Calling for Clear, Specific Content

Check out this article in the AMERICAN EDUCATOR, a catalogue that my parents are subscribed to. My mom sent me this article and I have found it online for all of you to read. It highlights the fallacies in NCLB, the lack of support and information given to new teachers regarding expectations and curriculum, and the need to look beyond the “pedagogical fads.” If we as educators, including veteran educators, are aware of the problems, then why are they so difficult to rectify?Enjoy! -Jessica

A conversation with YA readers.

Hello All,

Being a non-Christian, I did not go home for Easter weekend. Instead, I went to my friend’s house for a somewhat educational – and disappointing – Easter dinner. Overall, it was your typical family dinner; however, two particular conversations stand out in my mind from the rest…

My friend has two younger cousins. Both are girls, one is 13 (8th grade), the other 16 years-old (10th grade). The girls go to school north of Syracuse (the name has slipped my mind) and are in virtually all honors/AP classes. I was pleased to discover that they are assigned summer reading. The older cousin told me that last summer she was assigned to one book and the second one was her pick (she chose A SEPARATE PEACE). Perhaps two books is unimpressive, but it’s better than not being assigned any, right? To my dismay, the same girl who was assigned summer reading was given by her AP English teacher a list of books at the beginning of the year with the expectation of all students reading 12 books by June. How many books have they read so far? 2. Okay, I’ll be nice and say 3, since they’ve begun a third. This brings me to ask: Are teachers setting the bar too high for themselves? Was his/her goal genuine, but not properly planned in order to execute such an agenda? My friend’s cousin also told me that the way this teacher assess that the reading(s) has/have been done is through a series of questions, on the occasion. Anyone can lie about the work they have done if that’s how it’s being assessed. The only perk to this class is that the students get to choose what they are reading. Besides that, I don’t see how these students are “advancing” any further than non-advanced placement students are.

Secondly, the 13 year-old told me of a book about a young girl during the Holocaust that her class had just completed. After describing the book to me, she said, with all sincerity and honesty, “I know this is the Holocaust, but all they do is complain!” This young lady had no idea of the gravity of the subject. This brings me to ask if there were preliminary exercises, activities or lessons for the students’ understanding of WWII. Did the teacher prompt his/her students at all for this serious topic? I discussed this with a fellow classmate of mine today, and she suggested that the teacher should have shown a connection between then and now by giving examples of present cases of genocide (e.g. Darfur). Between my in-classroom observations and conversations with middle and high school students, kids/teens need prompting, examples, visual aides and relevance to grasp the meaning of a topic.

BOY TOY, by Barry Lyga

Today’s lit circle discussion about Barry Lyga’s BOY TOY raised many good points and brought several relevant issues to the table. The novel begins with Josh as a 12 year-old 7th grader who is the “whole package”: good-looking, highly intelligent, athletic (i.e. has reached great achievements in baseball) and lives with both parents (until the very end when they divorce, but that is in the last few pages of the novel). We follow Josh through his teenage life, ending 5 years later. In this duration, we learn about his Mrs. Evelyn Sherman, his 7th grade history teacher and lover. With the use of vivid imagery and titillating language, Lyga takes a daring approach at portraying the lives of a child molester and child-victim. Focusing mostly on the affair and the emotional and psychological impact it had on Josh, BOY TOY is similar to a (fictional) memoir.

However close this topic relates to young adult readers, teachers must consider the graphic nature of this text. I insist on parental consent and would not recommend it for any grades below 11th, even 11th grade is risky. LOVE THE BOOK, and I hope everyone reads it at some point in their lives!

~Jessica