Reflecting on a Reading Life: Reading Logs

image by David Yu on flickr (cc)

Last week I posted about the data that can be collected from student reading logs. Now that the September reading logs have been turned in and students have reflected on them, I would like to share some student insights about themselves as readers. I'll run through the questions from the reflection sheet, and share some interesting responses.

Titles: Are you sticking to one genre or reading a variety? Are you finishing them? Have you abandoned any?

• I think I'm sticking to mystery just because I've enjoyed that genre for now. I haven't ever read many mystery books so this might have been good for me.
• I have read 2 books related to slavery, but all the books are different genres. I have not abandoned a book yet.
• I have read a variety of books including history, biographies, realistic fiction, and short stories. I did abandon 1 book because I was not interested in reading it, and I felt it lacked plot.

Reading volume and rate: Are you reading about 1 page per minute? Are you reading fast and long enough to get through about a book a month?

• I think it takes about 1 to 2 mins for me to read a page because I am a slow reader and I often go back and read again because I forget things easily. It takes me about 2-3 weeks to finish a book. (My response back: "Can you write a quick summary sticky when you finish to help you remember where you left off?" I also noticed she was reading late at night-- after 11:00 sometimes on a school night. I wrote another comment: "Maybe this is why you don't remember your reading. Try reading earlier in the day.")
• I am reading a little faster than 1 page per a minute however I sometimes get distracted and increase the time.
• Yes, some books had bigger pages than others. I was reading just under a page per minute, but I noticed that I read faster in the morning than I do just before I go to sleep. I think it has to do with me being tired.
• Yes I can read about a page a minute, but sometimes I read so fast I don't even understand.

Timing: When are you reading? Are you reading at least 20 minutes at a stretch? If you need to read more, when could you fit it in?

• I read before bed, and sometimes I read less than 20 minutes and sometimes more. (My response back: "Maybe before bed is not the best time. Consider other-- less sleepy-- times to read.")
• I am reading at night time, mostly. I read at least 20 minutes at a stretch, and if I need more time I could read right when I get home. (My response when I saw he was not reading 100 minutes a week, and had skipped a whole week: "It looks like you need to find more reading time and keep it going each week. Either that or you need to remember to log your reading."
• Sometimes I read about 18-19 min when busy. However most of the time I read at least 20 min and if I want to read more, weekends will be perfect for me to do that.
• I'm reading at least 50 minutes per stretch, but about once a week. I still need to read a lot more. I can fit it in whenever, but I need to regularly read to get it part of my routine.

Did you meet your first goal? If so, what is your next goal? If not, what is your next step that will bring you closer to your goal?

• I completed my reading goal. Now I would like to discuss the books I read with people to find a deeper meaning and understand more. (My response: "Good idea! Who will be your reading buddies?")
• I think I need to work on my goal more because it wasn't really convenient for me to record on my log. I will start putting sticky notes to record easier. I want to make reading a habit.
• I have a good start. I have read 2 1/2 books in a month so by semester 2 I should have 7 read.
• I read both fiction and nonfiction, but I mostly read adventure books, so I'll try more to pick different kinds of books.

From my perspective, I noticed that the girls and a few boys are reading up a storm. However, most of the boys gave me either incomplete reading logs or none at all. Without seeing their logs, I can't know any of the above information about their reading lives. Since this is the first month, I will need to hound them to get the logs in to me before this becomes the standard for the rest of the year.