Despite what Meg Cabot says, I do happen to believe that my students need certain works of literature in their lives. So I've got nothing writerly right now....I'm drowning in lesson plans!
I'll have something more coherent and writerly soon, promise!
PS: I know I owe some of you emails...but uuuughhhrhgrrrghhh.....
9 comments:
Good luck with your lesson plans!
Awww good luck!
I read the same post and am a former English teacher myself (middle school though). I agree with both you and Meg. I think in the earlier years, elementary and middle, we need to nurture a kids LOVE of reading. In my experience, elementary schools in general are much more adept at developing an overall love of learning. This love is either lost or cemented in middle school.
Students should be allowed a healthy dose of both "classic" and current, high-interest literature. If we force too much dated, "classic" lit on kids who have yet to learn to love reading in some for or another, we will lose them as potential readers possibly forever. As an educational system, we also need to hold ourselves responsible for updating our list of "classics." We cannot trust that our favorite childhood books will become our student's favorites as well.
By the time high school rolls around all students should have found some type of reading - comics, sports lit, non-fic, romance novels, historical lit, sci/fi, fantasy, etc - that they love and can clearly identify. I think where we are missing the mark is in not teaching kids how to recognize a book they will love. Once this ability is fostered, then in class students should most definitely be exposed to "classic" lit and then be able to take part in a discussion about what makes these pieces "classic" in the first place. Being able to identify what makes something a long-term, cross genre, quality piece of literature should be considered an irreplacable skill. However, to do that, you must have something to compare with first.
It's all good! Don't you always say that to me? Just redo those lesson plans you lost. And all will be right with the world. :)
Hang in there, Beth!
Teachers are awesome. Keep up the good work!
Lesson plans can be a bear. Good luck getting them all worked out.
I can see both sides of the story (no pun intended). I discovered many favorites through required reading lists in school (but I was a reader anyway). My hubby still talks about how much he hates Jane Eyre to this day after being forced to read it in H.S.
One of my sister's friends was a Jr. High English teacher in Texas, and she ran into the "hate to read" issue. The only thing her students did want to read was Stephen King novels, and she had two or three battered old copies that the kids would hand around. She ended up writing to Stephen King, and lo and behold, a month later, 30 copies EACH of his COMPLETE WORKS showed up on her doorstep. With a handwritten note: "Just keep them reading".
And all of those students have probably grown up to be more avid readers for it. :)
Labor Day weekend is almost here Miss Beth! Hang in there. Grab you a Dr. Pepper and a really big chocolate bar and know that I'm praying for ya!
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