Ashley Blackwelder Blog Post 2: "The Pleasure Principle"

I really enjoyed this article, and I love the "Readers' Bill of Rights" that Atwell includes. I agree that so much of what we do in the classroom can "prevent kids from experiencing the satisfaction of books," and that some things must change if we're going to help our students become not only confident and competent, but enthusiastic, life-long readers.
Atwell says that we sometimes fear letting reading become "too enjoyable" in our classrooms--that if our kids aren't working at reading, we must be doing something wrong. I understand her point, but I feel that there are many more hurdles in our way than simply feeling like we're being too fun and easy on our students.  Teachers have an enormous amount of pressure on them these days, and I think many of us have gotten the idea that if reading instruction is too enjoyable for us, then we must be doing something wrong as well. Atwell mentions the fear of young readers that there is a "proper, rigorous way to read, and we're not doing it right." I think this same fear applies to teaching: If our plans for readers' workshop or literature circles or conferences don't require hours of intensive planning and labor, then we must be missing something. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking, I don't really understand "workshops"...or I don't have time to change my plans...or I don't really know what it means to organize literature circles (and I probably should know, so I won't embarass myself by asking). Not to mention the anxiety over test scores, SLOs, etc. It's easy for us to feel like there's no time for pleasure in teaching reading, either.
But as Atwell reminds us, that enjoyment in reading is so vital for our students; they will grow so much more if they're actually finding pleasure in what they're learning--and if the skills they are developing actually help them to enjoy their reading more. The same is true for us as teachers.  We aren't going to learn and grow and develop our skills if we're miserable every minute that we're in that classroom.  Reading has to be a fun, shared experience--even in this high-stress time that we find ourselves in.  It's also encouraging to see that Atwell's recommendations are quite simple--no magic formula or buzz word to magically solve all of our problems. We simply need to "talk with young readers and listen to them." Yes, there are skills that must be taught. Yes, we are required to have grades. But it is possible to do those things in a way that allows us all to enjoy the practice of reading once again. We, along with our students, need to find the pleasure in it.