Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Active Reading: An Example of the Directed Reading Assignment
10-Second Review: Getting the most out of a textbook chapter.
As a language arts coordinator, I had challenged the teachers in one of my junior high schools to pick out the most frustrating chapter that never seemed to succeed and to let me give the lesson a try. A seventh-grade science teacher asked for some help. She said that the chapter on the circulatory system in her science textbook always bored the students. She told me that she had them answer one hundred questions at the end of the chapter after they read it.
“Wow!” I said. “That’s a lot of questions and a lot of writing. Do they really need to know the answers to all of those questions?” She laughed. “Truth be known,” she said, “they really need to answer only four questions by reading the chapter.” She wrote the four questions down for me.
She added that she had gone through years of finding articles on the circulatory system from Newsweek, Time and U.S. News and World Report. That collection of articles intrigued me. The articles were usually no more than a page or two, with colorful illustrations and clear, concise explanations of how our knowledge of the circulatory system is applied in the world today. Two of the articles were as recent as the previous week.
The steps in the Directed Reading Assignment are as follows: 1. Build up background knowledge of the topic, the circulatory system. 2. Pre-teach important, possibly unfamiliar, vocabulary. 3. Survey the chapter by reading the first paragraph, first sentence of each intermediate paragraph and the final, summarizing paragraph. 4. Have the students raise any questions about what they still needed to know. They re-read to find the answers. 5. Apply the information gained from reading the chapter .
The first step, building background information I took care of by asking the question of the class, “What do you know about the circulatory system?” They knew a lot. Not only that, but they had studied the topic in a previous grade. I looked at the teacher in the back of the room. She was truly amazed at how much information the students already possessed about the circulatory system.
Pre-teaching vocabulary: I pointed out that the word “ventricle” came from “ventri-” meaning stomach and the left and right ventricles in the heart looked like the “stomachs” of the heart in the chapter’s illustration of the circulatory system. The auricles, on the other hand came from a root meaning “ear” and the auricles looked like the “ears” of the heart in the illustration. I also pointed out the word roots for technical words like “pulmonary.” I wanted the students to remember easily terms of the heart.
Survey of the chapter: next, the students read the first paragraph, first sentence of each intermediate paragraph and the final, summary paragraph of the chapter. When I asked the students what questions their teacher would ask them after they had read the chapter, they gave almost word-by-word the questions that she had given me before. The teacher was amazed. The students easily found the answers to the questions and it was time to move on to the payoff—her collection of articles.
Application of the knowledge gained from reading the chapter: I told the students to preview the articles—read the first paragraph, the first sentence of each intermediate paragraph and the final paragraph—to decide whether to read the article in more detail. They summarized briefly the main ideas of the article. In fifteen minutes, some students went through up to ten articles and the discussion of what they had learned about the application of our knowledge of the circulatory system in the world today was downright fascinating. The students were on fire, wanting to share what they had learned.
The teacher said to me, “Thank you.”
I keep saying that reading expert Olive Niles once said, “If every teacher in every class used the directed reading assignment, there would be no reading problems in America today.”
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Active Reading: Textbook Chapters
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Active Reading: Textbook Chapters
10-Second Review: Reading textbook chapters in a shorter time and with better comprehension.
Many students look on reading textbooks as being passive. They begin on the first page of the chapter and plow through, word after word, page after page, to the end, not really sure what is important and what is not, and then they answer the questions at the end of the chapter, questions that, at times, do not seem to have anything to do with what they have read. A boring ritual. Unless they learn the power of questions to quicken their minds, rouse their curiosity and dive into the text with a sense of purpose, reading textbooks will be a deadly chore.
Here’s another way. Look at the title and think about it. What’s involved in the chapter? Read the bold-face headings and the little snippets of text spread throughout the chapter. Study the pictures, charts and maps that accompany the chapter. What have you learned? Probably some of the most important ideas.
Now read the first paragraph of the chapter. Remember your work in composition? You introduce your topic in the first paragraph or two. Read until you find the main idea of the chapter that always concludes the introductory material. Remember the thesis sentence in your work on composition, “Tell them what you are going to tell them” ?
Next, read the first sentence of each intermediate chapter. Won’t take you that long. Topic sentences usually introduce the important ideas in the paragraph or paragraphs to follow. The topic sentences “tell them,” or provide the details of the main ideas of the chapter.
Finally, read the last paragraph, the paragraph that will almost certainly summarize or, “tell them what you told them,” the main ideas of the chapter.
Now, do you have any questions? Can you briefly summarize the main ideas of the chapter? Do you have some questions that you are wondering about? You can easily re-trace your progress through the chapter to find where the questions are answered, either from the bold-face headings or the first sentence of each paragraph that tells you what is to follow.
From this preview of the chapter, you will learn most of the main ideas of the chapter and most of the important details. You will know enough to be able to respond to your teacher’s questions and you will have read the chapter efficiently, finding the main ideas and major details quickly and your curiosity will have been aroused by the questions that you have raised. Very frequently, you will have read all you will need to know. Not many chapter require a complete and thorough reading of every single detail.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Active Reading: Textbook Chapters
10-Second Review: Reading textbook chapters in a shorter time and with better comprehension.
