The Other Side of Teaching

These are the packets I collected yesterday from my two Tuesday classes. The students have spent the past three weeks reading, analyzing, and quite simply acquainting themselves with six articles from magazines and newspapers that I handed-out. They had to find each author's main point and then they were to summarize, not report, but summarize the message in each article in approximately 100 words. So they have to condense the message, but not tell or report the message. It is not an easy task, but one that must be practiced and learned through the practicing (sort of like learning to play the piano).

For their first homework task, they had to read the articles and come back to class having found the main point in each one. I knew we were in trouble when only 1% of them recognized one author's main point which started with the words "the point is . . . ." They read so quickly, scanning the text, trying to get the assignment done, that they missed the more than obvious clue to the main point.

For the most part, these students have no interest in reading and they do not grasp the concept that they can gain knowledge about themselves and the world they live in by reading. They just don't care. Teaching is truly more about motivating and instilling desire in young people than anything else. The number one thing I need when I walk into a classroom is energy.

I'm not sure what I need, though, to read and grade these summary packets. At this moment I am the one who lacks motivation. I just keep believing that somewhere in that stack of student papers I'll find the work of several students who gave their best attention and their best effort to producing quality.

Good night from Southern California.
Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol