Shifting from Assumptions to Actions: Building Students’ Confidence in Reading!
“Reading the word and learning how to write the word so one can later read if are preceded by learning how to write the world, that is having the experience of changing the world and touching the world.”-Paulo Freire
It has been embedded in us that we need know learn how to read to survive in this world. In order to change the world, we must learn how to read and write. But, what happens when the education system fails our students, and as a result, they navigate through the education system without learning critical reading skills? Whenever I assign texts, students often say, “I hate to read!” or “Reading is so boring!” so I decided to stop ignoring the problem and dig deeper into why they have such a negative relationship with reading. This action research sought to increase students’ confidence and interest in reading by providing them with the reading intervention structure and strategies to help improve their reading skills. Data collection included students’ pre and post surveys, exit tickets, my observation notes, coaching’s feedback. Findings from the data show that students show a slight increase in interest towards reading, but they also reveal how students are beginning to use more reading strategies to help them make meaning of the text. While there is still tremendous work to be done to increase students’ interest in reading, this is the initial step towards providing students with the necessary reading tools to make them feel more confident in their ability to read fluently.
