Blog #6

So far in my Student Teaching I am finding how hard it is to make sure that the items you put on your test have to be worded just like you talked about in class. I am use to having teachers tell me one thing and say the same thing on the test, but use different words or come at it from a different angle. However, when I prepare tests and quizzes I have to word everything in the exact way I originally presented the information. The reason I have to do this is because my students would have no idea what was going on otherwise. I don't know where this trend began for students, but it is a huge disservice to them. Students seem to be unable to think their ways through new information or old information in a new light. I do not see how they are going to be successful in their college classes unless they become masters at this skill. It maybe that their reading skills are not up to the challenge of making these connections or it maybe that students are studying in ways that will help them know the information from all angles. Either way, something has to change.

The chapters in Readicide were interesting. It was rare for me to have a novel underteached in high school. The book that I remember being underteached was Fahrenheit 451. All I remember about this book is my class having to read it out loud everyday. Everyone in the class took turns reading the book aloud page by page. The class had a range of readers, so when there was a reader who did not read well, I found myself ignoring what was going on. I did this because I was to frustrated to pay attention. I just wanted to tell the kid to learn to read. This is a terrible thing to say, but I am sure there are students like this in all our classes. They are smart enough to understand things the first time and the constant repetition is just plain annoying. I did like the way Mr. Gallagher introduced more difficult books to his students. I believe if I knew what I was suppose to learn and how it could inform me for adulthood, then I would have been more invested in book. Also, it would show me that even though the book was written in a different time, the points the book makes are still relevant today.

I believe that Readicide in my content is an easy thing to occur. This is because many students get lost in what books and articles have to say about science. Students see a bunch of words that are new to them and are immediatley turned off. Also, students want to have something that is quick and easy to read. In general this is not true for science literature because the literature is trying to teach you something completely foreign to you.