Reading & First Grade Teachers

[Diane Chen <chend@TEN-NASH.TEN.K12.TN.US>]

Hello all, I guess this discussion of librarians loving to read is just too
good to resist. Recently I was interviewing all 8 first grade teachers in
my building for a bulletin board asking them about their favorite books as
a child and now. One teacher replied very bluntly that she didn't like to
read then and doesn't like to read now. She finds it hard to read aloud to
her class, and never touches a book she doesn't have to.

I was very upset thinking about how important a first grade teacher's role
is in teaching students to read and to want to read. Later that afternoon I
was printing the school's Accelerated Reader reports. Not surprisingly,
while this teacher professes to love computers and sends first graders to
take AR tests, their scores were the lowest of all and reflected low level
books with low test success. I remember all the teachers I have taught with
over the last 10 years and my first grade teachers made reading so exciting
no one could resist. What a pity for the students of this teacher!

Perhaps I consider this such a tragedy because I grew up isolated from many
things in a small town and reading showed me the world. When I was in first
grade, I learned to read independently and immediately read everything on
the official first grade through fourth grade book carts in our so-called
library. Our small town library had only one room and was open on Wed &
Sat. from 2-4 p.m. My grandmother would bring me a new book every weekend
so I was reading Little Women in second grade, The Five Little Peppers in
third, Wuthering Heights in fourth, etc. I took books everywhere and read
anything-comics, hotel information, yellow pages, recipe books, magazines,
manuals and so on.

While I chose to spend every moment reading, my father would make
disparaging remarks about my future saying "What kind of job can you get
reading? The local librarian only earns $4.50 an hour and you can't live on
that." He was gifted mechanically and never understood my need to have a
manual to attempt any tasks. Now I am able to access anything via internet
and will tackle ANY job in the world with my trusty manuals.

Don't get me wrong, I love technology. I started out as a Computer
Science/Business major, but missed the kids and went back to teaching in
college, then immediately on to being a Library Media Specialist when I
realized I could have my cake (computers) and eat it too (reading). In this
field there are room for many things and abilities (like organization). I
respect teachers and LMS's who aren't internet devotees and need help
learning new technologies. I booktalk new titles to teachers who don't read
enough to stay current or to learn about more than just one genre. But how
on earth can you be a first grade teacher and convey the importance of
learning to read when you barely function as a reader?

Just MHO, and a nice opportunity to confirm to someone else the importance
of reading in my life.

Diane

-~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~-
Diane R. Chen, Library Media Specialist
Hickman Elementary School, 3125 Ironwood Drive
Nashville, TN 37214 Phone: 615 885-8956 or 8924
ChenD@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us
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