I know at the last school I was at it fed into a high school, a "high performing" high school and most, if not all the teachers saw themselves at "literature" teachers, even though the literacy dept. has been trying to get them to see that they actually need to teach expository and persuasive! And many of them were the Sage on the stage. Unfortunately, a few at the middle level are also like this.
On 2/1/07, Mary Dovey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Someone, something, or a combination of the two happened that caused > middle > school teachers across the nation to see the light...I'd love to trace the > origins of the workshop movement to find just the right hook to pitch the > wisdom of broadening the scope of literacy at the high school level..think > anyone would listen? > I think one of the problems though is that few people at that level feel > empowered to make many changes--I found the the system is pretty > entrenched > in top-down management when I taught high school. I also wonder about the > number of folks who see themselves as "literature" teachers, and still use > the sage-on-stage as their model...It was easier for me to give that up; I > was a Communications Education major who received an English teaching > degree, but had way more writing, film, media, etc., courses than > literature. > Mary > > > On 2/1/07 1:14 PM, "Margie Waterbrook" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Hi, May-- > > I, too, have often puzzled about the things we make high school > students > > read, especially now that there is so much good young adult literature. > Even > > my son, who is now almost 28 and a very eclectic reader, commented to me > > just the other day about "A Tale of Two Cities "I can't believe they > make > > kids read this kind of language in high school," meaning of course that > so > > many high schoolers have neither the patience nor motivation to even > read > > things closer to their own language. (Of course, ironically enough, I am > > writing this just after seeing a newsclip on Rafe Esquith's class having > no > > less than Sir Ian McKellan (sp?) as a visitor, telling those little guys > > that they understood Shakespeare better than many actors he knows! > > Margie > > > > On 1/24/07, May Dartez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > >> > >> Margie, > >> > >> Independent reading is certainly appropriate for high school, unless > >> you have a required "core" set of > >> novels that must be taught (and as an addition then). I think it is > >> AWESOME that you are doing this with > >> your ninth and tenth graders. Isn't the point of reading class to make > >> our students independent readers > >> throughout life? I know that, though I was an avid reader, my eleventh > >> grade class spent HALF of the > >> year on Huck Finn. Yuck! This certainly did nothing to encourage me to > >> become a life-long reader. If I had > >> been able to read independently, on the other hand, I probably would > >> have read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, > >> the Fountainhead, Brave New World, etc. These are the books that my > >> friends and I were reading at home, and we > >> would have been able to share our excitement about them with our > >> classmates. > >> > >> I think it sounds like you are making great choices about the use of > >> time in Literature class. Keep it up:) > >> > >> May > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> Mary-- > >>> I was so heartened to read your review. This is my first year > >>> teaching > >>> high school (9th and 10th grades) and I have made independent reading > a > >>> cornerstone of these courses, but I have been nagged by my own doubts > >>> about > >>> whether it is still appropriate in high school, as well as parent > >>> complaints > >>> that I am not challenging the students enough. I guess I need to get > my > >>> hands on this new Atwell book and add it to the bibliography on > >>> self-selected reading that I now include with my packets explaining > >>> reading > >>> workshop. --Margie > >> _______________________________________________ > >> The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > >> > >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > >> > >> Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > >> > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- - Heather "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." --Clarence Day "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little good evidence exists that there's any educational substance behind the accountability and testing movement." —Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " —Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
