When Kids Can't Read: Chapter 10

I thought this was an interesting chapter, because it focused on an area that most high school teachers don't often think of.  I thought it was important that she mentioned the importance of fluency.  I thought Beers made a good point when she said that readers can't focus on comprehension if they spend all their time focusing on decoding.  Therefore, as teachers it's important to make sure our students are fluent readers.  I thought Beers suggested some good strategies for teaching fluency and automaticity.  I like her suggestion of reading out loud to a class, because this can be a useful strategy for a class of students with mixed ability levels.  For students that need help with automaticy, this will give them extra practice at hearing the words, for students that don't need this help, they can learn from the teacher's reading and practice their listening.  In my opinion, it's harder to listen to a text than to read a text and efficient readers can benefit from this.  I also liked Beers idea of using high-frequency word lists and word walls.  However, the only problem I see with this is that the strategies seem a bit "elementary" for high school students.  If high school teachers use these strategies, they should be sure to present them in such a way to high schools students can identify with them and not feel too babied.  All in all, I thought her strategies were useful and will be helpful in teaching students to improve their reading fluency and automaticity.

When Kids Can't Read: Chapter 14

I thought this was a very important chapter because it discussed the issue of recommending the right books to students.  I think Beers raised an important point when she said that teachers need to understand that they shouldn't just recommend books that they like to students, but they should pay attention to students' individual interests. I liked the idea of talking with students at the beginning of the school year to get an idea of their interests which could eventually lead to book recommendations.  I also liked the point she raised about students not knowing how to navigate through a library.  I thought this was an important topic that teachers don't often think to address.  I liked the idea of using a Good Books box to raise students' interest in reading and then eventually steer them to the section of the library that they find most interesting.  I think another issue this chapter raised was that students should be given a choice in what they read.  If they're constantly forced to read classics with adult characters who they can't identify with, they will never learn to enjoy reading.  Therefore, it's important for teachers to be prepared with young adult literature in order to gain student interest in reading.  I plan on having my own classroom library when I'm a teacher so I can be prepared to recommend books to students. I also think book talks are a great way to get students interested in reading who simply don't know where to look.

When Kids Can't Read: Chapter 13

I thought this chapter was especially interesting because it focused on an area that teachers usually feel that they don't have a lot of control in.  Students' confidence is a huge issue in schools, and it's important for teachers to do everything they can to help students feel comfortable in their classrooms.  I liked the fact that Beers wrote a whole chapter on this issue that is often ignored.  I liked the fact that she brought up simple things such as making sure students know everybody else's name.  I don't think teachers should assume that all the students know each others names, because I was often in situations in high school where I didn't know the names of my classmates and the teacher assumed I did, and then I was embarrassed because I didn't know them.  I also liked the idea of using the bell in the classroom in the way that the teacher in the example did.  I thought that this really brought attention to the fact that words can hurt, and hurtful words shouldn't be tolerated in the classroom.  I thought the teacher who used this strategy did a good job in making this point to her students without actually saying it.  She allowed them to learn this on their own.  I also liked the point about having high expectations for students.  I think this is important because students realize when teachers don't have faith in their abilities.  I think teacher should have more confidence in their students and provide more scaffolding and help to allow them to reach their full potential.