Reading Report 9

Opinion
Most of today's students don't like reading. If we went to a secondary or high school and asked the students about their hobbies, most of their hobbies would probably be chatting on line, playing video games, talking by cell phone, among many other new-born hobbies. We should not judge the students but analize the way they were taught to read. If they were asked just to read what the teacher said, the topics might have been unattractive for some students. When encouraging students to read, we have to search for the appropriate way, topic, and time to do it. We should take into account the students, their needs, their likes, their reactions to some issues. It's not just about reading louder and asking the students what they do not understand. We have to help the students to discover the topics they are interested in if they don't still know it. Sometimes teachers are a bit tough and say the students don't want to read anymore. Maybe it's not just the students' fault. The love of the reading begins when we are little most of the times -when our mothers, grandmothers, or even our teachers read a tale for us. So, why do people teach children how to play video games or how to use the computer if they want them to read? There are many devices that prevent children and even adults from learning to read. One of the devices that prevent students from reading, I think, is the computer since they spend long time chatting on line, playing cards, looking up information about their favorite artists, and so forth. Although they could find interesting readings on the internet, students -mainly yougsters- have to be guided in their researches. Most of the students want to read everything on the internet -which I think it's a bit acceptable but for high school or college students. Young students only want funny readings and they don't take books without drawings seriously. As teachers, we can increase their like for reading and their creativity for writing; if we want them to be creative, we have also to be creative and persistent on our attempt to make students have fun, learn, and enjoy by reading good texts.


Vocabulary
bound. adj. Certain to reach or achieve something. "... reading skills of college-bound students who took ..." The dancing-bound girls are very eager to begin the lesson.

startling. adj. Provoking surprise, fright, wonder, or alarm. "... is the most startling and..." This situation is startling.

striving. intr. verb. To try hard to achieve or get something. "... the Bush administration launched the Striving Readers program..." I'm striving to make this easier.

gap. noun. A significant difference between two situations, attitudes, or perceptions. Disparity. "And efforts to close the achievement gap between black and Hispanic students..." The meeting was uncomfortable due to the gap between European and American people.

Reading Report 8

Opinion
As an English learner, I feel really motivated to learn when I’m asked to talk about topics I really like. I think most of the students –either English or any other kinds of students- feel the same. As human beings, it’s our nature to engage in conversations in we are interested in and concerned about. This is because we like to be listened, we like to share our ideas and opinions, we like to know who thinks in the same way we do or at least more or less the same; in short, we like to discuss. So, if I think in that way, I want to be sure my students do so. I’d like to teach teenagers; I’ve said it many times. I think adolescence is the stage of our lives in which we enjoy the most being the attention focus; it’s the stage in which we like to keep everybody’s attention; it’s the stage in which we like to talk about ourselves and our likes and dislikes. I think this is a very good age for students to learn English since they like to communicate and talk about themselves and their likes. Therefore, topics that are relevant for students are very useful when learning English because they won’t be reluctant to working on and talking about something they like; that is one of the best ways we learn the most. We have to understand that every student is different and has different points of view about different topics; so, their opinions are very relevant and should be taken with respect. No opinion is better than other. We all differ from others; it’s the best part of us: we are different because if we weren’t, we’d know the same things and wouldn’t learn anything else. As English teachers, we can create a community in the classroom in which we all learn to teach one another in a very respectful environment by talking about what we really like and enjoy learning about. This is a real communication and this is the objective of a communicative approach.

Vocabulary.
freshmen. noun. A student in the first year of high school or college. “In my freshmen English class…” I’d like to work with freshmen since they’re more likely to learn.

rote. noun. Mechanical repetition of something so that it is remembered, often without real understanding of its meaning or significance. “… focused on grammar and rote memorization. ”It’s not good for you to learn this lesson by rote.