perspective

Yesterday, while flipping through students' binders to check their Reading Records, I realized that I had made a pretty big mistake. Students must read at least 6 books per quarter, 24 books per year. I read one book aloud to them, Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, and the rest is up to them. We go to the library every Tuesday so that they can check new books out. I try to develop an atmosphere where reading is understood as at independent way to learn and grow as a human being. I also emphasize to the students that their interests will dictate much of what they do for the rest of their lives, so they should read about what interests them. It sounds simple, but with reluctant readers it can be very tough. And it's a constant job of making sure that students have books that are engaging to them. But it is so rewarding when they have conversations about the good books that they are reading. When students gather around the stacks in the library, or sit at tables and pass books and tell one another about what's going on, talking about characters like they're real people, or share insight in Science or Social Studies from something they read in a nonfiction text, it makes the constant effort worthwhile.

Well, the students must keep a Reading Record to keep track of all the books that they read, even the ones they don't finish. Students must keep records of the genre, total pages, lexile level, and the date finished or date abandoned. Students must all use MLA citation format for documenting the other pertinent details of the book (author, title, publisher, etc.). This seems like a whole bunch of crap to keep track of as a reader. No adult reader keeps track of this stuff, so why should my students? Well, that's a great question. I want my students to learn about themselves as readers--what genres they like and dislike, how much they are reading over time, and what level of the books they are reading (although I'm not too hip on the whole lexile thing to begin with). I also want my students to be be familiar with and practiced in using MLA citation; they'll be using it my class, in Social Studies, in Science, and all through high school.

My problem is one of perspective. I have the perspective of one who has experienced much in the way of education, and I have all these thoughts in my mind. My students obviously don't see things the way I do, and don't find keeping these records important. I've talked to them about why we keep track of the genre, page numbers, and date finished or date abandoned, but not about lexile levels or MLA citations. And what do you know? The biggest problem I'm seeing in the students Reading Records is in the lexile level and MLA citation documentation. Where I have not explained the importance of the documentation, the documentation suffers. That makes too much sense.

So on Tuesday, after we come back from the library, we'll not only be going over how to cite some different books using the MLA standards, but we'll also be talking about why citations are important in the first place. I really hope that leads to a discussion about copy right laws, especially those affecting music and movies, but even getting into things like intellectual property and things like the borrowing of html code.

And in unrelated news:
I was on a walk today. It's something I'd like to make a routine on Saturdays: take a walk to refresh my mind and body. Well, as I was walking a group of young guys went riding by on their bikes. The last one turned as he passed me and did a double-take. Then he slammed on his breaks, almost making him fall, and asking, "Mr. Maerke, is that you?" This was one of my students from my first year of teaching at Cherokee Middle School. He's a senior now, if my math is right and his grades are right, but who knows. The kid's about 6'3" now, tall and lanky just like the way he was in 8th grade. He was one of my brightest students, but never quite did well in any of his classes. As he's riding away, he turns and says to me, "Oh, I'm probably going to be a teacher." It completely took me by surprise. Here's a kid who figured out how to game the system. He was smart enough to get by without doing much, and was clever enough to figure out where the line was with each teacher, and made sure not to cross it. This meant that, although he could have had straight A's in all of his classes, he got C's and D's and made sure he had a good time doing it. 


Seeing former students is always fun, and this encounter especially, because of what happened at school yesterday. An especially challenging student, who had a long list of problems through 6th and 7th grade is starting out on a poor note in 8th grade. This student is also very bright, and has great potential, but he needs to make better decisions. I flat out told him this in last period on Friday. I told him that even if he got very little from my English class, when it comes to reading and writing, if I could help him understand the importance of making better decisions--first of all being considerate of and to others--then I would be pleased that he learned something this year. And I mean that. Yes, teaching reading and writing is why I collect a pay check from SPS, but students are why I choose to do it. Working with them is my passion and pride. Running into them years later, seeing them as more mature young men and women, who have gained perspective, is a great joy.