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CHAPTER 7
My Reading ChoicesSoothe Me
Renèe Tootle
I
can’t remember a time that reading wasn’t part of my life.My mom read to me as a young child, and then I beganreading on my own. I haven’t stopped. I chose to take part inthe Readers as Teachers and Teachers as Readers seminar becauseI wanted to learn how I could bring my love of reading into theclassroom. Our first assignment was to read for at least 20 minuteseach day. I shivered with excitement. Someone, a professor, wastelling me to read anything I wanted every day. It seemed toosimple. If I got so excited about the permission to read, thenpossibly children would as well. Now this idea was easy for myprekindergarten students and me. They already were begging theirmoms and dads to read to them every night. But what about thestories I heard from other teachers? Did their students respondwell to the chance to read books of their choice? Each week, Icame to the seminar eager to hear about other teachers’experiences. I also looked forward to hearing how they spent their20 minutes of reading each day. Unfortunately, I hit a snag.It seemed as if everyone was reading books that had somesignificant personal meaning or were somehow educational. I, onthe other hand, was choosing to read my favorite romances,historical fiction, magazines, and newspapers. These readingsbrought me pleasure, but I didn’t feel confident that others would beinterested. I felt that what I was reading wasn’t good enough. Nowdon’t get me wrong; the people in my class were caring andsupportive, but in my mind, I felt inadequate. This made me think about young readers. What if they experience the same insecuritiesthat I felt? A struggling reader may be embarrassed by the types of
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