Module 3...Reading Deeply Online

So last week I decided that I was going to start reading online and not print out the articles for each week.  At first it was a tough task, I wasn’t used to it.  I didn’t have my trusty highlighter and pen.  I know that I can do that online but I haven’t gotten that far yet.  Hopefully by next week I will be there!  As I was reading I did like the option of typing my thoughts right into the document that I was responding about or cut and paste a quote that I wanted to go back to later.  I was beginning to read deeply, as I said I was beginning to.  I still miss my highlighter and pen but I think that since we (the world not just our classes) are moving to more online reading I need to move with it too or I will be left without anything to read!

The first question about, “How does what I am reading influence how I should read it?” For adults and students is interesting question.  When I read something for fun I could read it anywhere on the beach, on the train, in a busy airport but when it comes to “school work” I need a quiet spot.  I don’t want any distractions, I need to concentrate, and I need to be a student.  When my students participate in learning centers I try to provide them with that quiet learning environment.  Some students are working on the computer/iPad with headphones, some are listening and responding to a story at the listening station, some are working with me at a reading group and some are “reading” in the classroom library.  I want students to know that when it time to learn that when it is time to read they also need a quiet spot to think, learn, and focus.

I received a nook a few years ago as a Christmas gift and at first I thought, “How am I going to read on this thing?”  Of course I didn’t want this expensive gift to go to waste so I started downloading books and magazines.  At first I thought I could only read fun books and magazines and then I found out I could out read meaningful text on the nook as well.  I realized that the format of the information affected my perception of the validity/rigor to what I read.  I am now “teaching” myself that no matter where I read or what I read it on does have validity.  The rigor to which I read it changes because of the context.  An article from Us Weekly is going to read a lot differently than an article from New York Times on Education or World News.

I try to apply my understanding of reading deeply to all of my students.  As my experiences change with reading online I show my students that I am learning as well.  I can go back to stories that I have read aloud in a hard copy and show them the online version.  Using the Smartboard I am able to show students how to make notes in the text that we can go back to later and revisit the text and notes.

Reading deeply online is something is foreign to me but it’s something that I am learning to do.  As I learning I am trying to incorporate it into my classroom.  It’s not only something I am learning to do but it’s something I am sharing with my students to help all of us learn to read deeply online.  It might not always be perfect but learning isn’t always is!

This work by Anne Marie Lanning is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.