Independent Reading To Peak Engagement and Motivation

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Inspired by several educators and colleagues emphasizing the value of authentic student interest in regards to increasing reading volume, I decided to let my students select a book from our media center for independent reading with a little follow-up video production assignment (basically, the assignment works like an advanced version of Reading Rainbow where they can share their tastes and critiques with classmates).

Our class period in the media center went well until I noticed that two of my 11th grade boys selected a variety of books that solely focused on drugs: "Cocaine," "Legalizing Marijuana," "Meth." Great. I felt a little annoyed and a little stuck. Surely, I am not one for censoring books. But, any teacher in their right mind would feel uncomfortable with their students walking down the school hallway carrying a series of books on drugs. Right?! Like, what if we ran into the the principal?! Or the head of the school board? "Oh, this is just for Ms. Vasich's class." Oh man, I can hear them now.

That said, I also recognize that our library has those texts, so they must be approved of by the school system. And, my assignment was to choose books that interested the students. So, to some extent, I put myself into the bind.

In the end, I said that they could check out those "very eye-opening" texts as long as they picked at least one other fiction book that fit my approval. Okay, I hand-selected Catch 22, A True Diary of A Part Time Indian, and A Lesson On Dying.

For you teachers reading this, how would have you handled this situation? Have you had a similiar experience? Please, I need enlightenment!

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