Book love?
After finishing my second year in the classroom, I found Kittle's chapters on Book Love refreshing. On a personal level, it really bothers me that English teachers feign this progressive nature while continuing to teach the same old books, written by the same old white men, about white men, that white men decided were important. Canonical literature can be beautiful, but classics are not the only texts with literary merit.
When an author creates a world nothing like the one you live in, but it somehow critiques your own- that is literary merit. When an author paints a character that you fall in love with, that you want to be, or that you despise- that is literary merit. When an author an author crafts a sentence that makes you laugh, cry, and question who you are and who you want to be - that is literary merit.
Most of my students do not need Hawthorne. Point blank. If I don't even want to teach The Scarlet Letter, how an earth am I supposed to make students interested in it? I edited a paper yesterday for a former student in an English 1101 class, and she was writing a review on a makeup pallet. Even our college bound students are being asked to do tasks that are not centered around classic literature. Kittle (2013) claims that college professors she interviewed didn't care about any one text, only that students were reading a lot and that they had a variety of reading experiences.
Kittle explains how she has students who openly admit to not having read a book since fifth grade, and as a classroom teacher, this is something I hear all the time. Kittle (2013) says that students don't read because "pretending to read is so easy." I see my students doing this, and in high school I wasn't much different. Throughout my life, I have always read for pleasure, but there was not a single book assigned to me in high school that I read in its entirety, and I was one of the "good ones." I made an A in every single English course I took, and went on to become an English major in college. I was successful not because I faked my way through Animal Farm, Profiles In Courage, The Great Gatsby, and so many more, but because I read for pleasure all. the. time. I devoured the books I loved, developing the vocabulary, the confidence, the stamina, and the comprehension skills I needed to return to those novels in college with ease.
When I first started teaching, I wanted to make students love literature like I've come to, but then I realized, when I was their age- I didn't love it. I wasn't giving it a chance. Kittle says "what our students read in school is important; what they read the rest of their lives is more important." Shouldn't our goal be to get students reading and to keep them reading?
YA appeals to teenagers because these books speak to their interests, their questions, and their problems in ways that most adults refuse to. These books were written for them and about them. Kittle (2013) claims that YA texts have the power to make students "see differently-want to live differently." I am not saying that classic novels do not have this power, but so often what was revolutionary when these novels were written is now problematic. I have had students become better people after reading To Kill A Mockingbird, but as teachers, we have to stop acting like a classic story about a white hero, who is only a little less racist than the racists, is progressive liberal teaching.
Aside:
On a logistical note, I appreciated how Kittle explained her system for tracking student progress and making goals in chapter three of the reading. I am very interested in implementing something similar in my classroom, and her system will give me a jumping off point, so I can develop something that works for me and my students.
Aside again:
Over the years, I've developed a substantial classroom library, but my home collection is much more extensive. I know it is selfish, but I can't bring myself to bring my beautiful books into my classroom. I am a certified bibliophile. I am happy to bring in specific books to students, but I know that putting them on my shelf means there is high probability I will never see them again. I need to get over this- but I don't know if I can.
The bottom line:
At the heart of Kittle's teaching is two goals that support each other: 1. Develop relationships with your students. Know their interests, their habits, and their struggles. 2. Use that information to put books in their hands that will get them reading and keep them reading.
When an author creates a world nothing like the one you live in, but it somehow critiques your own- that is literary merit. When an author paints a character that you fall in love with, that you want to be, or that you despise- that is literary merit. When an author an author crafts a sentence that makes you laugh, cry, and question who you are and who you want to be - that is literary merit.
Most of my students do not need Hawthorne. Point blank. If I don't even want to teach The Scarlet Letter, how an earth am I supposed to make students interested in it? I edited a paper yesterday for a former student in an English 1101 class, and she was writing a review on a makeup pallet. Even our college bound students are being asked to do tasks that are not centered around classic literature. Kittle (2013) claims that college professors she interviewed didn't care about any one text, only that students were reading a lot and that they had a variety of reading experiences.
Kittle explains how she has students who openly admit to not having read a book since fifth grade, and as a classroom teacher, this is something I hear all the time. Kittle (2013) says that students don't read because "pretending to read is so easy." I see my students doing this, and in high school I wasn't much different. Throughout my life, I have always read for pleasure, but there was not a single book assigned to me in high school that I read in its entirety, and I was one of the "good ones." I made an A in every single English course I took, and went on to become an English major in college. I was successful not because I faked my way through Animal Farm, Profiles In Courage, The Great Gatsby, and so many more, but because I read for pleasure all. the. time. I devoured the books I loved, developing the vocabulary, the confidence, the stamina, and the comprehension skills I needed to return to those novels in college with ease.
When I first started teaching, I wanted to make students love literature like I've come to, but then I realized, when I was their age- I didn't love it. I wasn't giving it a chance. Kittle says "what our students read in school is important; what they read the rest of their lives is more important." Shouldn't our goal be to get students reading and to keep them reading?
YA appeals to teenagers because these books speak to their interests, their questions, and their problems in ways that most adults refuse to. These books were written for them and about them. Kittle (2013) claims that YA texts have the power to make students "see differently-want to live differently." I am not saying that classic novels do not have this power, but so often what was revolutionary when these novels were written is now problematic. I have had students become better people after reading To Kill A Mockingbird, but as teachers, we have to stop acting like a classic story about a white hero, who is only a little less racist than the racists, is progressive liberal teaching.
Aside:
On a logistical note, I appreciated how Kittle explained her system for tracking student progress and making goals in chapter three of the reading. I am very interested in implementing something similar in my classroom, and her system will give me a jumping off point, so I can develop something that works for me and my students.
Aside again:
Over the years, I've developed a substantial classroom library, but my home collection is much more extensive. I know it is selfish, but I can't bring myself to bring my beautiful books into my classroom. I am a certified bibliophile. I am happy to bring in specific books to students, but I know that putting them on my shelf means there is high probability I will never see them again. I need to get over this- but I don't know if I can.
The bottom line:
At the heart of Kittle's teaching is two goals that support each other: 1. Develop relationships with your students. Know their interests, their habits, and their struggles. 2. Use that information to put books in their hands that will get them reading and keep them reading.
Comments
Post a Comment