The most dreaded word in school reading for students: book reports. Teachers assign them, viewing them as a necessary component of assessing reading comprehension. So, how can we as teachers continue to monitor our students understanding of reading material without killing the love of reading? Enter technology.
all a teacher can
do – is work with students to create a classroom culture, a climate, a
curriculum that will nourish and sustain the fundamental inclinations that
everyone starts out with: to make sense of oneself and the world, to become
increasingly competent at tasks that are regarded as consequential, to
connect with (and express oneself to) other people.
I
once sat in on several classes taught by Keith Grove at Dover-Sherborn High
School near Boston and noticed that such meetings were critical to his
teaching; he had come to realize that the feeling of community (and active
participation) they produced made whatever time remained for the explicit
curriculum far more productive than devoting the whole period to talking at
rows of silent kids. Together the students decided whether to review the homework
in small groups or as a whole class. Together they decided when it made
sense to schedule their next test. (After all, what’s the point of
assessment – to have students show you what they know when they’re ready to
do so, or to play “gotcha”?) Interestingly, Grove says that his classes are
quite structured even though they’re unusually democratic, and he sees his
job as being “in control of putting students in control.”
The first
is that deeper learning and enthusiasm require us to let students generate
possibilities rather than just choosing items from our menu; construction is
more important than selection.
Fall 2010 article by Alfie Kohn about things that don't work, and things that do for encouraging a real LOVE of reading. Includes some challenging comments about motivation and traditional methods for teaching reading.