Response to "I Read It But I Don't Get It."

I liked how Tovani wrote in “I Read it, but I don’t get it.”  So often, education advice is delivered in a method that knocks the reader over the head and tires them out.  Very little time was spent on re-reading what she was trying to say, which makes it more accessible to me.

In chapter one, she dispels the myth that fast reading means that the reader comprehends what they read.  Too many times I have seen my kids read for thirty minutes, set the book down and announce that they are “done.”  I asked them what they read about, and they give me a blank look.  I don’t think some readers comprehend what comprehension is.  As is discussed in chapter three, some of them might need more than just holding the book in front of them, interpreting the meaning behind a string of symbols and expecting something to come of it.  Tovani discusses certain strategies like “thinking aloud,” “marking,” “double-entry diaries,” “modeling” and more.  Often text, even when it isn’t so deep to require multiple readings, needs manipulation to achieve the level of understanding that a student needs.

Chapter four gave a particular useful idea; kind of a method for dismantling the hold that confusion has on some of us.  By teaching students to be aware of when confusion comes creeping into their learning, they are able to understand how to work around the barriers that confusion might cause.  In this chapter, she mentions six signals that readers might need to look for.  This skill might be hard for accomplished readers to do so she suggested finding a particularly difficult piece of reading for them to use to be able to discover the signs that confusion might be limiting the levels of comprehension needed to achieve understanding.

One of the things that occurred to me, as I was reading this, is that there is no easy and quick path to fixing any kind of learning strategies.  Like habits that take concerted time to alter, learning habits are the same way—in the beginning, change may feel particularly elusive.  With deliberate and constant work, eventually, change will feel swift and the process may feel less intrusive.