Chapter five of Ayers really made me think and reflect more than I have done in the past readings. It reminds me of when I first told my mom I was interested in being a teacher. She said, “Really? But Mira, you hate reading. How can you teach children to read and enjoy books if you can’t even do that?” My mother is a very smart woman, so I always really think about her comments and advise. Her reaction made me question my decision. I don’t often do or follow as she tells me, but her thoughts concerned me. As with every disagreement we’ve had, I try to find ways to justify my decision. Thoughts such as: Maybe I’ll be a better reading teacher because I know what a struggle or mundane activity it can by to some. Maybe I will find a new interest in reading if I read more leisurely and stay away from text books.
My mom and my sister love to read. It was their thing growing up and it is their thing now too. I played sports and created art in my free time as a child. So, that is what I still enjoy now in my free time. I have no desire to sit still and read but that doesn’t mean I won’t be a good teacher. I think moms are there to make you think. I don’t hate reading but I don’t enjoy it either. It’s like a job to me. Some parts are okay, I wouldn’t go out of my way to do it but it’s an obligation.
I like how Ayers worked to bring more diverse books into the library. My niece has a children book And Tango Makes Three, which I think is wonderful. I see the logic behind banning this book. It is based on a true story and so what if it seems to endorse same-sex partnerships. That to me is total ignorance. It is one of her favorite books and her parents don’t think anything of it.
Another aspect I really enjoyed was the questions he said he asked himself as a teacher:
1. Are there opportunities for discovery and surprise?
2. Are students actively engaged with primary sources and hands-on material?
3. Is productive work going on?
4. Is the work linked to student questions or interests?
i. I really like this one. I think that’s an important aspect to keep in mind. I don’t know anything about the curriculum planning process but through readings and discussions it seems the concerns are focused on absorbing the required data and it doesn’t seem like much thought or effort is really put into the students questions or interests.
5. Are problems within the classroom, the school, and the larger community part of the student consciousness?
6. Is work in my classroom pursued to its far limits?
i. I often ask myself this question now when I’m coaching. I’m always wondering if they workouts are too hard or if they’re just not trying, if I’m not explaining things well or if they’re just not listening. This is a question that doesn’t really have a definite answer.
1 comment:
I'm glad you liked this chapter...
So reading is not only about how and what you'll teach kids, but also about how you'll be growing as a teacher -- through reading professional materials, through getting grounded in good research, by finding stacks of materials for kids...
And I'm going to push you a bit on what you say here: I have tried to like swimming and have worked really hard to get better at it, but I'm just not very good at it, it's definitely not "my thing", and and I just don't enjoy it enough to invest the time I know I need to spend to get more comfortable with it.
So, would you trust me to teach your child to swim? Or would you be alarmed if your child was assigned to me as her only option for learning to swim when there were other swim coaches right down the hall?
As a parent, would you really believe that I'd be a better swim coach because I didn't swim much and don't really like to swim?
Perhaps that thinking would hold up if I'd 'struggled and then really came to love it and to be really good at it -- if I'd gone beyond understanding what it means to struggle to then also understand what I'd been missing and how to do it really well, but I'm not hearing you say that you're there.
So if you wouldn't want me to coach your child, how is reading different?
Please understand that I'm not criticizing you, but I think that this issue would be worth thinking about much more deeply... because literacy is huge in schools these days and you'll be spending so much of your time teaching kids to read, and it's not just teaching them a skill, but to love the act of learning through print. That will be your job.
There surely will be parents who challenge books in schools. So, how will you explain why their child should read things that they object to?
You're so right that there isn't a clear answer to the question of how far to push kids, to knowing when we're getting them past their own limits and when we've taken them right to those limits.
What have you learned about this from coaching?
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