Many students look on reading textbooks as being passive. They begin on the first page of the chapter and plow through, word after word, page after page, to the end, not really sure what is important and what is not, and then they answer the questions at the end of the chapter, questions that, at times, do not seem to have anything to do with what they have read. A boring ritual. Unless they learn the power of questions to quicken their minds, rouse their curiosity and dive into the text with a sense of purpose, reading textbooks will be a deadly chore.
Here’s another way. Look at the title and think about it. What’s involved in the chapter? Read the bold-face headings and the little snippets of text spread throughout the chapter. Study the pictures, charts and maps that accompany the chapter. What have you learned? Probably some of the most important ideas.
Now read the first paragraph of the chapter. Remember your work in composition? You introduce your topic in the first paragraph or two. Read until you find the main idea of the chapter that always concludes the introductory material. Remember the thesis sentence in your work on composition, “Tell them what you are going to tell them” ?
Next, read the first sentence of each intermediate chapter. Won’t take you that long. Topic sentences usually introduce the important ideas in the paragraph or paragraphs to follow. The topic sentences “tell them,” or provide the details of the main ideas of the chapter.
Finally, read the last paragraph, the paragraph that will almost certainly summarize or, “tell them what you told them,” the main ideas of the chapter.
Now, do you have any questions? Can you briefly summarize the main ideas of the chapter? Do you have some questions that you are wondering about? You can easily re-trace your progress through the chapter to find where the questions are answered, either from the bold-face headings or the first sentence of each paragraph that tells you what is to follow.
From this preview of the chapter, you will learn most of the main ideas of the chapter and most of the important details. You will know enough to be able to respond to your teacher’s questions and you will have read the chapter efficiently, finding the main ideas and major details quickly and your curiosity will have been aroused by the questions that you have raised. Very frequently, you will have read all you will need to know. Not many chapter require a complete and thorough reading of every single detail.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Active Learning: Units.
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Active Learning: Units
10-Second Review: Organizing units around students’ questions.
Maybe the way to begin preparing a unit for teaching is to list the questions that will be answered by the students’ work with the unit, questions that relate, if possible, to their own experiences. Let’s take a unit on punctuation with the comma, for example.
What questions do the students have about punctuating with commas?
Why do we need commas in the first place?
Why are the rule for commas so complicated?
Can I learn to use commas without memorizing a bunch of definitions and rules?
How can I recognize mistakes in using commas?
Can punctuation be simplified?
To these questions, the teacher adds the following:
What do you already know about punctuating with commas?
What are the three most important uses of the comma?
How can a reference chart help you use commas easily and accurately?
The answer to the students’ first question about using commas—Why?—can be answered by giving them passages without commas and asking what effects the lack of commas had on their reading. The answer to the teacher’s first question—How much do you already know?--can be answered by seeing how many commas the students can place in the passages without commas. The teacher explores with the students why they placed the commas where they did, then compares the students’ use of commas with the original, fully punctuated passage.
The rest of the questions will be answered by teaching the three most important uses of the comma—after introductory expressions, around ‘interrupters,” and before “afterthoughts”—and by developing a reference chart for uses that are easily learned from examples. This reference chart, consisting mainly of examples, reduces the need for lengthy explanations about the uses of the comma. In a later chapter I will present a complete unit on the comma organized in this manner.
Maybe teachers should not have to be responsible for motivating students to learn. However, in today’s world they are responsible. Using students’ questions to set purposes motivates them to want to learn.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Active Learning: Units
10-Second Review: Organizing units around students’ questions.
Maybe the way to begin preparing a unit for teaching is to list the questions that will be answered by the students’ work with the unit, questions that relate, if possible, to their own experiences. Let’s take a unit on punctuation with the comma, for example.
What questions do the students have about punctuating with commas?
Why do we need commas in the first place?
Why are the rule for commas so complicated?
Can I learn to use commas without memorizing a bunch of definitions and rules?
How can I recognize mistakes in using commas?
Can punctuation be simplified?
To these questions, the teacher adds the following:
What do you already know about punctuating with commas?
What are the three most important uses of the comma?
How can a reference chart help you use commas easily and accurately?
The answer to the students’ first question about using commas—Why?—can be answered by giving them passages without commas and asking what effects the lack of commas had on their reading. The answer to the teacher’s first question—How much do you already know?--can be answered by seeing how many commas the students can place in the passages without commas. The teacher explores with the students why they placed the commas where they did, then compares the students’ use of commas with the original, fully punctuated passage.
The rest of the questions will be answered by teaching the three most important uses of the comma—after introductory expressions, around ‘interrupters,” and before “afterthoughts”—and by developing a reference chart for uses that are easily learned from examples. This reference chart, consisting mainly of examples, reduces the need for lengthy explanations about the uses of the comma. In a later chapter I will present a complete unit on the comma organized in this manner.
Maybe teachers should not have to be responsible for motivating students to learn. However, in today’s world they are responsible. Using students’ questions to set purposes motivates them to want to learn.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Active Learning
10-Second Review: Questions and purpose make learning active.
I read somewhere that formal education today can be defined as giving answers to questions that the students have not asked. And maybe that’s the place to begin in motivating students to learn. Begin with questions phrased in such a way that students will actively seek the answers.
