Wednesday, July 11, 2012

If I Were a High School English Teacher...

No offense to high school English teachers everywhere.  I know you're awesome.  You deserve applause (unless you're my daughter's teacher from last year - you need to choose another profession).

My daughter is not taking AP English this year, but she is taking AP US History and AP Government.  For just one of those classes, she has to complete two packets of questions.  Why two?  Presumably because there were too many pages for one staple.  She also has to read four chapters from a college textbook and four chapters from an exam guide and answer those questions. 

I think it's a lot of work.  But she loves it, and she's pretty much done and is ready to start the work for her government class.  Since she hasn't been exposed to politics at all until now, I recommended watching CNN or MSNBC immediately followed by The Colbert Report and The Daily Show.  Now she thinks politics is funny.

The summer reading for AP English (or maybe English 11) is Slaughterhouse Five (great choice) and Crime and Punishment (not a great choice in my opinion).  I'm a huge fan of Russian literature.  Anna Karenina is one of my all-time favorite novels.  I think Dostoevsky is a little heavy for the summer, especially for the 17 year old crowd. 

If I were a high school English teacher, I would hand out a collection of high quality short stories and let the kids choose twelve, one a week, and have them write an essay or two on any theme that they find in three or more of the stories.  Or I would give them a list of novels that could be on the AP exam and let them choose.   Crazy concept, huh?

I would critique their essay and give them a list of things to work on (not a grade necessarily) so they know the specifics of how their writing needs to improve.  And I wouldn't make them wait until the first day of school for the stress of the critique and finding out whether their writing is good enough.  I'd let them email the essay whenever they get done.  And I'd give them the opportunity to revise it.  Not for a grade necessarily.  Isn't the goal to learn how to write awesome critical essays?  I say once you write 5 or 6 amazing essays, you've got your A and the freedom to read whatever you choose on the AP reading list.

My daughter is not taking AP English and has sort of come to hate English despite her love of literature for this reason - lack of choice and the thing where it's all about the grade.

27 comments:

  1. It's so sad when 'education' squashes love of learning. I hated English at school, too, but I carried on reading.

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    1. I agree. I love reading too. We weren't given summer reading. I just read on my own.

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  2. I enjoyed the humor in Crime and Punishment, though you're right, it is quite dense. I like your short story idea - one a week is a good pace and should keep kids feeling "fresh" about reading.
    Some Dark Romantic

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    1. I spent one of my teenage summers reading Tolstoy, Kafka, and Nietzsche. :)

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  3. I like your ideas Tonja! Summer school should be less stressful, and the right to choose option is a good one. Good luck to your daughter with her tough load. Julie

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    1. It's not summer school...it's homework for next fall. Awesome,huh?

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    2. I forgot about all the prep that goes into AP courses. The good news is that she may place out of some college courses later. Sorry, I just had summer school on the brain, because my younger son is taking it at a local college. Take care Tonja. Julie

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  4. You missed your calling! That sounds better than some of the books I had to read for English class.

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    1. I actually loved reading the classics, still do. Can't get enough. I suddenly feel like reading some Milton.

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  5. Tonja, I totally agree. Give a list and let them choose, write their essay and send it in. It keeps the kid's interest and gives them needed feedback to improve. Grading isn't the necessary part, the feedback for improvement is.

    I'm not a fan of Slaughterhouse Five. I do remember having to read it. I've read and enjoyed quite a few classics. I enjoyed reading period. Summers were long, company short, and so tended to read whatever I got my hands on.

    Sounds like a good mom to counterbalance a not so imaginative teacher.
    :-)

    Sia McKye OVER COFFEE

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    1. I think the best book we read was To Kill a Mockingbird. I loved, loved, loved Waiting for Godot. Still do.

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  6. There's nothing worse when you witness kid's imaginations and passion being killed off by over-focus on curriculum, test scores and grades.

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  7. Twelve essays sounds a bit much to do over the summer. My sister (she's 17) would throw a fit if she had to write that much for AP English. Right now, they have to do journal entries and answer some questions on two books, and she's hating that too (hasn't even started). I do think giving kids a choice would be much better than saying "read these books."

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    1. My idea is twelve stories, one essay. :) The summer reading last year was not good for my daughter. The reading would have been fine, but the detail in which the teacher wanted notes on every chapter was too much.

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  8. My daughter's Honors English classes allow for some choice, and while they still have to read classics like East of Eden, there are more modern books on the list, too. Of course, none of them are books she would've chosen herself, which I guess is kind of the point.

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    1. You're right, maybe it is good that they have to read harder works. I honestly think this school assigned Crime and Punishment for the summer reading to weed people out. I don't think that's right.

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  9. That's really too bad about your daughter. Sounds like you'd do great as her substitute teacher though! :)

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    1. We have a stack of books we're going to read together.

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  10. My son is on a block schedule which is a nightmare. He's working on his AP World History summer work, but there is no reason to work on his honors English (not eligible for AP in ninth grade here) until Christmas break since he doesn't have that class until spring. The worst part is that he was in advanced Spanish in Eighth grade, so he has to move to Spanish II his freshman year. He won't have Spanish for eight months, then he is expected to remember everything. I can't believe some of the things the schools do now.
    I agree that the kids should at least have some choices for reading. We want them to love literature, not resent it.

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    1. That is a mess. I think they need continuity especially with languages.

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  11. I completely agree with your ideas about AP English - short stories, essay choice and the critique process beginning over the summer unless the teacher plans on doing peer critique sessions and two rewrites, grading the final package that shows all the improvements from rough draft through final draft . . .that makes more sense to me.

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    1. The grading and assignments at my daughter's school (which is supposed to be a very good public school compared to others in the area) seem punitive to me. There doesn't seem to be any intention to lift the kids up and give them confidence.

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  13. Agreed about Dostoevsky being a bit heavy. Also, I was never able to appreciate his brilliance. I read The Brothers Karamazov and called it quits on him. I read enough about him to know that he wrote... what was it? Was it Crime and Punishment? Anyway, he wrote one of his 'masterpieces' to pay off some gambling debt. The story I heard was that the publisher was serializing it and so he would hand it in in installments, so he just kept handing them in week after week and would collect his checks. It wasn't until his publisher told him to stop ripping him off and to finish the story that it was complete.

    Anyway, interesting guy I suppose.

    Sounds like the world better watch out for your daughter when she's unleashed into it.

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    1. That is interesting. I always get Tolstoy and Dostoevsky mixed up.

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