1. Katie Tranter
July 9, 2012
"You can go for recess - if you finish this book..."
The Literacy Life of M.T.
Rewards and punishments. That seems to be the common thread in the literacy life of M.T.
When the topic of his 'literacy life' was brought forward, negative memories were immediately brought to light.
M.T. was an incredibly active child, one that thrived in athletics, who appreciated time spent outdoors, and
much preferred this type of activity than curling up with a book, at any age.
Some anecdotes of M.T.'s in reference to his early literacy experiences:
-"not very enjoyable"
-"I didn't understand the benefits and didn't think I would need to use more than basic literacy; I thought I was
going to be a professional athlete."
-"I was a slow reader, so I wasn't a good reader."
M.T. was in a French immersion program, from Kindergarten to Grade 9. He states, "It was detrimental to my
reading skills. On the first day of Grade 3, they introduced us to our first English book. The class began to read
chorally. I thought, What? I'm supposed to be able to read this? That's when I knew - reading wasn't my forté."
M.T. recounts reading used a punishment in these earlier years, often being threatened by his teachers to finish
a book before being allowed to join his peers for recess, for example. "I would just lie and say I had read it," he
states.
On the other hand, he remembers fondly the "Pizza Hut Challenge" that traded slices of pizza for sheets insisting
that he had read a certain number of books. "There was more cheating than reading, and I got my fair share
of personal pans," he recalls.

2. Katie Tranter
July 9, 2012
As M.T. moved into high school, he has fond memories of one book and one book only: The Outsiders. After
that, he couldn't believe the lack of choice on behalf of his teachers, stating "How on earth are you going to
get a 15-year old boy excited about reading when you make him study The Stone Angel. That was no way to
get me engaged, or any of my friends for that matter."
As an adult, M.T. reads a number of different texts; magazines, the newspaper, fiction, career-related texts,
etc.. but he doesn't particularly identify himself as a 'good reader.' "I could never be a lawyer. You need to be
a good reader to be able to practice law, which means you need to read quickly and understand quickly. I
never had that choice."
M.T. attributes his current reading attitudes and behaviours to a number of factors, including genetics ("My
mom and dad are slow and careful readers, so I am too), his culture and socio-economic status (I was able to
have access to a lot of books), and gender (I was a typical boy), to name a few.
"On a scale of 1-10, my quality of reading (speed and understanding) is a 5. I'm just not an avid reader," he
says, as he begins to read a long list of emails.