Listening to a lecture would seem to be the opposite of active learning. However, I can remember a course in The Philosophy of Communism, in college, in which I was completely absorbed by the teacher’s lectures, which were toneless, delivered in a monotonous voice, but, in class period after class period, revealed the ideas in the theory of Communism. I went into the class with a question and a purpose. I knew nothing about Communism, at the time a major threat to the democratic world, and I wanted to find out why its proponents believed so passionately that Communism represented the inevitable future of the world. The class on The Philosophy of Communism answered my question.
Put the question in the words of the students and you’ve “got ‘em.”
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Active Learning
10-Second Review: Questions and purpose make learning active.
I read somewhere that formal education today can be defined as giving answers to questions that the students have not asked. And maybe that’s the place to begin in motivating students to learn. Begin with questions phrased in such a way that students will actively seek the answers.
Listening to a lecture would seem to be the opposite of active learning. However, I can remember a course in The Philosophy of Communism, in college, in which I was completely absorbed by the teacher’s lectures, which were toneless, delivered in a monotonous voice, but, in class period after class period, revealed the ideas in the theory of Communism. I went into the class with a question and a purpose. I knew nothing about Communism, at the time a major threat to the democratic world, and I wanted to find out why its proponents believed so passionately that Communism represented the inevitable future of the world. The class on The Philosophy of Communism answered my question.
Put the question in the words of the students and you’ve “got ‘em.”
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Problem Solving and the Research Paper
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Problem Solving and the Research Paper
The second method I use to help students learn how to solve problems is the research paper. I remember my own experience with research papers as being terrified of not citing sources correctly. Getting the “op. cit.’s” and “ibid.’s” correct seemed to be the most important part of the research paper to my college teachers. Never mind the quality of the thought or research.
I use Ken Macrorie’s idea of the “I-Search” paper. I insist that students begin their research with a question. What do they really want to know? Then they plan how they will do the research, the sources they will use, people as well as books, and, of course, the Internet. The answer to the question must be important to the student. In a sense, the question is a problem and the research is the way in which the students solve the problem
As for the citations, modern systems of citing—the MLA or Modern Language Association and the APA or The American Psychological Association—make the citation of sources almost easy. The big issues are making sure that students complete research that is worth doing, that students do cite sources, that they don't plagiarize and that they develop the report of their research in readable, well-organized prose, using information from their research to support their ideas.
I believe that questions are the keys to problem solving. Through discussing questions about what they do not understand in interpreting a literary work and through research that focuses on answering a question, I attempt to show students the value of posing good questions in order to solve problems.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Problem Solving and the Research Paper
The second method I use to help students learn how to solve problems is the research paper. I remember my own experience with research papers as being terrified of not citing sources correctly. Getting the “op. cit.’s” and “ibid.’s” correct seemed to be the most important part of the research paper to my college teachers. Never mind the quality of the thought or research.
I use Ken Macrorie’s idea of the “I-Search” paper. I insist that students begin their research with a question. What do they really want to know? Then they plan how they will do the research, the sources they will use, people as well as books, and, of course, the Internet. The answer to the question must be important to the student. In a sense, the question is a problem and the research is the way in which the students solve the problem
As for the citations, modern systems of citing—the MLA or Modern Language Association and the APA or The American Psychological Association—make the citation of sources almost easy. The big issues are making sure that students complete research that is worth doing, that students do cite sources, that they don't plagiarize and that they develop the report of their research in readable, well-organized prose, using information from their research to support their ideas.
I believe that questions are the keys to problem solving. Through discussing questions about what they do not understand in interpreting a literary work and through research that focuses on answering a question, I attempt to show students the value of posing good questions in order to solve problems.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Solving Problems/Asking Questions
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Solving Problems/Asking Questions
I think asking questions is one of the best methods for solving problems. I teach students how to ask questions in two ways: The first is in reading literature. The second is in doing research papers that begin with questions, real questions, to which the students really want the answers.
I have to give the Great Books Foundation a lot of credit. Their methods for discussing a piece of literature begins with questions to which the group leader does not have any certain answer. Therefore, teacher and students are truly involved in “shared inquiry” as they try to answer the questions. However, I took the Great Books method one step farther. Instead of the teacher’s originating the questions, I have the students ask the questions about what they do not understand.
It is very important in this approach that the teacher let the students try to struggle with what they do not understand and not to impose a “correct” answer.
I remember vividly an experience in which I stopped discussion cold because, unintentionally, I tried to impose on the students my answer to a question. The poem was by Sylvia Plath, and the night before the class I had struggled mightily in my own mind with a particular phrase she had used that was crucial to the poem’s meaning. After about an hour’s thought, I suddenly had the answer. I knew what the poet meant.
The next day, the students after reading the poem raised many good questions about difficulties with the meaning of the poem, including the question that I had resolved in my own mind the night before. The students sensed that I was not there to give them the answers and they came up with some answers that differed from mine but were equally valid. However, when we reached the question that I had wrestled with the previous night, I couldn’t help myself. I knew the answer. They stopped discussing, expecting that I would give them the answer.
Students become more comfortable in reading when they are relieved of the feeling that they are dumb if they encounter phrases or ideas that puzzle them. Knowing that they can formulate their puzzlement into a question that others will discuss gives them a sense of anticipation about working toward a resolution of the problem with the literary work’s meaning.
