Kelly Gallager's Readicide

I honestly do not know what to say. There is so much in Gallager's Readicide to think about that I feel like I'm drowning in a flood of passion, revolution, and just plain old good teaching skills and ideas. In order to cope with my thoughts, I will approach them in chunks of awe.

First chunk:
Gallager put to voice the inner frustrations and anger that I have felt for so long regarding the ridiculous amount of testing (specifically standardized) that students are forced to wade through. I remember being frustrated as a student with the constant testing and the constant test prep that I had to do in order to "prove" that I was smart enough for the state. I remember the horrible stress of realizing that all of my hard work during the school year and all of my passion and dreams could be smashed or upheld in one stupid test. I remember feeling the injustice of spending hours struggling to prep for a test that took away from my actual enjoyment of learning. I don't blame my teachers for this because those teachers got me through the tests that I needed in order to succeed and reach college. I blame the educational institution that has been too blind to fix this problem. As a teacher in training I feel that injustice and anger all over again because I know that I will be forced to prepare my students for those myriad of standardized tests. Gallager stresses that prepping students for these tests takes away valuable time from actual learning and forces teacher to instruct students in a way that stresses shallow, not deep, learning. Students are not going to remember shallow learning-they will remember the deep projects and the units that encouraged them to think deep, to reach new levels, and to connect personally with content. With all of the standardized tests that students are being prepared for, teachers are limited in what they can do to actually help their students learn content that will stick with them and support them in the long term. Schools should be focusing on what students need and what actually benefits students-not on how to fudge test scores and make their school district look good through standardized testing.

Second chunk:
Gallager writes about a time when he was only able to get his students interested in a book when he brought it to the classroom and made it easily available to them (instead of asking them to go to the school library). He made the point that sometimes we have to bring the library to students. I appreciate this sentiment because honestly, students are busy and sometimes asking them to go find yet another thing is just more than they are willing to handle. If we can spark their interest in books and bring them a flood of options just waiting for them to grab, take home, and devour...we are much more likely to gain their interest. Sometimes students just need that extra push and that little helping hand to get them going.

Third chunk:
Gallager also mentioned that many students have forgotten how to read for enjoyment. To these students books are a school only thing and something to be avoided at all costs. He encouraged giving students the opportunity to read silently for simple enjoyment. I have seen this in action at a school I have observed in. The students do minimal analyzing and reporting on their books but they read and read and read. The focus of the class is to encourage students to read a smorgasbord of materials and to give them the resources they need to be successful readers and to find more materials for reading.

Concluding chunk:
I could write for hours on this topic but I will leave it here. I have always loved to read. I was homeschooled from 2nd grade and up. I remember the first day of "class" as a homeschooler. My mom sat down on the couch with me and together we read through picture book after picture book after picture book. I loved it because she was so proud when I finished a book. I remember picking out a harder picture book and racing to her room to show her that I could read it. Not long after, I remember venturing into my local library and feeling the excitement of choosing whatever book I wanted to read. I LOVE that library. I returned all the time as I grew up and continued to find joy in reading. I remember leaving the library with literal stacks of books (my limit was 30 and I almost always hit it) and feeling so excited to delve into the worlds of magic and wonder just waiting inside those covers. It wasn't until years later that I learned from my mom that my school had told her that I was struggling with reading. I remember those school classes too...I hated reading in those classes because there was no focus on joy-it was all about correct or incorrect.
What I'm trying to say is that reading is an incredible experience and a life-long passion and skill that our students can possess. We owe it to each and every student to give them the opportunity, support, and resources necessary to help them become life long readers.