Chapter 2 Response

One of the most beneficial pieces of information from chapter 2 was the "top ten school conditions" that Atwell's students stated made them most engaged during reading. While I'm happy to see that I am implementing some of these conditions, I know that I could improve. Two particular conditions I could improve on involve "comfort during in-class reading time" and "individuals' conversations with the teacher about their reading". I try to provide a comfortable classroom during reading by dimming the lights and playing soft music in the background; however, my room is sincerely only large enough for one bean bag chair and one body pillow. I wish I could provide more comfy furniture to create more of a relaxing environment. In regards to the conversations surrounding students' books, I need to improve. I feel like so often my time during S.S.R. (reading zone, essentially) involves taking attendance, catching students up on missing assignments if they were absent, and conferencing over other classroom assignments.