open to new ideas of teaching and not focus solely on worksheets and multiple-choice tests. It sort of scares me though, because I am sure that these teachers had this type of education in college...learning how to teach reading effectively and include writing in the classroom. Why aren't they using it? Is it because they don't have time or it doesn't fit into their curriculum? Are they just taking an easy road? I'm not sure, but I hope that I do not fall into this path. I hope that I can take the ideas introduced to me in the texts that we have been reading and through our class discussions and create a new love for reading and instill it in my students.