Saturday, June 23, 2012

Saturday Sayings: Expect Nothing in Return

(More Saturday Sayings can be found if you click on the graphic.)

Have you read this?  I recently finished it, and it could easily supply me with enough quotes for about two year's worth of Saturday Sayings.  It was that good.
That's my pa.  Fishing or playing with his cell phone?
Here's a little moment of truth from my own teaching experience.  I shudder to think that I even did this.  During my first few years of teaching I had a chart on the wall with each child's name.  I kept track with tallies of the number of books they read at home.  Every time a child read 10 books, they got some kind of prize, which I doubt was anything special.  The whole things makes me cringe on so many levels.  What an embarrassment for the kids who didn't read much at home or at all for that matter.  Most of the time at my grade level, that's a parental issue anyway.  It's not the child's fault.  Most importantly, by "paying" them to read, I regret the message I was sending.  


"Rewarding reading with prizes cheapens it, and undermines students' chance to appreciate the experience of reading for the possibilities that it brings to their life."  Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer 151

This next thought might some day become its own Saturday Saying.  As much as possible, school reading and life reading should be one and the same, and how often is that not the case?  As an adult reader, no one rewards me after I read ten books.  My reward is so much greater than that, and that's what I've learned needs to take place with young readers.  Their reward should be found in the ways their hearts, minds, and lives connect with the books they read.  As with most things, I'm still learning how to get better at making this happen, but my goal is to grow readers who love reading so much that they'll do it forever and never expect anything in return, except simply that feeling of satisfaction they get from being readers.


(Disclaimer:  My school does participate in a few reading incentive programs, such as the Pizza Hut Book-It program, but I try to downplay it as much as possible.  "Hey guys.  I know you don't read so that you'll get pizza, but the people at Pizza Hut love to read.  They heard that you love to read too, so they'd love to celebrate being readers together" or something like that.)


It's very possible that you're reading this at the very moment I'm running 13.1 miles in Seattle.  Pray for my friend's feet.  They're both recovering from surgery, and they don't always play nice.  We're planning on enjoying ourselves regardless though.  :)

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38 comments:

  1. I love this book! I also wonder about AR books and the emphasis we put on those tests and getting points for reading.
    Enjoy your run! Praying for a pain free finish!
    Sandi
    Literacy Minute

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    1. Thanks Sandi. I don't prefer AR. :) Thanks for the prayers. Her feet managed pretty well!

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  2. I can't remember a time when we did not offer incentives for reading. But you know what, my girls will read like crazy people for the incentives for AR, from their teachers, etc. But it does not transfer over - they have not picked up a book this summer. So I think your book is correct-happy running!
    Jennifer
    kindertrips

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    1. Jennifer, the absence of carry-over is a problem isn't it? It's an interesting dilemma for sure.

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  3. Wow! 13 miles!! You go GIRL!!
    I agree with you that incentives are not the way to go. Giving kids time to read during the school day is imperative where I teach because many of them have no books at home. I also have a LARGE library of books in my room that I've collected over the years. So, I have a wide variety of books to choose from. I also do author studies so the kids get to know collections of work by different authors.
    Connie:)
    welcome to first grade room 5

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    1. Connie, The Book Whisperer talks a lot about the time spent during the school day reading, just like Richard Allington's research talks about. Kids have got to be reading. If we can surround them with books instead of incentives, we'll get somewhere. Thanks for commenting.

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  4. What a great post! LOVE it. I'm not a big fan of all the "prizes" we do for reading. :-(

    Way to go on the half-marathon! Hope it goes well!

    Crystal
    Teaching Little Miracles

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    1. Crstal, thanks for stopping by and commenting. The half-marathon went well. Happy feet and no rain!

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  5. Oops! I've been guilty of that in the past also. I would have those super moms whose child was turning in reading logs right and left and then the ones whose mom never even looked at their work. Thanks for the insight, I'll have to check out that book.

