10-05-2012, 09:43 AM | #91 | ||
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There is an upside to the students all reading the same book; the teacher knows the material and can judge whether or not they read and understood the text. Or at least if they read and understood the Cliff Notes. There are always students who watch the movie instead, and they can get burned if the movie content they reference isn't in the book. Some teachers are overzealous, and their sure that if they just expose children to classics that they will fall in love with them. Some students do, others just learn to hate them. And students don't always pick up what the teacher wishes them to get out of the book, but that's the nature of books. I've heard from a number of people who hated the books that they were forced to read in high school, but liked them when they chose to read them as adults. Ideally, students would be picking books that they like that at least have some degree of quality, Captain Underpants would not qualify. Those students who wanted more of a challenge could pick more difficult books. I admit it does make grading more difficult. |
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10-05-2012, 10:45 AM | #92 | ||
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but they'll pick up the fun and shallow child book anyway. Because it's fun and cheap and they never get tired of another dose. Why grow up and struggle with life and not get your fix of shallow entertainment? BTW, cracked is a comedy site and I think the writer is well versed in the comedic effects of exaggeration Last edited by Namekuseijin; 10-05-2012 at 11:13 AM. |
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10-05-2012, 01:33 PM | #93 | |
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10-05-2012, 02:03 PM | #94 |
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I though my country was the only one with this problem. I admit I read just one of the books that was in our schedule due to the fact that I found every other boring and uninteresting (though I admit we did not have Dickens on our list). I went to a tehnical highschool so we didn't really focus on literature, but instead just focused on our big local authors (people from Romania know who I am talking about).
It's impossible to name authors or books that everyone likes but forcing someone to read a book that he or she does not like is not the solution. |
10-05-2012, 03:37 PM | #95 |
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Schools "force" kids to read stuff they don't like all the time. Why should a class that happens to use famous works of fiction as textbooks be any different in that regard? I'm still just not quite understanding why so many people are of the opinion that a literature class should receive some sort of special dispensation that no other subject gets: namely, the students' personal likes/dislikes having any sort of bearing on the choice of texts?
Last edited by DiapDealer; 10-05-2012 at 03:39 PM. |
10-05-2012, 04:26 PM | #96 |
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In music class, students don't all play the same instruments, in choir they don't all sing the same parts. In art class, students don't all paint the same paintings. When students do research papers they don't all do their papers on the same subject. Thus it is not true that students desires have no bearing in any other class. It's common for students to have at least some degree of choice in the classroom.
In math class, there isn't some other math that would do as well as what is assigned. This isn't true in literature. Students could learn just as well from a number of books, and they will be more likely to learn from a book that interests them than from a book that doesn't. Last edited by QuantumIguana; 10-05-2012 at 04:32 PM. |
10-08-2012, 06:03 PM | #97 | |
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10-08-2012, 06:40 PM | #98 | |
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Otherwise, thinking does not happen. Otherwise, learning to focus does not take place. The brain needs exercise. The ability to focus does not come innate. Attention spans can be lengthened even without chemicals. THAT is the whole point of reading something difficult or 'boring'. It's not (just) to teach literature. It's to teach them how to use their brains. And to train them in using their brains. Do you question why a football player needs to lift weights? It's boring and it is not directly related to what he is doing on the field. Yet, it makes him a stronger player. Same thing. Reading obscure material is weightlifting for the brain. |
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10-08-2012, 09:56 PM | #99 |
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10-09-2012, 02:05 AM | #100 | |
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10-09-2012, 02:52 AM | #101 | |
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2) Oral exams individually applied, the question "why" will appear frequently? 3) By writing an essay based upon the books the individual read? I don't think examination need to be some kind of neck for letting students select their own reading material. That selection could be limited to a list of books approved by the teacher. If you require national standards I suppose central school authorities could provide such a list. Education is very different from the days you went to school HarryT |
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10-09-2012, 05:42 AM | #102 |
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10-09-2012, 09:02 AM | #103 | |
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Perhaps you blame my later D in physics on the fact that I refused to immerse myself in Hamlet? I'm thinking not. I'm guessing that an intro physics class instead of the 8th grade lit class would have helped me a lot more. When asked to analyze some drug-induced horror by Poe, I recall hours of painful reading that to this day has served no purpose that I can tell. There are better teaching texts, especially for reading comprehension, critical thinking and analyzing. The text does not have to be nearly impossible to read, nor does it have to be boring, tragic and about some fat, pompous king no one cares about. The brain is a muscle that has many ways to exercise and learn. Being forced to read "classics" that students don't enjoy is just "mindless" exercising that is the equivalent of staring at the weights without actually using them. It doesn't instill good reading habits or any other deep knowledge that will necessarily help them later in life. Your analogy is well-written and thoughtful, but it's still hogwash. I commend your English teacher for instilling in you good writing skills and the ability to lay out an argument that makes sense and, on the surface, appears to hold water. Last edited by BearMountainBooks; 10-09-2012 at 09:08 AM. |
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10-09-2012, 09:22 AM | #104 |
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It's been my experience both as someone who has been through school and close observation of my own children as both students in schools and formerly home educated, that just our innate nature as human beings - we tend to retain long term, rather than just impress short-term, that which is relevant to our tangible needs and interests.
When I left school, I learned very *quickly*, all kinds of things not taught in school, not because school "taught me how to learn" but because I was passionate about the subject. I've retained very little of the material that actually had nothing to do with my long-term life. Sure I could get the grade on a test paper, but would I be able to manage it today? No. |
10-09-2012, 09:48 AM | #105 | |
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