The Bear Cage

I admit.  I was worried that so many of my students seemed to want to read books on their iPods and iPhones.

“The screen is too small,” my brain screamed at them as they squinted at the words. 

“There are no good free books,” my brain shouted at me as I tried to find them things to read on their tiny little screens.

But then?  Something magical happened.  They ignored those cheesy romance novels and the instructional guides after a few snickers about that S.E.X. word that kept popping up.  They started digging deeper into the “free books” category.

And then one student updated her “What Am I Reading” sign.  I admit, I was expecting to see a light piece of fluff as the title.  There’s nothing wrong with fluff, but sometimes I wish I could get them reading a little deeper into the canon of English literature.

Imagine my surprise when she writes, “Anne of Green Gables.”  I must have made a delighted little squeal because she turned and looked at me, and even though everyone was silent and reading, she blurted across the room, “It’s my new favourite, Ms. A!  I read it until I fell asleep last night!”  This, from a grade 7 student who up until now read nothing other than easy series or magazines.

The next day, Sam updates his reading sign.  This young fellow enjoys reading but hasn’t ever ventured beyond a very specific set of criteria - Bone, Owls, or Lions.  His sign?  “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”  His comment?  “Even though it’s kind of old and everyone talks weird, Tom and Huck are pretty freaking cool!”

One day later, the quietest girl in the class, a girl who loves to read and reads well (Grade 7 and just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), updates her reading sign. Her new find? “Grimm’s Fairy Tales.”  Everyone knows this girl reads good books and interesting books, so when one of my non-readers asks her what it’s about, T tells them that these are the “original fairy tales! The gross ones and the violent ones!”

Before I know it, everyone is downloading these new fairy tales and by the end of the class, ten students are comparing their favourite fairy tales with each other and talking about how time has changed them.

I take it back; I’m totally ok with reading on small screens.