The Treasure Hunter

Dear Readers,

Today I am reposting a piece I wrote four months ago for two reasons: 1. I fell yesterday and injured my hand badly enough that it hurts to write; 2. I have not yet received  any of the writing contributions I begged for back then.  If you feel sorry for me or guilting about not responding to my request the first time, do it now!

P. S. I expect to recover fully within three or four days.  Your contributions will help to speed the process.

After calling for the voices of students on this blog a few days ago, I have given more thought about how to keep everyone safe. Even though I would like teachers to encourage students to write about school experiences and their ideas for change, I now think it would be best for them to do their writing outside of school. I also think students should sign only their first names on any pieces they submit. I do not want them or their teachers to risk being questioned or punished for something they sent to me. In addition, I assure all contributors that I will not share any information about them unless they specifically say it’s okay to do so.

As for how to submit a piece of writing,  post it in the space labeled “Comments” at the bottom of this page. Only I will see what is written there. Please keep them short.

P.S. Parents and teachers are also encouraged to write about students’ experiences.

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To get writers started, here are some of the topics I’d like to hear their opinions about, but they may certainly write to me about anything that concerns them.

What do you think about homework assignments? Are there too many at once, too difficult, a waste of time, or helpful to your learning?

Is bullying rampant at your school? What could teachers, administrators, or you and your friends do to reduce the problem or stop it altogether?

What are your feelings about“high stakes”testing? Were the tests you’ve taken too long, too difficult, or some of the questions unreasonable? Did you give  your best efforts  on such a test or just the bare minimum?

If you were the principal of your school, what would be the first changes you would make and why did you choose them?

Today I will summarize two articles I just read that deal with student negativity about their schooling. Then, I will let you know why both of them irritated me. The first article, written by Betsy Hammond, was published in our local newspaper, the Oregonian; and the second, written by Tara Garcia Mathewson, appeared on an Internet site called “Youth Truth”.

 Youth Truth, a San Francisco non-profit organization * conducted a survey of 80, 000 students in 24 states from grades five through 12 in order to find out their feelings about their school’s culture. The results showed that that 44% of 6^th graders had positive feelings while 9^th graders had only to 32% and 11^th graders only 28%. It appears that no younger students were surveyed.

Although fewer than half of all students felt that discipline at their school was fair, the percentages varied for different ethnic groups. Fourty-nine percent of Asian students said that the discipline was fair, compared to 39% of white students and Latinos, 34% of multiracial students, and 28% of black students.

While this information is interesting and significant, the article does not say how it was gathered; nor does it give any examples of the questions asked.  In searching the Internet I was unable to find any further information about the nature of the survey or any action taken in response to it.What purpose did it serve?

The Oregonian article was about chronic student absenteeism, but it did not mention any student surveys or cite percentages of absences.  Instead, it cited data on the numbers of students who had been absent for least 10 percent of the school year  and described a plan conceived by state officials to fix the problem.

This new plan will create a team of experts to assist schools that have the highest numbers of student absenteeism. Those experts will train 20 coaches to work with the schools selected to devise and implement new practices to improve student attendance.

Newly trained attendance coaches would help the chosen schools examine in detail what is going wrong, not only at school but also at home. Then they would make customized plans to reverse those negative patterns. Although most of the work would be done by the coaches, the participation of other school officials is mentioned. No specifics are given about the activities of either group.

What irritated me about both articles was the absence of any mention of interviewing  students to get at the sources of absenteeism or school dissatisfaction, or any suggestions of how to change student behavior. Although I think that the assumptions made by the proposed coaches or school officials will have some value, the actions mentioned leave out the voices of the only people who can identify and solve the problems: the students. For goodness sake, why can’t teachers and principals have some private discussions with students to find out what they think is wrong with the school culture–in addition to discipline– and how it can be changed?  At the same time, discussions could reveal problems outside of school that are causing student absences, such as family conditions, student health, transportation, or fear of being bullied.

In reading these two articles I continued to be appalled by the total failure of our education system to bring students into the groups of problem identifiers and solvers. When it comes to school, those are the roles they are best fitted for and the ones most likely to make them better students and citizens.

*Youth Truth was developed by the Center for Effective Philanthropy in collaboration and with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Youth Truth was founded in 2008 by Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy; Fay Twersky, director of the Effective Philanthropy Group at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and former director of Impact Planning and Improvement at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Valerie Threlfall, former vice president at the Center for Effective Philanthropy and founding director of YouthTruth from 2008 to 2012.

As a regular reader of by Lu Ann Mc Nabb’s “Literacy & NCTE” blog” I was greatly impressed by a recent essay, titled “Read Alouds for Life” by  Rick Joseph, the 2016 Michigan State Teacher of the Year. Below I will summarize the major points of his essay and then, as usual, add my own views.

