Most of the reading that happens in my field of the social sciences in secondary schools comes from textbooks. Textbooks can be wonderful, but to me, they should never be assigned to be read cover to cover. The most life-changing reading I have done in my discipline has been the reading of memoirs or personal accounts of historical events. If the accounts exist, it is fascinating to see multiple accounts of the same event. I am not saying that reading in my discipline has to be the most rigorous thing my students have ever done, but I am saying that difficult reading that has real meaning will be more useful to my students' learning than easy reading that has little real meaning. Historical fiction can be used very effectively in the classroom as long as teachers make sure to explain which parts of the story are the made-up parts. I hope that my enthusiasm about these primary source documents and historical reading will help my students be more excited to read and to learn. However, I am realistic and I know in my experience there have been many teachers that were excited about their field and the reading in it and I just didn't get the memo. Other ways to encourage students to read is to make sure they know how the reading relates to them. Every opportunity to make a connection from a historical character to one or all of my students will be taken.
The writing traditionally done in the social sciences is persuasive writing. For example, "Write a three page essay outlining the causes of the Civil War. Did these causes warrant a war? Argue your point." This type of writing can allow teachers to make sure students understand concepts, however, it often does not allow for historical empathy (understanding multiple perspectives about an event and understanding the places and lines of thought they were operating from). I enjoyed being in social studies classrooms growing up in which I was allowed to express my understanding of a concept or event through alternative methods such as reenactments, projects, or debates. I believe that when I employ the use of these types of assessments in my classroom, they will allow my students to learn more deeply than they would. If you have to reenact a historical event, you really have to know about it and you really have to do your research and reading.

As I reflect on my experiences as a reader, I realize that it has only been as of recently (as in, since being in the secondary education program) that I consider myself to be a good reader. My entire life I have equated being a good reader with being a fast reader. I now know that speed is not the key to reading. I really love reading historical fiction or historical nonfiction. When I'm reading historical nonfiction, and it is well-written, it seems like I can really get into the story of it all and put the book down and realize, "Hey! This isn't made up!" (Don't worry history friends, I make sure I'm reading from credible sources.) I also have thoroughly enjoyed reading general fiction books like Harry Potter, however, the books I remember loving the most from my schooling were books like Number the Stars, Johnny Tremain, and To Kill a Mockingbird. I can't really remember an entire period of time when I have disliked reading, only things I would rather have been reading than other things. Reading was something that was encouraged in my social groups and in my family culture. In fact, for a while after I got my glasses in fifth grade, I tried out the identity of "nerdy reading girl." It worked for a while, but then it just turned into "smart girl" then "college-bound girl." I do know that my brothers were not as encouraged to read as I was and I think it really has shaped part of their lives. There are things that we don't have in common now because they don't have that shared experience of reading with me.

As I consider how this influences the way I will foster literacy and a love of learning and thereby reading in my classroom, I am reminded that there are so many different kinds of texts that students can learn to read. I can provide as much time as possible for students to read in class and outside of class so they hear the message that good readers are not measured by speed or number of pages. Good readers are measured by comprehension and evaluation. And I can teach them skills to become better readers and thus better learners. This will build their own confidence as readers and I will work to reinforce the identities they shape in my classroom as good readers.

Literacy Autobiography

My first memory of learning to read didn't involve reading at all. I memorized Dr. Seuss' The Foot Book from cover to cover. It had been read to me so many times that I had figured out which words went with which pictures. My mother has always been a recreational reader and encouraged all of her children to be readers, too. When I called and asked my mother to share with me some of her memories of my learning to read and write, she said, "Well, reading just came naturally to you." I chuckled to myself because of the discussion we had recently had in class about how unnatural of a process reading is. She shared memories of taking my siblings and I to the library on a regular basis. She told me that I was blessed to not have any reading or learning disabilities and that as a young student of reading, I did very well. She credited Sesame Street and the computer game Reader Rabbit with helping in my learning to read. I remember thinking how cool my mom was when I was young because she could read so fast and because she read so much. My dad always encouraged us verbally to read, but I rarely saw him read anything other than the newspaper until I was well into my teenage years. He claims that he is a slow reader and that he isn't good at it. I consider myself a "slow reader," too, but I really do enjoy reading when it is something that I am interested in and can comprehend (with or without hard work). There is a distinct beginning to one memory I have: when we moved to Alaska, my family started a habit of reading difficult religious texts together. I think this had a lot to do with the fact that my dad's work schedule had been all graveyard shifts when we lived in Utah and when we moved to Alaska he worked more normal hours. Comprehension was not emphasized by my parents in this reading- and I don't blame them. They probably would have gotten easily discouraged and given up if they knew how little was "sticking". In my defense, I was twelve and it was at 5:40 AM (before my siblings went to school and my dad went to work). More of the content would "stick" as I grew older. My parents played an important role in my development as a literate young person. However, I definitely benefited from teachers that cared about me and about my abilities as a literate being.

As my personality as an individual developed, so did my personality as a reader and as a writer. I became the only person in my household that gained literacy in music. This new "language" that I could "speak" became a huge part of my life. All of my friends spoke this language, my first boyfriend spoke this language, and I thought I would become a teacher of music. I fell in love with this kind of literacy. In high school, I had some very challenging teachers that encouraged me to read things that I hadn't encountered before. I took a philosophy class my junior year of high school. This is where my first experience with real academic texts came into play. The language was so new and so difficult for me that I often could only read portions of the assigned reading and understood even less. But I was able to push through and ask for clarification. I didn't love this kind of reading. Little did I know at the time that I would be doing so much of this historical and philosophical reading in my college career. Once I did get into my current major, the reading required of me was more familiar. I enjoy reading and analyzing documents, books, letters, historical artwork, and anything that tells or has a story behind it. It still is not something that I would say is easy for me to do, but it is something I can do with much more confidence now than when I began as a sixteen-year-old.

My writing literacy skills developed partially independently from my reading skills. I loved writing for fun as a young student. And I loved when my teachers purposefully made writing fun. The most fun came in forms of writing poetry and creative short stories. I felt like writing was something that came easily to me. I was always complimented on my vocabulary. As my writing began to require research, it suffered. I was not taught very good research techniques and was not taught how to interpret my findings. So naturally, my writing got much better once my reading of academic texts developed. Once I understood what I was reading, I was more able to produce my thoughts in writing about those texts.

As I think about my experience with literacy and how it will effect my teaching, I am struck by the fact that as soon as I was taught the methods that worked for me and was given opportunities to practice those methods, I learned. I know that many of my students will come into my classroom not knowing how to access the type of reading I will want them to do. It will be my responsibility to teach them those methods that will help them learn. I realize that it might be a challenge for me to put myself in my students' shoes. For me, generally speaking, the first technique I was given allowed me to access the reading and writing fairly well. A lot of my students will need more than one technique. And all of my students will need to be allowed the time and space to make mistakes and learn from them as they become more literate persons. Teaching literacy skills in my classroom will be about giving my students the tools they need to dissect historical documents, to understand reports about current events, and to write about the thoughts they will have in response to those things.