The other day while purging old documents, I came across a list I had written in a PD meeting.    I am typing the list below.

Some Influences on Vulnerable Readers

• interactions with text at home and in community
• interactions with school and teachers
• parent attitudes/habits regarding reading
• racial identity and history
• socio-economic reality
• class identity
• prior performance in school
• pop culture
• relationships to stronger readers
• labels received/embraced regarding self as a reader
• social policies (welfare, etc.)
• education policies (No Child Left Behind, etc.)
• general self-image
• access to role models who are strong readers
• access to technology
• access to reading materials
• class size

I think the presenter had asked us to come up with our own list of factors we thought affected vulnerable readers, and all of these are influences.  But I'm blogging about these today as a reminder of the influence that we as educators have on our students' experiences.  I thought it a great opportunity to put before literacy educators this question:  of the influences listed above, which ones do you see that you could directly impact in your students' lives?  In which areas can you activate your power in order to help shift some struggling reader's identity, starting now?