Rick Joseph, who teaches a grade 5/6 class in Birmingham Michigan, has a personal love of reading that he shares with his students and other children he comes in contact with by reading aloud to them as often as possible. Not only does he choose books that he enjoys personally, but also ones that will be new and inspiring experiences for young people.  For example, in selecting “The Junkyard Wonders” by Patricia Polacco as the Official Book of the Michigan Teacher of the year in 20i6, he hopes to spread the book’s message that all people are geniuses in their own way and should use their abilities to make the world better for everyone.

Joseph believes that all people love stories and benefit greatly from hearing them or reading them regularly. He says, “Our stories have always helped us not only to communicate, but to make sense of our world and realize our place in it.”

From his viewpoint as a teacher, he also believes that reading aloud to children is a strong factor in increasing their learning: “Stories expand children’s vocabulary, improve their ability to learn to read, and—perhaps most important—foster a lifelong love of books and reading.”

Practically, Joseph also recognizes that reading is only one element competing for attention in the lives of children. Every day they are free to choose from a number of recreational experiences on their own time: “television, movies, the internet, video games and after school activities.” So it is essential that children think of reading as a pleasure rather than a chore. Teachers can do a lot to encourage this belief by reading aloud to their students on a regular basis.

In addition, Joseph recounts a personal experience when he read to a 5^th grade class at another school. When he returned the next day, a number of students greeted him eagerly, holding their own favorite books and asking if he had read them. He felt that this single episode of reading aloud to them had created a bond between him and those students that would last and encourage them all to read more.

In many ways I wish I had written this essay myself. I also wish I had read to my students more often when I was a teacher or a principal. I agree completely with Joseph’s beliefs and would go even further by exhorting teachers at all levels to do what he has done. Even high school teachers could read aloud to their classes one day a week, and college professors could introduce new books in their field by reading aloud a page or two .

All too often parents and teachers believe that reading aloud to children should stop when those young people can read on their own. They do not realize that there are strong reasons for continuing this practice, even if it must be less frequent. Because I believe as strongly as Rick Joseph in the benefits of adults reading aloud, I will list the ones he mentioned below in more formal educational terms, and add a few others that I believe in and think he would agree with.

Teachers and parents should read aloud to children of all ages in order to

Introduce them to books they would not choose on their own

Broaden the range of their reading

Build their vocabulary

Increase their knowledge of unfamiliar people, places, and experiences

Encourage the belief that reading is an enjoyable everyday activity

Accustom them to the literary structures of short stories, poems, novels, and other types of literature

Improve their knowledge and use of proper grammar and sentence structure

Help dyslexics and poor readers to get the information and skills other students have acquired through reading

For now, let’s all take off some time and read a new book.

Being elsewhere for the past two weeks has given me a new perspective on what should be included in this blog. Up until now I have focused on information about school practices in different places obtained from various news sources, accompanied by my reactions and suggestions. I have also argued for my own beliefs about education and described some of the practices in the schools I worked in or visited after retiring. From time to time, I have also posted essays written by other educators. Yet, important voices and crucial information have been missing entirely. Both readers and I need to know what students of all ages think about their schools today and what changes they would like to see happen.

Although some of the articles I’ve read contain quotes from students-almost always young ones-they are brief and formulaic, telling how much they love their teacher or their new commercial materials. Nowhere have I read what older students think about the Common Core Standards, high stakes testing, the curriculum, the amount of homework, class sizes, technology in the classroom, bullying, or the emphasis or being prepared for college and the workplace. These are the things all teachers, principals, and education decision makers need to know about and consider in making decisions about school structures and practices.

Although I have been and continue to be a supporter of teachers, students, and public schools, I really have no idea of what school life is like today. I retired from my principal’s job in 2000 and stopped supervising student teachers and visiting classrooms of teachers recommended to me in 2014. To do a good job with my chosen role of writing this blog two or three times a week, I need to hear more from the people who are living a good part of their everyday lives in schools today. That means not only students, but teachers, student teachers, aides,  and other school employees or volunteers. Although I might ask a contributor for more information or some revision, I will respect the efforts, opinions and anonymity (if requested) of anyone who sends me a submission. Even If you have only a short comment to make, I will find a way to include it.  Also, however, I retain the right to reject anything that seems inaccurate, disrespectful of others, or illegal.

Teachers and parents, please consider encouraging students to contribute to “The Treasure Hunter” or contributing yourself. Not only will you be helping to make my blog better and my life easier, but you will also be adding the voices that most need to be heard.

Today’s post is about the power of literary fiction. I was moved to write about my own attachment to great novels, stories, poems, and plays by reading an article titled “ Literary Fiction Here to Stay in Curriculum” posted by Education Dive in October.

I must also tell you that I’m taking a break from writing starting today and ending on November 30^th. Very soon I will be attending the annual NCTE convention and then visiting my family in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving. I expect to have recovered from all those lazy, happy days by the 1^st of December, and I hope you will be ready and happy to hear from me again at that time.

