The most fun I have in class is when my kids are having discussions about literature and relating it to the world around them today. Isn't that why we read? Isn't that why authors write? Are English classes today becoming test prep course for state exams? If my students uses one too many run-on sentences but can explain the complexity of Twain's satire in Huck Finn and compare it to
Saturday Night Live's view of the Presidency, does that make them a bad student? Does that make me a bad teacher?
The reason I ask is because of a conversation I had with some English teachers online the other day. They were stressing the importance of being common in all of their classrooms and making sure all of their exams align with their state exam. Now, I understand the importance of preparing students for the state exam. However, are we preparing them to be thinkers? When I look at the world around me, I make constant comparisons to literature I have read. When I hear about a school district banning a book, I think of Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury. When ever some talks about trying to relive the past, I can't help but think of Gatsby and the green light. TV uses literary allusions all of the time and a part of me smiles when I see those connections because I feel like I'm part of an inside joke the writers put there just for me. Are our kids going to feel the same thing if texts are only used to teach specific skills to prepare them for state exams?
What about teaching the beauty of reading? Why not focus on the value of making connections? These are parts of life that are valuable to people long after they are done taking tests. Am I wrong in wanting to show my students how scary The Hunger Games is when we look around the world and see laws and governments that are seen in the story? Does it make me a bad teacher? What is the point of an English class anymore?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
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@TheNerdyTeacher
I hear exactly what you are saying about making connections while reading. Every time I teach, I'm always making references to everything too. Big fan of intertextuality not just in the text, but in the analysis or enjoyment of them as well.
ReplyDeleteI worry all the time about Provincial Diploma Exams. I want to veer and explore in different ways, but the fear of not preparing them for 50% exams drags me down. I have been looking and reading for ways to help bridge that gap more.
Thanks for your post. The Hunger Games maybe scary, but come on, aren't you a little excited for the film version?
vsaysana, I, too, teach English to Gr 12s in Alberta. But I am not allowing that exam to dictate my teaching, but I can't say I am not afraid!
ReplyDeleteTo mimic the exams, I teach in themes. The students are encouraged to make connections between the texts and the themes and most importantly themselves. I am hoping that they will see how themes are present in so much of what they read and their personal lives. I have to believe the markers of the diplomas will look for those connections and not every run-on sentence instead.
Nick, I have this very argument with myself. Although I teach Math, I want thinkers not rule followers. Thank you for posting, it reminds me that I am not crazy and that I need to take a leadership role and share what I am doing in my classroom with my fellow math teachers so we can have conversations about the topic of student thinkers.
ReplyDeleteHi Nick, I'm teaching Shakespeare's Macbeth (or rather a modern English version of it, esp. for the weaker group) to a grade 11 in EFL, and in the weaker group making connections is my main point of it. I show them its relevance for today (comparisons to other cases of blind ambition or of things that appear different than they are - "foul is fair") and if I knew more about it myself, I could give them even more connections or make them find them. Without these connections they would ask all the time why they should read that and refuse to work.
ReplyDeleteNick, I agree that English class should be about the beauty of reading and making connections. My favorite thing you said, which I often think myself, is, "TV uses literary allusions all of the time and a part of me smiles when I see those connections because I feel like I'm part of an inside joke the writers put there just for me." I want my students to think that too.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel like I am two teachers. The one who wants to inspire kids to love to read and write and teach them things they need on the go, and the other teacher who still teaches class lessons on simple and complete subjects and predicates; simple, compound, complex sentences; and other "Why do we need to know this?" topics.
I'm trying to become one teacher.
Denise
Good points, Pal.
ReplyDeleteHere's another one: Can someone really be "literate" in today's world if they DON'T understand the common cultural allusions that you mention?
I see this all the time in class -- in fact on Friday, I showed a Brainpop where the main character was threatening to shoot an apple off of another main character's head.
How many kids would have any clue what that was referencing?
Cultural references like that -- which are often connected to books -- form a part of our common language. They give us sets of shared reference points that we can use when making points and having conversations.
Without them, we're all screwed -- even if we CAN pass the test.
Bill
Good points, Pal.
ReplyDeleteHere's another one: Can someone really be "literate" in today's world if they DON'T understand the common cultural allusions that you mention?
I see this all the time in class -- in fact on Friday, I showed a Brainpop where the main character was threatening to shoot an apple off of another main character's head.
How many kids would have any clue what that was referencing?
Cultural references like that -- which are often connected to books -- form a part of our common language. They give us sets of shared reference points that we can use when making points and having conversations.
Without them, we're all screwed -- even if we CAN pass the test.
Bill
Good points, Bill. It is more than just being part of the inside joke with the TV and movie writers. It is part of being culturally literate. One of my favorite units in junior high is traditional literature where they are introduced to so many important allusions.
ReplyDeleteDenise
Good points, but how does one cope with trying to create thinkers when there are such pushes to be "test ready" and "be on the same page" with every teacher at your grade level?
ReplyDelete