By extension, what I am trying to show students is that an effective way to deal with a problem is to ask questions. Asking questions helps to clarify the problem and leads to possible solutions.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Solving Problems/Asking Questions
I think asking questions is one of the best methods for solving problems. I teach students how to ask questions in two ways: The first is in reading literature. The second is in doing research papers that begin with questions, real questions, to which the students really want the answers.
I have to give the Great Books Foundation a lot of credit. Their methods for discussing a piece of literature begins with questions to which the group leader does not have any certain answer. Therefore, teacher and students are truly involved in “shared inquiry” as they try to answer the questions. However, I took the Great Books method one step farther. Instead of the teacher’s originating the questions, I have the students ask the questions about what they do not understand.
It is very important in this approach that the teacher let the students try to struggle with what they do not understand and not to impose a “correct” answer.
I remember vividly an experience in which I stopped discussion cold because, unintentionally, I tried to impose on the students my answer to a question. The poem was by Sylvia Plath, and the night before the class I had struggled mightily in my own mind with a particular phrase she had used that was crucial to the poem’s meaning. After about an hour’s thought, I suddenly had the answer. I knew what the poet meant.
The next day, the students after reading the poem raised many good questions about difficulties with the meaning of the poem, including the question that I had resolved in my own mind the night before. The students sensed that I was not there to give them the answers and they came up with some answers that differed from mine but were equally valid. However, when we reached the question that I had wrestled with the previous night, I couldn’t help myself. I knew the answer. They stopped discussing, expecting that I would give them the answer.
Students become more comfortable in reading when they are relieved of the feeling that they are dumb if they encounter phrases or ideas that puzzle them. Knowing that they can formulate their puzzlement into a question that others will discuss gives them a sense of anticipation about working toward a resolution of the problem with the literary work’s meaning.
By extension, what I am trying to show students is that an effective way to deal with a problem is to ask questions. Asking questions helps to clarify the problem and leads to possible solutions.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Teaching Communication
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Teaching Students to Communicate in Formal Writing and Speaking
When I was introduced to a school board early in my career as their new language arts coordinator, K-12, I was taken aside by the president of the school board, a CEO for a New York company. Instead of “plastics” [as in the film The Graduate], he confided in me the formula for can’t-miss communication: Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. And tell them what you told them. "In my experience,” he said, “that’s always been the best method for communicating successfully.”
The formula has been around a long time, supposedly used by circuit-riding itinerant Methodist preachers to organize their sermons in rural early 19th-century England and in America when the West was being settled.
This formula for communication works in both formal writing and formal speaking.
To my students, the “Tell them….” Formula meant an opening paragraph that “tells them what they are going to tell them”; middle paragraphs that “tell them”; and, finally, a last paragraph that summarizes the composition or “tells them what they have told them.”
In formal writing, or in formal speaking, following the “Tell them” formula helps to communicate ideas effectively because, as one of my students at a community college said, “It’s like hitting your reader over the head three times with your message.” Amen.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Teaching Students to Communicate in Formal Writing and Speaking
When I was introduced to a school board early in my career as their new language arts coordinator, K-12, I was taken aside by the president of the school board, a CEO for a New York company. Instead of “plastics” [as in the film The Graduate], he confided in me the formula for can’t-miss communication: Tell them what you are going to tell them. Tell them. And tell them what you told them. "In my experience,” he said, “that’s always been the best method for communicating successfully.”
The formula has been around a long time, supposedly used by circuit-riding itinerant Methodist preachers to organize their sermons in rural early 19th-century England and in America when the West was being settled.
This formula for communication works in both formal writing and formal speaking.
To my students, the “Tell them….” Formula meant an opening paragraph that “tells them what they are going to tell them”; middle paragraphs that “tell them”; and, finally, a last paragraph that summarizes the composition or “tells them what they have told them.”
In formal writing, or in formal speaking, following the “Tell them” formula helps to communicate ideas effectively because, as one of my students at a community college said, “It’s like hitting your reader over the head three times with your message.” Amen.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Critical Thinking, Part Two....
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Critical Thinking, Part Two….
This essay is, of course, a “gold mine” of propaganda techniques, including “card stacking” (only that information presented which favors the writer’s point of view; name calling (“misguided left-wing organization”); attacking the individual and not the argument (“He is so worried abut keeping his job as a psychologist….”); loaded words (“obnoxious,” “foul language,” “cliquishness,” “rubbish,” “idiots”); glittering generalities (broad phrases that sound good, but have little substance, “Any human beings who loves mankind and dignity….”); false analogies “Teen-agers are like movie sets….”); and many others.
Propaganda techniques are designed to manipulate readers or listeners, to substitute technique for substance. They evoke emotion, not rational thought. Analyzing this essay is one way to help students begin to form the habit of questioning what they read or hear. Having identified and discussed the techniques in the essay, students next read the editorials, opinions and letters featured on the editorial and op-ed pages of the local newspaper to see if they can find the same techniques. They will.
When I have used this essay to introduce critical thinking skills, I have encouraged students to respond in a reasonable tone, rather than with bitterness and anger, to use facts and statistics whenever possible to support their points of view, and to suggest more positive methods for dealing with the problems of teen-agers. I urge the students not to employ the same techniques used by the author of the essay in responding to his opinion about teen-agers. I suggest that using the methods of the writer will inflame emotion. A moderate and reasonable tone, on the other hand, together with supporting facts, will defuse emotion and will invite moderate and reasonable discussion. The students’ written responses to the author of this essay provide an excellent opportunity to practice adjusting expression to the audience.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Critical Thinking, Part Two….
