Monday, February 27, 2012

Oh, DEAR

One thing that really interested me in our textbook Adolescents and Digital Literacies is the "drop everything and read" program that is implemented in many schools today. Sara Kadjer mentions the program several times throughout the text, one specific instance is in chapter five on page 70. DEAR is an independent reading time implemented during each day's morning meeting. Basically, students are required to read something in homeroom every morning. Another thing DEAR is known as is SSR (sustained silent reading.) We never had DEAR or SSR time in my high school, but I wish we had. We basically sat around and finished up the previous night's homework, or didn't really do anything. I think that if we would have had a program like this in our school maybe more of the students would have grew to love reading and would have rather picked up a book in their free time than spending countless hours in front of the television. I will be sure to keep many good books in my classroom when I am a teacher in case any student wants to read them in homeroom, even if the school I am teaching at doesn't have a DEAR or SSR program.

J.A.M.

1 comment:

  1. We never had SSR in anyt of the schools I attended. During my field and observation experiences, I never witnessed SSR firsthand. It seems odd that more schools aren't participating in DEAR or SSR. I would like to see how it actually works in the classroom. Do the students enjoy it? Do they literally drop EVERYTHING and read or do they sleep or doodle? It would be interesting to participate in the program so that I can for myself if it's helpful or simply a good idea in theory.

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