The students were asked to do this as their last step. Ron saw that when his thoughts on reading differed from others, he could see a whole new way of the reading. When he thought the same as someone else, it was like "being fans of the same winning team." Due to this self evaluation, he could see how to collaborate with others. He stated that how people read books shows what we care and think about.
That statement is very accurate- most students (or teachers) do not realize this... People do not take away the same things from reading, nor should they have to. It is about self-discovery, which Ron did a lot of here.Joanne wrote about the author in her journal, mostly questions. She starts to question the author and where she comes from, comparing her thoughts and feelings for and against what the author believes. Many students do not read their assignment and start thinking "is the author wrong?" like Joanne did in her journal. We do not give students a reason to do so because they are just reading for information on our quizzes and tests. Isn't seeing these journal entries much more rewarding to us then marking a 10/10 on a quiz with 10 questions and 10 correct answers?
This really amazed me as I read; the steps he had to take in order to get the students to this place of self-discovery and gave them a voice. How can we do this? It will be a process but we need to start changing the teaching and evaluating of reading one teacher at a time. If we as teachers begin to give students a voice and take away what is important to them, we will be producing smarter, happier kids. (proof that they will be happier is in this LINK)
First off, I completely agree with you. It's important students develop their own voice and that we as teachers help them get to that place of self-discovery.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, love the link :)
You're right, Megan, that helping students develop their own voice is a process. The contrast between author and reader is also interesting to bring up with students :)
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree! I think we need to stop treating students as test scores and as learning, growing indivduals. Students learn and grow as individuals, so they should be taught as such. I think the more we move away from worksheets, and such a strict structure for English curiculum, the more growth and pleasure we will see from English students.
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