While the process of learning to read was not very difficult for me, there was a bit of a learning curve to absorbing and processing the material I was reading. It’s one thing to simply read what’s written on the page, it’s another thing entirely to understand and interpret it. I look forward to tackling these potential challenges with my students in the upcoming year and hope to help them recognize the pleasure in reading. 

 

Some of my best childhood memories are reading books.  As a child, my parents always read books to my brothers and I.  I especially loved being read to before bedtime or during lunch.  I have vivid memories of reading some of my favorite books over and over, such as, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Giving Tree, Corduroy, my favorite chapter book series, Junie B. Jones, and the list goes on… Although I loved reading at home with my family members, when it came time to read in school I did not enjoy it at all.  In second grade I struggled with reading and began going to reading class, up until around 6^th grade.  Because I always felt that reading was not a strength of mine, I began to dislike it all together.  I read slower than my classmates and I struggled to sound out long words.  I remember dreading reading aloud to the class or being chosen during “popcorn” reading.  

 

Although I never grew to love reading the way I did when I was a young child, I do feel that I have become a more fluent reader and don’t struggle nearly as much to comprehend the text.  I hope this class gives me insight on the many difficulties children may face when learning to read and the most effective methods of helping them overcome challenges so that they can enjoy reading as they become older.  

My name is Amelia Arbeely and I am from Wilmington, Ma. I just graduated from Endicott with a degree in elementary education and now I’m part of the Fellowship program for my Masters. I am so excited to be working in Beverly again in the fall!

            I have really great memories of reading books as far back as I can remember. I loved reading with parents every night and Dr. Seuss was definitely one of my favorites. Before I could read I would have my parents read the same book every night, Old Hat New Hat, until I had it memorized and I thought I could read. I was a little slow to completely learn all the skills to read, I remember being in one of the lower reading groups in first grade. Even though I wasn’t the fastest reader I really enjoyed reading. Through elementary school and middle school I loved to read. Somewhere in high school I stopped reading so much as I became busier I lost the drive to read as much and I have been trying to get back into it. 

     I loved reading as a child. My favorite books to read were the Harry Potter series and historical fiction, which inspired my love for history. One of my first reading memories was my mother reading the Harry Potter series to my older brother and me. 
     To me, reading to myself came very easily. But I had difficulties with reading in my classes. I was very shy in elementary school and I hated reading aloud because I always stumbled through the words. I remember usually getting placed in the lower reading groups because the teachers assumed that I wasn’t talking because I didn’t understand the material. It was my love of reading, however, that inspired me to start talking in class. I wanted to be just like Hermione, so I started raising my hand and talking more in class. I was always trying to challenge myself and read books above my grade level and was very proud when I tested at an 11th grade reading level in 6th grade and was put in a special reading class. 

     In high school I started reading a lot less. Like most of us, I had to read a lot of books for my English classes, so I didn’t have the motivation to read outside of class.  While I did enjoy some of the books we read in high school (Catcher in the Rye was my favorite), most of the books I did not enjoy reading. Reading became more about memorizing character’s names and finding quotes to fulfill essay requirements than actually reading the book.

     I didn’t really start reading again until I took a Children’s Literature course my junior year, where I reread a bunch of my favorite books from childhood. These books reminded me how much I loved to read as a kid, and made me realize that I missed reading. Since then I started reading for pleasure again.

 

Growing up I had a strong relationship with reading. At an early age I associated reading with comfort because my mom read to be before bed every night. I spent endless hours during the summer reading books. My mom created a sticker chart that encouraged my sister and I to read more in order to receive a prize. But, it wasn’t the sticker chart that kept me reading; I genuinely loved to dive into the world that reading created.

My favorite author was Beverly Cleary. I adored the Ramona books and read every one. I wrote a letter to Beverly Cleary when I was in 2nd grade and she wrote back! It was a typed up post card and it meant the world to me, as a little growing reader, that she took the time to answer.

 

As I got older, I recall a summer night in my middle school years when my best friend and I thought it would be “cool” and “impressive” to stay up all night and read. We vowed we wouldn’t sleep until we each read a book beginning to end. As expected, by midnight we both fell fast asleep. But, we got an A for effort! 

 

As for most, during my high school and college years my reading habits declined. I still enjoyed reading but found it to be lower on my list of priorities. I still go through random spurts of reading for a month or so and then put it on pause for a short while. I hope that this summer I will find more time to enjoy reading as much as I did when I was younger. Additionally, once I start teaching, I hope to insight the same love of reading in my students that I felt when I was their age.

 

Reading has always been a challenge for me because I find it difficult to sit still for a long period of time. I also find myself having to read the same page or article multiple times to comprehend the meaning. 

 

Growing up I loved Dr. Seuss because they were whimsical and had simple plots. When I was in elementary school I enjoyed the books from the Junie B. Jones series or anything sports related, especially soccer. As I have grown up, I have realized that I should have been reading more throughout my years because I would have developed a stronger vocabulary and fluency. I am slowly developing my love for reading but I will get there eventually! 

 

My name is Lindsay Beise and I am from Mansfield, MA. I attended Northeastern for my undergraduate degree in psychology, and am currently in pursuit of my Master of Education in special education and applied behavior analysis. I currently work as a behavior therapist in an ABA program within a public elementary school. 

 

Growing up, I loved to read! It came easily to me and I enjoyed reading by myself or having my parents read to me. I often tried to keep up with my older brother and read something that he was reading. I loved Harry Potter, and one of my fondest memories was having my parents read them aloud to me and my brother before bedtime! I also enjoyed the Junie B. Jones series, Babysitter’s club, and anything by Judy Blume. 

 

Because reading came easily to me, it was something I enjoyed doing when I was younger (and still do!). I am very interested to learn more about the challenges that students may face when learning to read, and how to best overcome those obstacles to make reading as enjoyable for them as it was for me!