Reading for the Week: How to Get More from Reading the Blog

In reviewing your assessments of how you are doing in the class, I saw one from a returning student who was having some difficulty reading and getting all the information from the blog. Here is my advice to her:

Spread the reading over two or three days. Skim it one day to pick up the basic assignments and ideas which will be covered and come back and read for nuance. I assume students are reading the posts as if they were reading a text book, that is, taking notes on new terms or changes to old ones, on connections between old and new ideas, and on specific assignments or chances to practice, and on questions they might have. I am also assuming students are reading the blogs more than once, because I'm packing individual posts fairly densely with information. Finally, I am hoping (but not assuming) students are discussing their questions with their group and bringing questions their group can't resolve to me.

Here is a link on a method which may help you to read more actively and get more from the kind of academic, intensive reading you need to do for the blog:

http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/interactivenotebook.htm

[The above is a good active reading tactic to adapt to the reading you do online. You can set your reading notebook beside your computer and take notes as you read. I especially like the note/response format the divided notebook method imposes. There are a host of studies showing it produced a more comprehensive understanding of what one reads, all while allowing the reader to isolate questions they may have. ]

For a list of other active reading tactics, not all of which will work with online reading, look here:

http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading/Reading%20Strategies/reading%20strategies%20index.htm

[These active reading tactics were developed for a K-12 teacher audience, but--in general--they work well for academic, college reading as well, especially at the freshman level. Most students entering college don't consciously read academic texts differently than they do other reading, and to succeed, they need to learn both that they have to read textbooks differently and how to do so.]

As always, write with questions.

Steve