This essay is, of course, a “gold mine” of propaganda techniques, including “card stacking” (only that information presented which favors the writer’s point of view; name calling (“misguided left-wing organization”); attacking the individual and not the argument (“He is so worried abut keeping his job as a psychologist….”); loaded words (“obnoxious,” “foul language,” “cliquishness,” “rubbish,” “idiots”); glittering generalities (broad phrases that sound good, but have little substance, “Any human beings who loves mankind and dignity….”); false analogies “Teen-agers are like movie sets….”); and many others.
Propaganda techniques are designed to manipulate readers or listeners, to substitute technique for substance. They evoke emotion, not rational thought. Analyzing this essay is one way to help students begin to form the habit of questioning what they read or hear. Having identified and discussed the techniques in the essay, students next read the editorials, opinions and letters featured on the editorial and op-ed pages of the local newspaper to see if they can find the same techniques. They will.
When I have used this essay to introduce critical thinking skills, I have encouraged students to respond in a reasonable tone, rather than with bitterness and anger, to use facts and statistics whenever possible to support their points of view, and to suggest more positive methods for dealing with the problems of teen-agers. I urge the students not to employ the same techniques used by the author of the essay in responding to his opinion about teen-agers. I suggest that using the methods of the writer will inflame emotion. A moderate and reasonable tone, on the other hand, together with supporting facts, will defuse emotion and will invite moderate and reasonable discussion. The students’ written responses to the author of this essay provide an excellent opportunity to practice adjusting expression to the audience.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Critical Thinking, Part One
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Critical Thinking, Part One….
What is critical thinking? It begins with questions, questions about meaning and the words used to convey that meaning.
A technique I have used to introduce students to critical thinking is taken from an article by Michael C. Flanigan entitled, “Semantics and Critical Reading,” English Journal, September 1966, pp. 714-719, reprinted with permission from the National Council of Teachers of English, publisher of English Journal). I give students an essay, written specifically for the article, entitled, “Teen-Age Corruption” by Mentor. Students initially respond with fury to the article and then calm down as they realize the verbal tricks used by the author to arouse emotion and feelings against teenagers.
Here is the article:
Teen-Age Corruption
Mentor
One day as I was walking through the halls of our school, I saw a young girl standing at her locker and swearing quite loudly because her lock was stuck. I walked over to her and asked her if she could refrain from using foul language in the halls. Just as I made my statement, two other students approached and came to the defense of the girl. All three students were obnoxious in their attitude and were in every way disrespectful. It is this kind of disrespect, foul language, and cliquishness that typifies the low moral tone of the teen-agers of today.
Teen-agers are probably the most corrupt segment existing in our society. Most of this corruption is due to the fact that spineless, ill-informed, and irresponsible adults who pretend to be educated coddle these sickening children. In our schools, churches, homes, courts, and businesses, so-called well-meaning idiots say that teen-agers must have a chance at free expression and must be dealt with kindly because they are going through a difficult period of life. They say teen-agers are socially maladjusted because of problems that disturbed these children when they were infants and because our world is insecure. These statements are rubbish.
Teen-agers must be dealt with in the same fashion as any other criminal or immoral group in our society. They must be shown firmness and must be shown that our democratic society will not tolerate their corruption. We must not try simply to understand them, but must deal with them swiftly and efficiently. Psychologists, such as E. P. Thompson of the Committee for Teen-Age Guidance, state that teen-agers are basically moral and that the crime and immorality that they demonstrate is but an expression of their insecurity. Mr. Thompson had better wake up. His statement is completely false because he follows the policies of a misguided left-wing organization. He is so worried about keeping his job as a psychologist that he cannot face the question directly. He is a poor authority because he has no children who are teen-agers and he lives in the ivory tower of the academic world. If eh would ever leave the confines of his library and walk out into the truth of day, he could see the evil that spreads over our country.
Any human being who loves mankind and dignity, and is able to think objectively or for that matter, anyone who is able to think at all, can see that teen-agers have reached the lowest ebb of human existence. They are human only in name; they are surely not human in the sense that the great Greek philosophers conceived it.
Teen-agers are like movie sets which look appealing at first glance, but on closer inspection are shallow. Movie sets are highly painted flimsy paper and canvas that change according to the requirements of the show. They are simply trash that have no real value but impress many by their glitter. It is only when we see the real thing, that we are disgusted with movie sets. With these things in mind we can see what teen-agers really are like.
The real shame is that the violence exhibited by teen-agers turns our streets into a paradise for evil. Our older citizens are afraid to walk the streets at night. Our highways have become the slaughterhouse of the world. We citizens who really care about goodness and love must band together as an immovable unit to force teen-agers back into the mold that their Creator established for them. We must move before it is too late. We cannot stand by while our world falls into oblivion.
Think about the essay. Next, I will tell you what I did with it.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Critical Thinking, Part One….
What is critical thinking? It begins with questions, questions about meaning and the words used to convey that meaning.
