Interest

The article by Jonathan Ostenson and Elizabeth Gleason-Sutton was another piece this week that I related to. I don't really remember a single book I was forced to read during high school. I either didn't actually read them or I read enough to get assignments done and then wiped them from my mind.

To get sort of off topic for a moment; it's sort of funny that I'm becoming a teacher, because I can't remember a single one that actually inspired me to do so. Instead, I constantly thought about how I would actually run a classroom so that students not only could learn, but wanted to. My memories from high school are those of being herded along, from one grade to another, in order to help the school just enough to get AYP and to avoid the ire of NCLB. I don't remember any connections with teachers; even the friends of mine that went back after they graduated only did so in order to say hi to the teachers that they had fun with. a.k.a. the teachers that didn't actually do work in the classes, and simply bullshitted with the students they liked for an hour.

During my high school English classes, I remember thinking that these books we had to read had no basis. They were all "classics" that had no connection with modern day kids; they were simply novels that older people viewed through rose colored glasses with frames made of nostalgia.

Though I still hold to the opinion that certain books, ones that shall remain unnamed *cough*thechocolatewars*cough*, aren't exactly the classic, necessary material for high school students to learn, I do know now that these books can not only be relatable, but used in a way that can catch these students' collective interests without forcing them down their throat.

I completely agree with both the authors in that we should strive to make these "necessary" novels meaningful to them. We can do this by looking for key factors that strike their interest, by asking questions that can instigate meaningful discussion, and mostly, by finding a balance between teacher and student involvement.