Reading Together

Tanya Perkins

doi:10.18357/kula.238

Abstract

This teaching reflection examines how “reading together” was fostered in synchronous and asynchronous online environments in two undergraduate creative writing courses through participation in a virtual book club. In the first course, prior to the pandemic, students had the option of meeting in person or via Zoom while we read Daisy Johnson’s Oedipus Rex retelling, Everything Under, for the book club. In the second course, during the pandemic, students had virtual synchronous and written participation choices while we read together Jessica Anthony’s political satire, Enter the Aardvark, with the author visiting in two sessions. In both cases, the goals were consistent: to get students reading as writers; to foster intrinsic motivation through personal choice; and to satisfy students’ desire for community connection while still accommodating personal schedules and geographical location. A virtual book club lets students read on their own schedule and in their own space, but still share their experience and observations with peers over greater distances (and time zones) than would otherwise be possible.

Highlights

This teaching reflection examines how “reading together” was fostered in synchronous and asynchronous online environments in two undergraduate creative writing courses through participation in a virtual book club
Minzesheimer (2011), in examining the so-called “Oprah effect,” quotes Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch as stating that Winfrey “didn’t originate the idea of book clubs, but more than anyone, she has spread the idea of reading a book as a shared community” (n.p.)
For the last two years, including fall (September–December) 2020 when much of the country was in pandemic lockdown and most classes at my small Midwest campus shifted online, I have integrated a book club component into two online undergraduate creative writing classes

Summary

Indiana University East

This teaching reflection examines how “reading together” was fostered in synchronous and asynchronous online environments in two undergraduate creative writing courses through participation in a virtual book club. The book club model was generally successful in enriching students’ reading skills and in offering productive choice in participation, careful planning was needed to sustain a virtual “shared community” of readers and writers These courses had been online pre-COVID, and so the challenge for building connection within the virtual classroom was already there. My intention was to offer additional motivation for students to attend—two events, back-to-back, might make a drive even more worthwhile and heighten the sense of being part of a writing community In this way, the online course could encompass both asynchronous (completing the reading and questions on one’s own) and synchronous (real-time discussions), virtual (via Zoom) and face-to-face (for those who could attend in person) choices that supported and. During her first visit, a conversation sprung up among students that was so lively and prolonged that I had to respectfully intervene in order to invite her into the conversation

Reflection on Experiences

Findings

Conclusion