    Kelly @ I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

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    1. Kelly, you'll definitely need to check out the book. It's so good and a quick read too. Thanks for coming by.

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  6. I think I could have used these quotes for my AR posts, Tammy! I so agree that we should teach the love of reading and the intrinsic rewards it brings and not teach them to read for an extrinsic reward. Good luck to you and your friend today!!
    Lori
    Conversations in Literacy

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    1. Lori, that's a perfect quote for your AR post. Maybe you can use it for future AR posts. Thanks for the running well wishes.

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  7. I read that book last summer and LOVED it. I passed it on to my btb this summer. Our school is a HUGE AR school, but I do my best not to let my kiddos (and me) sucked in. I am gathering up my sayings to visit you next Saturday if that's ok! Best of luck to you and Paige I hope her feet are all in for this marathon. You two are my idols!
    Tammy

    First Grade @ Klinger Cafe
    dtklinger@gmail.com

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    1. Tammy, isn't it the best book?! I'd LOVE for you to join up with me. I'm doing a blog swap thingy on Saturday, so I was going to post my Saturday Sayings on Friday. How does that sound?

      Thanks for the well wishes. Paige's feet behaved themselves. Idols? You're very sweet to say that.

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  8. I just read the book whisperer too. I was nodding my head the whole time. Now I am reading the daily 5 and the philosophies are very similar. We need to provide more time for reading. Kids need to learn to love to read. I liked the quote "readers are made not born."

    Good luck at your race. I am training for the airforce half marathon, I know how aches and pains can take the fun out of the race. I hope your friend's feet were ok. Seattle would be beautiful place to run. I use to live in Issaquah, Wa. I am a fan of flat courses.

    Tricia

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    1. Tricia, I totally agree that The Book Whisperer and Daily 5 go well together. Great books and great philosophies.

      It was a beautiful day for a run. No rain! Last year's half-marathon course was much flatter than this year's. We encountered our share of hills for sure. Good luck at your half!

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  9. Happy running . . . such a great goal and what a wonderful feeling it'll be when you've finished and achieved it . . . and what better place than in Seattle?? Thanks for sharing these tidbits from the book. We also try not to offer extrinsic rewards for achievement but it seems that where they are developmentally, it is appropriate to incentivize our littlest learnings.

    Barbara
    The Corner On Character

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    1. Barbara, "incentivize" - nice word. It is a great feeling to finish a race, and I'm especially glad that my friend's feet were happy and that it didn't rain on us.

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  10. Tammy, I love this post. When my kids were in elementary school their librarian insisted on a elaborate system that started with a star on the wall when a child read a certain number of books (actually when their parents reported they had), then glitter when more were read and finally a special party for those that read the most. She basically treated it as a list of the "good kids with good parents" and it made my skin crawl. At the time I was going to school to get my teaching certificate and loved the writing of Alfie Kohn about intrinsic motivation. I remember he wrote an article about Pizza Hut's read-it program titled "A lot of fat kids who don't like to read." I must say that I am less critical of teachers who use prizes after actually teaching but I so agree that we have to work to help kids to be intrinsically motivated to read (or learn) because that's when it becomes something that will interest them throughout their lives.

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    1. Lyn, thank you for adding to the conversation. I love your insight. That quote about Pizza Hut's program is too perfect!

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  11. Seattle?! We should have coordinated a meet-up! Next time :)

    The Book Whisperer is on my list!
    Julie
    Light A Fire in Third

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    1. Julie, oh that's right. You're up this way. Yes, next time! It was a beautiful day for a race. I wasn't enjoying the rain the day before or the early morning hours before the race. That would not have been fun. Yes, get this book. It's too good.

