Chapters 9 and 10

Sometimes when I think about all the negative press that comes with public education these days- much of it from teachers themselves- I get discouraged. From the outside it looks like a bleak profession where first a teacher’s passion is crushed via the powers that be (the Common Core, No Child Left Behind, and the like) and subsequently their students’. Part of the reason I want to be a teacher is because most of my education has been made up by me dreading school because it felt boring and futile, often stressful and difficult, and like my teachers couldn’t care less that I felt that way. The other part of the reason I want to be a teacher is that I adored those teachers that made me want to come to school because they were vibrant proponents for their subjects, made me curious and eager to learn more, and in the end made me feel smarter and better off as a person for having had them as a teacher. I mention all this because while I was reading chapter 9 about book clubs in the classroom, I felt myself getting excited about being a teacher all over again because these are the type of projects that are meant to get students excited. The chapter ends with “after doing Book Clubs, do you think young people will want to read more books? We think they will.” And while I think this is incredibly important- and I no doubt want to at least get my future students to think, “hey maybe reading can be kinda cool”, I think the chapter is modest in the ways Book Clubs can help students as people. On page 204, it is suggested that teachers and students compile a list of social skills that should be remembered during book clubs (the idea is revisited on 213 where it is suggested these skills be used to develop a class criteria). A huge part of high school is meant to teach students the people skills they need to be “good” members of society. Personal responsibility, respect for others, and self-respect are all part of the suggested grading criteria. If students are making sure that they abide by these “rules”, reading should come naturally as they can only be responsible if they do the work assigned and can only give their classmates proper respect if they pull their own weight. If students are graded in this manner, no one can really be a “bad” or a “good” reader, there are only readers. Chapter 10, I have to admit, was a bit of a bummer after all my engagement in chapter 9. I agree that creating a “big idea” to shape lessons, particually cross-content big ideas, will help students to think more deeply and cause students to draw the connections that create understanding. In a way, “big ideas” are a way of teaching theory to students as you are asking them to look through a lens. This is a pretty interesting idea to me, but I wonder how often it occurs in schools. It seems to be a big undertaking for teachers to all work together, particularly when high schools tend to have different tracks and students may be in an honors track for some classes but a more standard track for others. It is a nice ideal but I don’t know how well it would work. That being said, I was also a little wary on the suggested grading technique for the Book Club. I really liked it but I don’t know how well it would fly with the administration. Schools want to see how technically “good” their students are and I don’t think that the assessments suggested can really do that.