You Gotta Be the Book Beginning

     I have to say so far I really enjoy this book. It is very easy to read and kept me engaged the entire time I was reading it. I did not find my thoughts drifting away from the book. I found so many interesting points in this piece that I did not get bored of it. I feel I have benefited from this already, by getting some great advice and things to think about in my future.
     One idea that I found interesting was the idea that the students didn't want to read. I am not surprised by this, because I did not know many peers in middle and high school that enjoyed reading. I also did not enjoy reading in school, and to be honest I still don't. I feel a lot of the issue may be the due dates, content of the book, and assignments associated with the book that personally turned me off from reading. I enjoyed most of the books I read in high school and middle school, however there were a few I struggled to get into and found extremely boring. I can understand students not wanting to read if they viewed their books the same way I viewed my books. Another issue is the fact that students can't just read leisurely with school books, they have to have a certain amount done by a certain time, and for some students that can be really stressful. Lastly if a student is not interested in a book, they are more likely to just skip through and find the information they need for the worksheets, essays, quizzes etc. especially when they are already running low on time.
     I feel these are the most obvious reasons that students are saying they are not enjoying reading. Some other ones I have thought of is the fact that students have to read so much in school, that it is considered a chore and not a relaxing or fun activity. I know during the school year I seldom read for leisure. I feel like I have to read so much for classes, that once I am done with all my class reading, I want to relax by just watching TV or a movie, something that does not require effort. When I spend two hours reading textbooks and required readings for class, it is very unlikely I am going to pick up a book for enjoyment.
    I really liked this point because I feel I can relate to it a lot from my own experience. I have never really put this much thought into this issue until now. Unfortunately not much can be done about a lot of these issues. Due dates have to exist in order to teach all the material that needs to be taught, and assignments have to exist to make sure students are reading the material. The amount of reading can not really be changed by the teacher either. I guess reading this and thinking about the topic have made me a little bit more aware to student's reluctance to read, and with this knowledge I can attempt to make reading more interesting and less like a chore for my students.