Chapter 13 - Creating the Confidence to Respond

I will tie my connection to this chapter to the student I just finished working with. After all the test scores and "present level of performance" assessments were in, the one thing that I felt needed attended to first was her level of confidence. I felt that there would be no use introducing reading strategies, if she didn't believe she could learn to read more fluently.

I did a Confidence Survey prior to starting any intervention strategy. I discovered that she had zero confidence and was embarrassed that she could not read as well as her peers. I felt that Ashleigh was at risk of giving up if we didn't establish a strong foundation of confidence. She needed to learn that she could become a better reader, she needed the opportunity to be successful. Beers tells us "students won't believe us unless we create opportunities for success."

My situation with Ashleigh is actually reversed from what Beers says about confidence. She indicates that once students experience success with fluency skills, they will become more confident. While I completely agree, confidence building skills need to be introduced early on in the teacher/student relationship. With Ashleigh, it meant going back to her independent reading level and independent word lists, so that she could experience success.

I liked Beers suggestion of creating a classroom where students can take risks. The "What if I get it wrong" thought process keeps many students from participating in class. Beers gives us some suggestions on ways we can create this safe-house for our students. Some of them are just common sense, but a couple of the strategies really struck home for me.

1.  Make sure your students know one another's names (same goes for the teacher). When you know someones name, you can actually connect with them at a different level than just their face.

2.  Do not tolerate put-downs. I applaud Beers for taking this stance. Put-downs are a form of bullying and should not be tolerated. Put-downs also go against the idea of creating a safe environment where students feel at ease taking the risk of orally participating. Beers points out that this goes well beyond the classroom, and that we should take our show on the road (cafeteria and hallways).

I never really thought about the aesthetic and efferent stances toward reading. Beers makes a good point, that we need to teach our struggling readers how to read differently throughout the text, making shifts from efferent (answer the questions at the end) into aesthetic (connecting with the emotional side) modes. Good readers use these techniques with both fiction and non-fiction text.

Aliteracy...what a shame. These are not struggling readers who are reluctant to read because it's tough for them. These are good readers who choose not to read. Beers states that this is not only an academic problem but also a societal concern. "One of the greatest tragedies of contemporary education is not so much that many students leave school unable to read and write, but that others graduate with an antipathy to reading...despite the abilities they might have" (278).

It takes some special effort to connect unmotivated readers to books. They need lot's of choices, we need to know what interests them, and we must make books readily available to them.