June 18, 2008
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Summer Life
I am always surprised at the connections humans forge. The best of them are created unintentionally. They just happen. And they are a gift from something much greater than our own human-ness. Friendship comes almost unbidden. The best of these realtionships are no work at all. There is understanding and knowing and trust without conscious effort. Truly these relationships are to be celebrated – quietly, without fanfare or marching bands or parades. If anything at all is needed to mark the occasion it should be something simple like a cup of tea and an afternoon by the river. Or maybe here, in this space, where the only thing that needs to be said is thank you.
In other news…the weather cooled and the summer reading numbers climbed. I don’t know that they will be as good as last year’s but I am less despairing now. However, even as I bemoan our numbers I have a sudden and quite unwelcome insight as to why those numbers are poor. Confirmed now by two people in the know, it would appear that middle school reading – that is to say reading in grades 6, 7, and 8 – will be taught on-line with a supervising teacher whose role is to keep the peace and keep students on task but not to actually do anything that smacks of discussion or vocabulary building or understanding ideas and concepts in a piece of literature. Is it wrong to interpret this to mean that the school system itself does not value the written word, does not see the joy that can be achieved by the understanding of literature? Why should the children borrow books when the school system they attend does not value print? I do not have the entire story yet. I do not know if this is part of a larger, more comprehensive plan. History would say that it is not. That this is a way to stick kids someplace with a largely self-directed program and hope for the best. The impact this latest scheme will have on matters far greater than library summer reading participation remains to be seen. Still, I don’t feel quite so badly or so guilty about the drop in numbers.
And so it goes.
Comments (7)
ARGH! Teaching reading via the net with a moderator? How on earth can the shared “ah ha!” moments be seen and celebrated? What are they thinking? Oh wait, I know…..it’s cheaper somehow, right? sigh………….
ryc: I’m not sure I’ll make it out your way this summer. I’ve got to get a daughter ready to leave for college…but if I can, I’ll try to swing by your way…how’s that?
Glad to hear a reason for it but gah! If anything in English should be taught online it is writing where interaction can be tracked and thought processes are shown through the writing. I cannot imagine the reading. It’s likely a ton of comprehension multiple choice questions that may or may not be answered by the child or with any reasoning. OKAY, end rant.
And glad to hear the numbers have picked up.
Here’s to human connections! May the good ones last long and the bad ones come with antacid.
I know how you feel about summer reading…we do this thing where if they sign up for the program they can answer our “question of the week” (which is something like “where do you recycle paper” or “where are the Dr. Seuss books?”) and get a gummi worm. Once a week, mind you. It seems like that’s the only reason they want to sign up for the program. Read books? (to get a cheap prize?) No thanks, just give me the gummi worm! (sigh) And don’t even get me started on the teens…I love ‘em to death, as you know, and are happy as pie they are reading but … they still want to exploit/complain about the program. (sigh) Oh, and let’s not even get started on all the daycares that think the library is theirs. Having a program? Oh, you don’t mind if we bring 15 kids, do you? Or if we show up to storytime and sit in the back reading magazines, right? Or if we bring 10 kids to the library and they fight over the games computers the whole time? Great! Because parents are paying US to watch their kids, how about you do all the programming and work? Super!!
And teaching reading online with a “supervising moderator” … yeah, what a great idea!
Uphill we continue to fight, I guess.
Being the teacher to my two homeschoolers it made me physically cringe to hear that they are teaching reading online. The library is an integral part of our schooling and the books that accompany us during our days are like magic portals that take you from a boring van ride to the grocery store to the woods of Wisconsin or into outer space. There is something about the tactile nature of the book that is lost when taken to a computer. My communication with them is key to understanding what they are or are not “getting” – I doubt a moderator could do the same and would most likely not have the relationship necessary to build a fruitful teacher/student relationship. Frightening times.
I’ve always been a firm believer that if you have to work too hard at a friendship then it really was not meant to be. The good ones come easy.
A relationship that required no work sounds nice. I’ve never had one of those, that I can recall. I mean, I’m even expected to give the postal delivery person an Xmas gift, so I can’t even count her!
nice description of friendship.
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