My strengths as a reader are pacing, understanding, notification, and being able to question the piece of writing. Personally, I am a pretty steady paced reader. Considering the style/genre of the writing, I am able to figure how fast or how slow I should read, and in how much time. For example, when reading a textbook for History, Math, Science, or English, I will usually read at a slower pace so that I am able to get the information completely into my thoughts/memory. When reading a book such as "To Kill A Mocking Bird" by Harper Lee, I am most likely to read rather fast to keep up with the situations in the book and not get lost within the words. .
The English teacher I had last year, Mrs. Crosby, taught our class to understand the reading, be able and ready to take notes on the writing, and having the ability to ask questions that will make the writing easier to relate to. To understand the writing, I was taught to underline/highlight parts that "stand out" or seem essential to the outlook of the chapter/paragraph/stanza. By doing this, I am able to quickly and easily refer to the reading when going over the piece with the class or a partner. This corresponds with taking notes. .
For note taking, we were instructed to write down our thoughts on varying parts as we read, whether we did not understand it or were able to associate it with a previous experience or information backgrounds. Writing down questions about the reading are also a very important step to understanding concepts within the piece of writing. Writing questions such as "Why did ___ do that?" or "What is the author trying to tell me in this paragraph?" are important for me to do in order to comprehend a reading completely or as much as possible.
The major challenge I have been able to identify about myself is finding interest in the piece I am reading. When I am able to easily relate with the reading (excluding textbooks), I have no problem with doing the assigned reading in a reasonable amount of time.