A technique I have used to introduce students to critical thinking is taken from an article by Michael C. Flanigan entitled, “Semantics and Critical Reading,” English Journal, September 1966, pp. 714-719, reprinted with permission from the National Council of Teachers of English, publisher of English Journal). I give students an essay, written specifically for the article, entitled, “Teen-Age Corruption” by Mentor. Students initially respond with fury to the article and then calm down as they realize the verbal tricks used by the author to arouse emotion and feelings against teenagers.
Here is the article:
Teen-Age Corruption
Mentor
One day as I was walking through the halls of our school, I saw a young girl standing at her locker and swearing quite loudly because her lock was stuck. I walked over to her and asked her if she could refrain from using foul language in the halls. Just as I made my statement, two other students approached and came to the defense of the girl. All three students were obnoxious in their attitude and were in every way disrespectful. It is this kind of disrespect, foul language, and cliquishness that typifies the low moral tone of the teen-agers of today.
Teen-agers are probably the most corrupt segment existing in our society. Most of this corruption is due to the fact that spineless, ill-informed, and irresponsible adults who pretend to be educated coddle these sickening children. In our schools, churches, homes, courts, and businesses, so-called well-meaning idiots say that teen-agers must have a chance at free expression and must be dealt with kindly because they are going through a difficult period of life. They say teen-agers are socially maladjusted because of problems that disturbed these children when they were infants and because our world is insecure. These statements are rubbish.
Teen-agers must be dealt with in the same fashion as any other criminal or immoral group in our society. They must be shown firmness and must be shown that our democratic society will not tolerate their corruption. We must not try simply to understand them, but must deal with them swiftly and efficiently. Psychologists, such as E. P. Thompson of the Committee for Teen-Age Guidance, state that teen-agers are basically moral and that the crime and immorality that they demonstrate is but an expression of their insecurity. Mr. Thompson had better wake up. His statement is completely false because he follows the policies of a misguided left-wing organization. He is so worried about keeping his job as a psychologist that he cannot face the question directly. He is a poor authority because he has no children who are teen-agers and he lives in the ivory tower of the academic world. If eh would ever leave the confines of his library and walk out into the truth of day, he could see the evil that spreads over our country.
Any human being who loves mankind and dignity, and is able to think objectively or for that matter, anyone who is able to think at all, can see that teen-agers have reached the lowest ebb of human existence. They are human only in name; they are surely not human in the sense that the great Greek philosophers conceived it.
Teen-agers are like movie sets which look appealing at first glance, but on closer inspection are shallow. Movie sets are highly painted flimsy paper and canvas that change according to the requirements of the show. They are simply trash that have no real value but impress many by their glitter. It is only when we see the real thing, that we are disgusted with movie sets. With these things in mind we can see what teen-agers really are like.
The real shame is that the violence exhibited by teen-agers turns our streets into a paradise for evil. Our older citizens are afraid to walk the streets at night. Our highways have become the slaughterhouse of the world. We citizens who really care about goodness and love must band together as an immovable unit to force teen-agers back into the mold that their Creator established for them. We must move before it is too late. We cannot stand by while our world falls into oblivion.
Think about the essay. Next, I will tell you what I did with it.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Thinking
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Our Children Can’t Think….
Probably the most frequent criticism of students I have heard over the years is that “our children can’t think.” I’ve heard it from teachers talking about me and my classmates when I was in school and from teachers with whom I worked when I was a teacher and supervisor of English. I’ve heard it from parents. But, what does “They can’t think” mean?
I took the trouble to look up the word “think” in the American Heritage Dictionary and I found a number of key words used to define thinking: “formulate,” “reason,” “decide,” “judge,” “believe.” “expect,” “remember,” “visualize,” “invent,” “concentrate,” and “consider.” All right, what do the critics mean when they say that our children can’t “think”? Before we can improve our students’ thinking skills, we have to define what we mean by “our students can’t think.”
How do English teachers teach students to think?
I suggest that we are teaching students to think in English class, for example, through our instruction in writing and in literature.
In teaching students to write, we are also teaching students to think. Students must organize their thoughts when they put them on paper for others to read. When students write, they are discovering what they are thinking and they are shaping their thinking. As E.M. Forster is quoted as saying, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?’
In literature, students respond to poems, short stories, novels, plays and essays by asking three sets of questions: questions of fact; questions of interpretation; and questions of criticism, all of which involve much thought, organized thought. Someone once said that thinking begins with a question.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Our Children Can’t Think….
Probably the most frequent criticism of students I have heard over the years is that “our children can’t think.” I’ve heard it from teachers talking about me and my classmates when I was in school and from teachers with whom I worked when I was a teacher and supervisor of English. I’ve heard it from parents. But, what does “They can’t think” mean?
I took the trouble to look up the word “think” in the American Heritage Dictionary and I found a number of key words used to define thinking: “formulate,” “reason,” “decide,” “judge,” “believe.” “expect,” “remember,” “visualize,” “invent,” “concentrate,” and “consider.” All right, what do the critics mean when they say that our children can’t “think”? Before we can improve our students’ thinking skills, we have to define what we mean by “our students can’t think.”
How do English teachers teach students to think?
I suggest that we are teaching students to think in English class, for example, through our instruction in writing and in literature.
In teaching students to write, we are also teaching students to think. Students must organize their thoughts when they put them on paper for others to read. When students write, they are discovering what they are thinking and they are shaping their thinking. As E.M. Forster is quoted as saying, “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?’
