"There's nothing to do in there..."

Recently, a colleague shared with me that one of my students commented as he was leaving her room, "I don't want to go to Ms. Darcy's class today.  There's nothing to DO in there..."  At first, it stung a little, because student motivation is a top goal of mine this year.  However, it forced me to continue to reflect on the conditions that make students feel that way and what we can do about it.

In Reading Don't Fix No Chevys, Jeffrey Wilhelm (our KGCS keynote speaker this year) and Michael Smith present what they learned from countless interviews with students about their perceptions of reading.  They found that much of what we ask students to do in reading class lacks the conditions that motivate learners.  In the minds of students, especially readers who have been unsuccessful in school, in-school reading assignments lack any authentic goal or purpose.  Dr. Wilhelm summarizes key ideas for creating flow in our classrooms in the article, Inquiring Minds Learn to Read, Write, and Think.

It is important to remember that disconnected readers are not making meaning.  This is a central comprehension problem for many of our readers that no amount of test preparation will fix.  In fact, excessive test preparation works against intrinsic motivation by communicating to students that the main purpose of reading anything is to prepare to answer questions.  

To promote reading as an engaging tool for purposeful action, I plan a FUNctional Text Friday activity for students every week.  Students work in partners to read, think, and do something interesting.  I try to intervene as little as possible because I want to communicate that they are the agents of action who can use reading and thinking to create things and complete interesting tasks.

This video is a snapshot of our most recent FUN Friday activity.  Before the activity this week, I decided to really make sure that my learning target was clear, so I reminded students that their job was to practice reading, thinking, and doing.  One student raised his hand and said in all seriousness, "Wait, so what you're saying is that Fun Fridays aren't for having fun?!?"  I guess I have more work to do in promoting the mindset that reading and learning and thinking do not have to be separate from action and fun!

I will be placing some of our FUNctional Text Friday activities on a page in the menu to the right.