Mental Modeling Strategy

Students are often faced with assignments and tasks without instruction or guidance of how to do so. Tovani is not only extremely explicit with her instructions, but she also models every strategy for her students. She also recognizes the benefits of using student examples as a model, as well. I am sure some students do not even know certain reading strategies exist. They may believe reading is simply reading cover-to-cover and never using the text again. Therefore, modeling also provides a wide variety of strategy use to students. It is important that the teacher explain how the specific strategies can be used for other classes and texts.

I believe modeling is important because students can see, hear, and witness their teacher's thinking. Tovani asks many questions to herself and makes connections. Students may not have realized that asking questions while reading is actually a good thing because it means they are actively reading.  Modeling is also important because it shows the students that the teacher also struggles with difficult text at first, but has made appropriate decisions to stay with the text. "I show the importance of exposing your struggles as a reader with unfamiliar text by modeling my own reading of difficult text for students and teachers" (Tovani, 2004, p. 28).

Modeling is very useful in all contents as well as real-world situations. Teachers must not assume that their students automatically know how to "analyze the theme of this story" without first showing students how to do so. I am definitely going to use modeling in my future classroom. Everyone brings their own life experience, preferences, and knowledge to the classroom. Therefore, not every strategy will work for every single student. But this is okay, too. Teachers can use modeling for that purpose, also: to explain that highlighting wasn't working for them in the specific text and decided to move on to a different strategy. This idea also illustrates Tovani's request for students to be "extremely selfish" (Tovani, 2004, p. 101). Lessons should always benefit the students and help them grow and think in new ways.