Inferencing, Sequencing, and the Balding Middle-aged Man at Jiffy Lube

I took Fin with me to get the oil changed. He brought along a "Little People" board book. It's a book with short, stocky kids that always have smiles on their faces. AKA "Little People." They're normally riding a bus, going on a field trip, or attending school. You know, the books where everyone is happy, and you can open flaps to find where the little Asian girl is hiding. For Fin, reading is hands-on, silly, entertaining, a vehicle to learn words, a way to pass the time, and something he can tell us about.

I brought a book along with me in case the oil change took awhile. I'm reading a new Rob Bell book, which is challenging my "Bible School" faith and stretching my every day beliefs. This book is opening my eyes and making me stop and think. Reading is a treat for me, and I read books to learn and sometimes to take me to another world altogether. For me, reading is challenging, comforting, cozy, enjoyable, and very much apart of who I am.

The balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube opened my car door with an umbrella in pouring rain inviting me to wait inside until the car was ready. He noticed Fin reading and said, "Oh, he's reading already? That's great!" I told him that I was a teacher, and I've always made him "read."




He then told me that he has never liked to read and still didn't know how to read to this day.

I hope my face didn't show what happened to me in that moment. Because in that second, in that moment, my heart sank.



There are many things wrong with education. Perhaps the biggest problem is that there is a little boy who turned into a teen-ager who turned into the balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube who still doesn't know how to read. Maybe the most painful part of his statement was that he never liked to read. He never found success. He never fell in love with Boo Radley or a story of a boy with a giant peach and mysterious friends. He was never opened to the world of story, friendship, castles, aliens, knowledge, and of people different than him. Perhaps he was never given a book about cars. And how they're made and how to fix them. No one took the time to give him a book about how to be a mechanic, how to run a business, or which cars go the fastest.
You see, for the balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube, reading is boring, hard, frustrating, painful, and embarrassing.




I'm sure this balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube had teachers. He had homework and tests. He was probably given books from the school library. He might've had a favorite teacher. They probably taught him to infer based on details from the text. He might've practiced sequencing and putting steps in order in fiction and non-fiction texts. But, the education system has failed him. It happens all the time. He was passed on from grade to grade, teacher to teacher, skill to skill, with continuing to fail. However, to me, he isn't the failure. His teachers failed, because that child never learned to read. He never learned to enjoy reading. Sure, they taught him. They read to him. But getting a child to learn is a different story.

Maybe the greatest disservice they did was take the wonder out of reading. They made it a chore, a worksheet, a "read to your partner," homework, and a painful reminder of how much he didn't know and couldn't do. He was probably surrounded by successful kids who were reading chapter books with no pictures. He probably felt like a failure and in turn decided he was a failure of a reader and would never be a good reader. And, he probably gave up.

So now, there's a balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube who beams when he sees a 2-year-old "reading," because maybe that kid would be successful.





I teach lots of kids who can't read, won't read, and hate to read. It's because they've lost confidence, and they think they aren't smart. And, it's boring. 70% of my kids read below grade level, and everyone knows it. I can teach them to infer, sequence, and all the other skills they need to be "successful" readers. Or maybe, my time would be better spent helping a child find a book on cars. And how they're made and how to fix them. And how to be a mechanic. Or a dancer. Or a firefighter. Or a mom. Or a writer. Or a basketball player. Or about divorce. Or violence. Or gangs. Or music. Or puberty. Or single parents. Or Dads in jail. Because that's what interests my kids. That's their world. Not the story of a girl who meets a friend at the park. Not a story that they have to answer a, b, c, or D to at the end.

I firmly choose to teach at a school with kids that are below grade level. I want to keep my kids from being the balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube. Instead, I want them to be the balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube that knows how to research the best parts for the newest car, knows how to manage and own a business, knows how to honestly persuade someone to make the best choice for the safety of their family in the vehicle, knows how to read for pleasure on vacation when they need to "get away," knows how to get information on anything in the world, and knows how to take their grandson to a far off kingdom as he reads to him before bed.

There's a lot wrong with education. The best thing we can do as teachers, parents, babysitters, aunts, cousins, business people, and citizens is to instill in ourselves and our loved ones a love for reading. Because if you're a reader, the world is limitless. For Fin, his world is little people hiding in the classroom and you have to open the flap to find the little Asian girl. For me, my world is wrestling my faith and what I've always believed and seeing if it holds true. My hope is that this balding middle-aged man at Jiffy Lube will find a world that he enjoys; one where he is safe, successful, and smart.