My mother really fostered my love for reading.  She was always a great example to me when I was growing up by reading a lot of books.  When I think of my mother she always had a book that she was reading and I would catch her frequently reading on the couch.  She would always encourage me to read when I was young, I would read aloud to her and then we would always discuss what I read to make sure that I understood the book.  She would always recommend books to me to read that I would be interested in, so reading would not seem like a chore, but rather an interesting hobby.  We would go to the library every other Friday to check out new books to read and she was very involved in what I was reading.  She would read a lot of the books I was reading so we could discuss the books and our opinions about what was happening.  I can establish similar activities in my own instruction by having my students read books together and having discussion about what we have read.  Also, I can have them go to the school library to check out books that I recommend, or what they want to check out that they would be interested in.

There was a teacher that I had in junior high that potentially could have damaged my love for reading.  She would force us to read books that she wanted us to read, then would have us read them on our own time, and have quizzes and tests to evaluate if we understood what we read.  We hardly discussed what we were reading and she just expected us to understand the books.  This caused me to lose interest in books for a little while, but then I remembered my love for reading.  I can avoid similar activities, by discussing with my students and get their opinions of the reading assignments.  I can also limit quizzes and tests regarding what they read and use different methods, like playing a game, to evaluate the reading assignments.