Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/114027
Turning the page a painting, so they don't see meaning or the entire context and become frustrated. Several teachers say that once their class switched to mostly textbook anthologies, interest in reading waned among students. "Students are reading for a test or because they have to meet a standard, and that is not inspiring a love of literature or the written word," says Albaugh, noting that constantly interrupting the flow of a book every few minutes to instill a standard creates frustration and barriers between students and the story. "We've always had anthologies in textbooks, but we used to teach half anthologies and half novels," says Lynda Campfield, an English teacher at San Leandro High School. "After we went into Program Improvement, we taught three-quarters out of the textbook and one-quarter novels. It doesn't really suit the students, and they don't particularly care for it." Teachers don't always choose what students will read because it will interest them. Instead, they choose reading material with "power standards" that will be on the test and improve scores. Campfield's pacing guide stipulates that students must cover a story in their textbook about every three days. "There is no time for rich discussions," says the San Leandro Teachers Association member. "We have a test and move on to the next story. There is no enrichment project or group project to help students synthesize what they have read. They read story after story without really processing them. It's not much fun. They don't have time to be curious about something." Gallagher says "inane, mind-numbing" instructional practices kill the love of reading. Schools mostly emphasize academic reading and "functional reading," so reading becomes associated with work, not pleasure. "We are taking a poem or a novel and beating it to death. A novel ceases to be a novel and becomes a worksheet. When teachers are trying to teach all the standards in all of the books, the book itself gets lost. If I had to do all the things my students have told me they had to do over the past 10 years, I wouldn't like reading either." "You have to have water in the pool if you are going to be a swimmer," adds the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association member. "That means you have to surround reluctant readers with good books. I believe that The only sound in Jonathan Brubaker's classroom is the ticking clock. Students are intently reading novels. Their teacher is also lost in a book — Hard Times by Charles Dickens. Silent sustained reading happens regularly during the beginning of class. The Beaumont Teachers Association member reads Jonathan Brubaker alongside students to set an example. "If you aren't reading, you are the biggest distraction in the room." "Reading was boring before this class," admits Alexis Prior. "Now that we're forced to read, I like it. I was scared I wouldn't finish a book in a month, but it's easy if I pick a good book." Members offered other ways to encourage reading: • Surround students with interesting books. • Ask parent groups to support a classroom library. • Ask students to briefly share with classmates why their book is a good read. • Encourage parents to spend "family time" reading together and provide books that interest their teens. • Talk to students about books that had an impact on your life. • Tell teens why they should read. For example, reading helps fight oppression and paves the way for college and successful careers. all kids like to read — they just don't know it yet. If you give them good books they will read. Do you go home and curl up with a good textbook?" No money for librarians/books For the past 35 years, California has ranked near last in the country for school library funding, resulting in a reduced number of librarians, a limited number of books, and in some cases, no operating school library. Currently there is no designated school library funding. In 2011, less than one in four California schools was staffed with a librarian teacher. "Teenagers are still reading, but the decline in library staffing means that fewer students have access to books and someone who can inspire them to select titles they will enjoy," says Jane Lofton, librarian at Mira Costa High School and president of the California School Library Association. "For so many reluctant readers, all it takes is someone to match them with one perfect book to ignite a love of reading. With fewer librarians in schools, students have fewer chances of having that interaction that will convert them to readers." The decline in librarians has been accompanied by a decline in funds for library materials, says Lofton, Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association, so it's difficult for libraries to update their collection of books. March 2013 www.cta.org 13