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  12. This is so interesting. As a person who loves reading and a mom of four really successful readers and a beginner reader, I really hate having to record the minutes read just so my child can get a prize. (Often think of it as 'creative writing.' I know they have read enough during the week.)They read everynight time! My husband is a huge reader. We let them read at bedtime. (Sometimes have to TAKE the book to my room because they won't stop and go to sleep!) AR test are frustrating too. One boy reads the new series in the library but gets no "credit" because there is no test for it. Then I have to get all over his case to read AR books instead. Sounds counterproductive to me. I just want them to be good readers:Readers of the newspaper, how to books, science books, non-fiction and the fun fiction. I do like it when they keep a list of what they read. It's fun to see their growth that way. I keep track of what I read just so I remember! :)

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    1. Melissa, as a parent you can totally understand the whole prizes, AR stuff. Sometimes we teachers just need to get out of the way and let them enjoy reading.

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  13. I also LOVE this book. We do a short 6 week incentive program, towards the end of the year. I am not a huge incentive person, especially when it comes to reading, but I do like that it recognized the kids who just plain love to read....they read for an hour, even when only 30 minutes is required.

    I have already traveled to Seattle twice, for baseball, and I think at least 3 more trips are still planned.

    Laurie
    Chickadee Jubilee

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    1. Laurie, it's a great read isn't it? Sounds like you live a little closer to Seattle than I do!

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  14. I am just about to pick up this book. Although I don't do prizes for reading, I think I definitely need to make some changes. I think this book will provide the inspiration I need.

    Sara :)
    Smiling In Second Grade

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    1. Sara, it will definitely inspire. I know you'll enjoy it.

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  15. This is a fantastic book. We also do incentive programs for reading, sponsored by several businesses. Some teachers post the charts, but I do not. As you said, much of the reading time involves the parents. I don't want to make anyone feel "less than".

    The best reward for me? For any reason? Free time to READ! :-)
    ReadWriteSing

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    1. Chrissy, at our grade levels it's like we're rewarding parents instead of kids, huh? Thanks for your comment.

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  16. I bought the Book Whisperer last summer and still haven't read it!! Sheesh, I have about 6 teacher books to read this summer.
    I love your sentiments, as usual:)
    I think it's time I got rid of our school reading program. It's optional and very low key, but like you say, it's more like we're rewarding the parents.
    I hope you had a FABULOUS run yesterday...hopefully your running buddy was feeling her finest. Take care!

    ❀Barbara❀
    Grade ONEderful
    Ruby Slippers Blog Designs

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  17. Barbara, I'd had my book for a while before reading it too. You'll be glad when you finally do get a chance to read it. Thanks again for the comments. (Oh, and my friend's feet were pretty happy.)

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    1. Yes, I know :)) I finally found some time this evening to check in your friend's running blog. You two had quite the adventure!!

      ❀Barbara❀
      Grade ONEderful
      Ruby Slippers Blog Designs

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    2. Yep, an adventure indeed! Thanks for reading about it.

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  18. Hi Tammy,

    I just finished this book as well and absolutely LOVED it! One of my favorite teaching books that I have read so far. I, too, found a ton of quotes that I had marked. It was quite the task taking the sticky notes out of the book when I had to return it to the library... This is definitely a book I will be buying (and re-reading)! :-)

    I got to see Donalyn Miller speak at the CCIRA conference in February and it amazed me how excited her students were about reading (even the ones she considered "non-readers" before arriving in her class ended up falling in love with books). She's an inspiration and I've tried implementing many of the things she's shared into my own teaching. It's amazing the influence we can have on our students' love for reading if we model this to our students every day!

    Thanks for your inspirational posts! I always love reading them! I hope your half marathon went well... Way to go! I'm signed up to run my first 10K in 2 weeks. :-)

    Happy trails! :-)

    Chelsea

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    1. Chelsea, I'm sure listening to Donalyn was very inspiring. What a great opportunity that must have been for you. Good luck with your 10K!

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  19. Hi Tammy! I just wanted to let you know that I emailed you the blog swap post. Hope that you like it:)

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    1. Thanks Lidia. I got it and all looks well!

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