My driving question of the summer is this: “Why do you teach the way you teach?” About a month ago, I quickly (and in my head), tried to count up the number of teachers I’ve had in my life. I included elementary, junior high, high school, college, grad school, numerous extra grad classes, and all of the conferences and workshops I’ve attended during my twenty years in education. Roughly, I’ve observed the teaching of 200 instructors. None used differentiation. Few used authentic assessment. Almost all used lecture.
Specifically related to reading, which is where my passion lies, I have never, ever, ever had a class in which I was able to choose what I read. Reading classes through high school involved worksheets, worksheets, and more worksheets. And quizzes. And tests. And book reports. And projects. In college, we beat a piece of literature until it died, and then we stood around it and kicked it some more, just to be sure it was dead (it never was, so we kept kicking).
Is it any wonder that teachers teach the way they were taught?
Even with the amazing research out there about the importance of giving readers choices about what they read, teachers still don’t believe that it can be done. I’m a believer in choice in reading (and writing). It CAN work. It DOES work. It’s not something that teachers feel comfortable with because they’ve never seen it done. They’re nervous about it. They don’t understand it. They’re scared to try it. So they stick with their class novels and analysis and objective assessments that involve bubbling. You know what I mean; these are the English teachers we’ve all had and we all know. Teaching this way is easy because it’s comfortable and the pre-packaged and on-line resources are plentiful. But the result is that students are not becoming readers or continuing to read as they progress through their teen years. And we teachers have to power to change that.
I’m here to start a Reading Revolution.
Great discussion! I’m in education (college level English) and I’ve read a lot of the research on teaching reading at this level. I’ve asked myself many of the questions you pose. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts on this matter. 🙂
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Thanks, writingblissfully!
Are you a professor or an undergrad? Either way, you will be a great resource for me to tie in what I do with what’s expected at the university level. Thank you for reading!
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I teach at the community college. 🙂
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Hello!
I’m up for a reading revolution! Very inspiring post. Look forward to more!
~Serena
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Thanks, Serena! Stay tuned. Together we can change the reading world.
Dawn
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I will happily join in the revolt! We need to make our students life-long readers. We need to be sure they can read and comprehend, and get joy and information both from their reading. I hope my son has a teacher like you!
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Hi, Regan!
Thanks for the comment. I love what you said about getting joy AND information from reading. I have always heard that readers are smarter, but I had never really broke that statement down and figured out why. I just took it for granted that it was true. But this year, I started paying attention to things in my life that I just KNEW from reading. I would hear something or think of something or see something and I would say, “Hey! I GET that because I read it somewhere in a book!” And, while I was reading for fun, I started noticing all of the little nuggets of information that were in the books, teaching me, without my realizing it! I created a sheet for students called “Smarty Pants” where students can record ten new things they learned from independent reading that day. It’s fun, and what an eye-opener! Now, not only have I heard that readers are smarter, I KNOW they are!
If your son doesn’t have a teacher who has passion and energy, start anonymously putting copies of articles in her mailbox that talk about teachers who are the kind of teacher you wish her son had. She’ll get the hint!
Read on, reader!
Dawn
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Amen, sister! I am a firm believer that teacher-generated resources are the most beneficial to students. I have an upcoming post planned on this. It’s one of my soap box topics.
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