When I saw the title of the article, “Literary Fiction Here to Stay in Curriculum” I was eager to read it. Mainly, it was about a recent study that showed “reading literature enhances the human capacity to understand the beliefs and feelings of other people.” Since I agree completely with that judgment, I went to the research site, but could not open it because I was not a member of the organization. The best information I can provide is that the study consisted of giving groups of young people factual material or pieces from high quality fiction. The results showed that those who read fiction expressed greater empathy for real people than those who read non-fiction. Here is a key quote from the article: “In the experiments we ran, we saw the immediate effects of the readings even after just 15 minutes or so. We also have some data showing how much exposure people have had to fiction, and we demonstrate that it is only exposure to literary fiction, specifically, that has better effects on theory of mind, not popular fiction.”

The article also mentioned a recent survey that reinforced the study’s results. Finally, it offered quotes from several psychologists who agreed about the power of fiction to build empathy. Here’s one from David E. Kirkland, an English professor at New York University: “There’s a greater goal in education. When we flush literature down the toilet, we also flush opportunities to enhance our humanity, to prepare people to participate in a multicultural global democracy in ways that might heighten our level of human participation in the larger project of humanity. School is beyond career and college training. We are preparing people to interact in a multicultural democracy.”

Kirkland also said, “Round characters are characters that are complex, obscure, and difficult to interpret. If the characters are like this, the reader is forced into this process of mentalizing…[and] we are making the case that this kind of writing characterizes literary fiction more than other genres.”

Although I did not find enough substantive information in the article about the research study or the survey to consider recommending it to others, it’s conclusions were so close to what I believed that I could not resist writing about my own experience with quality literature and how it has helped me to understand the people I have worked for, taught, managed, lived with, or known only at a distance.

Reflecting on my experience as a reader, l remember well my first adult book, the novel “Little Women”, a gift from my mother when I was about ten years old. Up until that time I had read only fairy tales, children’s books and traditional textbooks. “Little Women” covered the lives of four sisters from childhood to adulthood. As they matured, each one had to work to overcome the harshness of family poverty and their own weaknesses. By the time they reached adulthood they had made personal adjustments that enabled them to be strong and secure in their relationships and everyday lives.

Because the characters and situations in “Little Women” were so interesting to me, I swept through it in several days, but soon afterword I read it again, more slowly. I also started to hunt for young adult fiction in our school library. When I asked our librarian to help me find books about young women in new adventures, she did her best to please me. After a while, however, she also led me to books that explored the lives and feelings of boys and men. She never explained her reasons for the shift, and since I also enjoyed those books, I never asked.

Later, as a college student majoring in English, so much reading was assigned that I had no time to choose my own books. Yet, I loved most of Shakespeare’s plays and poetry and also the works of Chekov, even though most of his characters were not very likeable. On the other hand, I did not like reading “The Scarlet Letter” or “Moby Dick”. Both left me cold; I think because I could not see any deep feelings for others in the characters.

A few years later, graduate study in English, again, offered little time for me to choose my own reading. Yet most of the required literature pleased me and became a part of my life.  Even now I can recite the introduction to Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” and think about the sad story of “Troilus and Criseyde”.

Over my adult years, as a wife, mother and teacher, my affection for certain kinds of fiction did not change. One of my favorites,“Madam Bovary” I have read three times over the years and felt her desperation, even though she was selfish and dishonest, and the sadness of her husband, even though he was weak and foolish. When I taught high school English, I assigned that book to my 12^th grade class and  also had them read “The Mayor of Casterbridge”.

Many years later, when I joined a book club, I was unhappy with many of the books selected. We read too much non-fiction, especially biographies, that did not make their characters come alive.  I was often bored as I read, and I have forgotten most of the titles and content. The only piece of non-fiction I remember enjoying during that time, and which I have read again, was “Under the Banner of Heaven”. I think that is because in addition to describing the course of the Mormon religion, it dealt with the feelings of real people, both good and bad.

Over the past 16 years, retired and writing books and articles about education, I have read mostly non-fiction. The most valuable book I found was”Mc Donogh 15, Becoming  a School”. It was written by an elementary school principal, whose understanding and treatment of students and teachers and what it takes to make a good school, were more compelling and persuasive than anything else I’ve ever read about education.

At the same time, I also remember the wonderful fiction I’ve read in the past, and I go back to the books still on my book shelves.  I learned more about human feelings and behavior from such books as “All Quiet on the Western Front”, “A Death in the Family”,“To Kill a Mockingbird”, “In Cold blood”, “The Poisonwood Bible”, “The White Hotel”, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam”, “Lord Jim”, “The Painted Veil” and other great pieces of fiction than I ever learned at school or in my early experiences in the real world.