SED 407

Prof. Napolitano

Textbooks and how best to use them. . . .

I just finished reading Chapters 3 and 6 all at once.  A luxury to be sure. Time is a luxury.  And I only bring that up, because textbooks robbed me of a lot of time some years back.  

I carried those books around in my backpack from class to class.  I highlighted them, fell asleep on them, re-read them at least 3 to 4 times only to find that I didn't get it, I felt stupid.  I couldn’t give up though.  I had tests to take and at the very least pass.  Which I did.  But ask me what I remember.  Only what I found interesting.  Only the things that continue to touch my life.

I was so happy to read both of these chapters.  And this happiness piggybacked my first week at RIC when I discovered that the required reading materials for my classes consisted of only two textbooks.  The rest have been a variety of excerpts and articles with connecting content.  I am enjoying this kind of reading, more importantly I am not having to read it 3 times to remember it much less comprehend it.  I am being challenged, and I am thinking, and I am being provoked. I am alive with opinions that are being supported by research.  And I get to add hyperlinks of my choosing to my reflections.

And as much as I want to say my head hurts form my perceived enormity of the task of becoming a  teacher of young people, I am relieved that there are pioneers of this new approach of providing content from both traditional and non traditional sources.  There are indeed vast and growing genres to be tapped.  (The list is on p. 55).  And I can add my own materials, and students can choose as well.  How smart is that.

A few years ago, when my daughter was home for a weekend from college, I came across her Art History Text. I opened it and began to read.  Moments later I was texting her screaming (the way you scream in a text. . . )  “WHAT TEACHER HAS ASSIGNED YOU THIS GARBAGE. . .”  (She  loved me for doing that).  I call it ego driven text.  Someone had the “need” to be published.  It was perfectly horrible and I was furious that she was required to read it.  In no way was this going to help her in life.  To it’s credit, maybe there was some viable content, but I could neither see nor comprehend it, so how was my daughter going to get anything out of it.  Twenty years ago, my response would have been quite different.  I would’ve thought “well of course I’m an idiot because I can’t understand this.”  But my experience now tells me that just because it’s published doesn’t mean it’s well written.  And just because someone is a teacher doesn’t necessarily mean they are good at it.  And to add insult to injury I was paying for this.

As I head into the classroom, I know that I will be on the lookout for a comprehensive textbook on Biology.  But I so appreciate that our textbook, "Subjects Matter" offers guides as to what to look for, and how to help students engage with the material.  And to grasp the big ideas. How to choose the most important "fenceposts".  Further, to utilize other resources that have more of a connection to a student’s own experiences, and then having them engage with each other and help each other learn the material, just makes good sense.  It’s time, resource and people management skills, all good things to learn.

When I tackle an art assignment or idea if you will, no resource is out of bounds.  And what works is different every time.  Creating an environment that is fun, engaging, and makes sense to those whom it impacts is the best and most effective kind of learning experience there could be.  That is certainly what has worked for me.

I want to be a good if not great teacher.  I want to encourage kids to dream.  This is not ego driven.  I do not need anything more than to see them hungry to find their own way.  That’s it.  And I hope to find a school system that will support this approach.  Because it is smart.