3572. What Is a Good Reader Like? Is It You? Is It Your Students?

A good student is someone who makes himself or herself. You are not born being a good student. You grow as a student on your own plus with adults’ help: your mom and your dad, and your teacher. 

The good student, when he or she is somewhat mature, realizes he or she is that good student. He or she can study, learn and read on their own plus with their teacher’s assistance. 

And for example that person, that kid, knows how to use meta-reading. I mean, that learner can reflex about the way he or she reads. And improves. And knows how to improve. On their own and with their teacher’s help. And utilizes learning strategies. 

The difference between a good and a bad reader can be: the first one knows how to get the main ideas or information, and knows how to relate what read with something they knew before. And makes what read and learned as something of their own. That person starts to store and stock up a lot of knowledge, and knowledge upon knowledge. 

And he or she can retrieve all that knowledge. At the exam and anywhere else. 

And we teachers can help our students. In the way we ask our students about what learned and read and studied, in that way they will learn and read and study. 

We have to help them relate what learned with something previous and something more general. For those students to relate notions to one another. And not confining themselves to repeat as parrots and that’s it. 

The good reader often likes to read. 

And his or her reading is intelligent and smart. That is reading but also we can call it meta-reading. 

Some ideas were taken from José Bernardo Carrasco and from Gregorio Luri.