Kelly Reeder-Breaking Down Readings

While reading texts there are many different things that cross my mind. If I know that the text assigned to me by my teacher is going to be very important I bring out my highlighter and begin marking the paragraphs, or sentences, that I think will be beneficial if I look over the text again. I know that I am not a very good judge of what is important, but I know that I have a hard time focusing. If I am able to eliminate simple sentences, without meaning, than I have narrowed down what I should reread. While reading these important texts I often find myself reading each sentence over twice, and then sitting back to comprehend what the sentence was saying. Each time I put all of my energy into understanding every part of a text I take a lot longer than I do while reading a simple article. Each time I read a sentence and sit back to comprehend it I also wonder if this could be important. I think about if it will be on a test, paper, or quiz in the future.
Often times a teacher will give you a text and tell you that certain parts will be on an exam. When this happens I break down each little section into time slots. Since I don’t want to overwhelm myself I will break down the chapters into sections, and even paragraphs down to a sentence. During one of my cluster classes I found that outlining the chapter helps me to better understand the concept of it. I look for the most important things inside of each of each paragraph and best summarize it. If I have a hard time with what I am reading, I will try and reword some of the important sentences so that I will better understand. Once I am done with my outline, I set my book aside and try to comprehend what is written on my sheet.
I guess when I look at my strategy for understanding the main ideas in text I do have a major conversation with myself. I often sit back and try to reword or repeat a sentence I just read. I wonder what points I would focus on if I was a teacher, and which points would be the most beneficial for me to understand. There are often times when I become stumped with a reading, but if I try and break it down to a point where it is simple enough for me to understand then I am able to focus on the important points and eliminate the unnecessary.