After looking at my own reading comprehension in light of the texts I found that a lot of what I do personally as a reader is what is being taught to students. One of the biggest things that jumped out at me was making connections. They discuss this in the Cahill article about having students use their "schema" to relate to text. I took an IAH class and they assigned readings that just made no sense to me. I wasn't able to use my background knowledge well because I had never even paid a thought to the topic we were on. I felt my own reading fluency diminish in the shadow of these older texts that were almost to overwhelming for me. In the Tompkins reading process they discuss word identification  fluency, and comprehension. When I was reading for that IAH class I wasn't doing anything right in terms of the reading process. 

There is a huge contrast in my reading when I am reading for school and pleasure.The Applegate article really hit home with their identifying different types of readers and their strategies. I know many college students as well as myself use the politician strategy. After doing a reading I just try and say what I think my teacher is looking for so I can prove I did the reading and be done with it. I also think many college kids use the Quiz Contenstant method, being able to recite all the facts of the article and often over look the universal meaning of it. Contrast this type of reading when I read for pleasure and it is night and day. When I read outside of school I imagine what they are saying and really try to dive deep into making connections. 

These tactics that college students use don't just spring out of nowhere. The issue comes in motivation, when I don't have the motivation to read I don't pick up nearly as much from the text, I have a harder time remembering what I read and I use it then lose it. I see this in the classroom all the time, students doing the reading just to get through with it and not applying themselves. 

In hindsight I should be applying the Tompkins reading process and the Cahill article more to my own educational benefit!