In literature, students respond to poems, short stories, novels, plays and essays by asking three sets of questions: questions of fact; questions of interpretation; and questions of criticism, all of which involve much thought, organized thought. Someone once said that thinking begins with a question.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Teaching Students How To Learn Independently....
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Teaching Students How to Learn….
Independent study helps students learn how to organize their own learning. They plan and complete projects on topics about which they want to learn.
Independent study requires students to plan and complete personal projects. They formulate goals and objectives, list possible activities and materials, and propose methods of evaluation. The teacher meets with each student to help plan the project. The student gives reasons for wanting to make the study; lists activities to be completed, materials needed, and people with whom to consult; outlines an estimated schedule; and suggests methods for the final presentation of results. During the course of the project, the student meets with the teacher to discuss problems, difficulties and needs.
Today, with the Internet available to most students, either at home or in school, I think every teacher should have students working on independent study projects, both alone and in groups. Establishing their own goals, activities and methods of evaluation will help students learn how to structure their own learning. Independent study will also help them learn how to identify and solve problems. Another valuable lesson to be learned from an independent study project is how to assimilate, synthesize and use information to achieve a specific purpose.
Providing the opportunity for students to plan independent projects is one method of helping students learn how to learn.
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Teaching Students How to Learn….
Independent study helps students learn how to organize their own learning. They plan and complete projects on topics about which they want to learn.
Independent study requires students to plan and complete personal projects. They formulate goals and objectives, list possible activities and materials, and propose methods of evaluation. The teacher meets with each student to help plan the project. The student gives reasons for wanting to make the study; lists activities to be completed, materials needed, and people with whom to consult; outlines an estimated schedule; and suggests methods for the final presentation of results. During the course of the project, the student meets with the teacher to discuss problems, difficulties and needs.
Today, with the Internet available to most students, either at home or in school, I think every teacher should have students working on independent study projects, both alone and in groups. Establishing their own goals, activities and methods of evaluation will help students learn how to structure their own learning. Independent study will also help them learn how to identify and solve problems. Another valuable lesson to be learned from an independent study project is how to assimilate, synthesize and use information to achieve a specific purpose.
Providing the opportunity for students to plan independent projects is one method of helping students learn how to learn.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Professional Literature in English and Reading
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Background in Teaching English and Reading: Professional Literature
Two major organizations provide professional articles and books on the teaching of English and reading: The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and The International Reading Association (IRA).
Why read professional books and journals in teaching English and reading?
Practical Techniques
Practically speaking, the journals and books from these organizations provide ideas and techniques that suggest solutions to problems in teaching English. My experience with these techniques is that I could not simply transfer them from the circumstances described in the article to my classroom, which had different circumstances, conditions and personalities. I had to adapt them, usually by trial and error. But, as you will see as you continue to read my book, these ideas and techniques added richly to my repertoire of methods for teaching particular topics, from Shakespeare to critical thinking to students who had difficulty with reading and students whose native language was not English.
Theory, Research and Reviews
The articles and chapters in these journals and books also deal with new theories and research for resolving problems in teaching reading and English. Research, of course, has a language all its own, but even the reader most unfamiliar with the specialized language of research will be able to understand the tendencies produced by the research. New professional books are reviewed dealing with classroom practice. Especially notable in book reviews are the children’s trade books and Young Adult books (late elementary grades through middle school).
How To Read Professional Journals
Early in my career, I developed a system for reading these journals and their articles efficiently. I tried to read them for at least fifteen minutes a day. And in fifteen minutes, I gained a significant number of ideas and details from many articles.
I begin by reading the first and last paragraph of the article. I briefly summarize the main point. If you do not briefly summarize the ideas in the article, you are likely to see the article again and have no recall of what the article said. Any questions? If not, I go on to the next article.
If I have some questions about details, I read the first sentence of each paragraph for those details and again summarize briefly so that I have a record of the ideas in the article.
As a result of my method, I read very, very, very few articles in their entirety. For most articles, I read the first and last paragraphs and briefly summarize the main idea. In two or three articles in a journal I will read the first sentence of each paragraph to answer my questions. Rarely do I read the entire article, but when I do, it’s a blockbuster of an article.
Here is a list of journals from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE):
English Journal (Secondary)
Language Arts (Elementary)
Research In the Teaching of English (All Levels)
College English
Teaching English in the Two-Year College
College Composition and Communication
Notes Plus (Practical Ideas, Secondary)
Journals from the International Reading Association (IRA):
The Reading Teacher (Elementary and Middle School. Accessible to all elementary and middle school teachers, not just reading specialists.)
Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (Middle School to Adult)
Reading Research Quarterly (All levels)
Raymond Stopper
Based on His Book, Teaching English, How To….
Background in Teaching English and Reading: Professional Literature
Two major organizations provide professional articles and books on the teaching of English and reading: The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and The International Reading Association (IRA).
Why read professional books and journals in teaching English and reading?
Practical Techniques
Practically speaking, the journals and books from these organizations provide ideas and techniques that suggest solutions to problems in teaching English. My experience with these techniques is that I could not simply transfer them from the circumstances described in the article to my classroom, which had different circumstances, conditions and personalities. I had to adapt them, usually by trial and error. But, as you will see as you continue to read my book, these ideas and techniques added richly to my repertoire of methods for teaching particular topics, from Shakespeare to critical thinking to students who had difficulty with reading and students whose native language was not English.
Theory, Research and Reviews
The articles and chapters in these journals and books also deal with new theories and research for resolving problems in teaching reading and English. Research, of course, has a language all its own, but even the reader most unfamiliar with the specialized language of research will be able to understand the tendencies produced by the research. New professional books are reviewed dealing with classroom practice. Especially notable in book reviews are the children’s trade books and Young Adult books (late elementary grades through middle school).
How To Read Professional Journals
Early in my career, I developed a system for reading these journals and their articles efficiently. I tried to read them for at least fifteen minutes a day. And in fifteen minutes, I gained a significant number of ideas and details from many articles.
I begin by reading the first and last paragraph of the article. I briefly summarize the main point. If you do not briefly summarize the ideas in the article, you are likely to see the article again and have no recall of what the article said. Any questions? If not, I go on to the next article.
If I have some questions about details, I read the first sentence of each paragraph for those details and again summarize briefly so that I have a record of the ideas in the article.
As a result of my method, I read very, very, very few articles in their entirety. For most articles, I read the first and last paragraphs and briefly summarize the main idea. In two or three articles in a journal I will read the first sentence of each paragraph to answer my questions. Rarely do I read the entire article, but when I do, it’s a blockbuster of an article.
Here is a list of journals from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE):
English Journal (Secondary)
Language Arts (Elementary)
Research In the Teaching of English (All Levels)
College English
Teaching English in the Two-Year College
College Composition and Communication
Notes Plus (Practical Ideas, Secondary)
Journals from the International Reading Association (IRA):
The Reading Teacher (Elementary and Middle School. Accessible to all elementary and middle school teachers, not just reading specialists.)
Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (Middle School to Adult)
Reading Research Quarterly (All levels)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
What's the Difference Between "Schooling" and Education?
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on the Book, Teaching English, How To….
What’s the Difference between “Schooling” and Education?
Lloyd Alexander, the noted author of children’s books, once made the distinction between education and schooling. You spend a lifetime educating yourself, he said. Schooling is designed to help you learn to educate yourself.
We spend a lifetime becoming educated. We continually learn how to achieve our goals in different circumstances. We never finish learning how to learn, learning how to think, learning how to communicate and learning how to solve problems. And we never stop learning about people and life through our reading of literature.
“Schooling,” therefore, is a means to an end. Schooling helps us learn how to learn for a lifetime. Look at your own schooling. Did it prepare you for a lifetime of learning? Did your schooling teach you how to learn on your own? Was that the goal of your teachers' classes?
Raymond Stopper
Based on the Book, Teaching English, How To….
What’s the Difference between “Schooling” and Education?
Lloyd Alexander, the noted author of children’s books, once made the distinction between education and schooling. You spend a lifetime educating yourself, he said. Schooling is designed to help you learn to educate yourself.
We spend a lifetime becoming educated. We continually learn how to achieve our goals in different circumstances. We never finish learning how to learn, learning how to think, learning how to communicate and learning how to solve problems. And we never stop learning about people and life through our reading of literature.
“Schooling,” therefore, is a means to an end. Schooling helps us learn how to learn for a lifetime. Look at your own schooling. Did it prepare you for a lifetime of learning? Did your schooling teach you how to learn on your own? Was that the goal of your teachers' classes?
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Why Would You Ever Want to Teach English?
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on the Book, Teaching English, How To….
Why Would You Ever Want to Teach English?
You’ve graduated from college. Now you approach your first job as an English teacher in a middle school or high school. Let me tell you about my experience in my first job as an English teacher in a high school.
In 1956, I was hired to teach English in a rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, high school.
By paying me $3200 a year, the board of education assumed that I would motivate my students to want to learn English and would teach them how to learn independently and to think critically.
The board also expected me to teach my students how to read and discuss literature, to cover the chronology of American literature, and to teach them to write clearly, concisely and correctly (at the expense of 15 minutes per paper) x 125 students [5 classes] or 31 hours per week.
Marking 8 compositions a year with 5 classes of 25 students or more added 241 hours to my work schedule in addition to lesson planning (several hours a night) and teaching (about 7 hours a day) and overseeing an extracurricular activity (2 to 3 hours per night in the spring). I was also required to assign at least one research paper.
Of course, the board expected me to teach grammar, spelling, vocabulary and public speaking and assumed that I would prepare exemplary lesson plans and would mark and return tests and compositions promptly so that students would know their grades and understand their mistakes.
To accomplish these tasks, I was given one American literature anthology and one grammar text.
Why on earth would I ever teach English, given these circumstances and requirements?
The challenge!
And in the process I grew to appreciate the personalities, skills, and creativity of my students, who taught me at least as much as I taught them.
Raymond Stopper
Based on the Book, Teaching English, How To….
Why Would You Ever Want to Teach English?
You’ve graduated from college. Now you approach your first job as an English teacher in a middle school or high school. Let me tell you about my experience in my first job as an English teacher in a high school.
In 1956, I was hired to teach English in a rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, high school.
By paying me $3200 a year, the board of education assumed that I would motivate my students to want to learn English and would teach them how to learn independently and to think critically.
The board also expected me to teach my students how to read and discuss literature, to cover the chronology of American literature, and to teach them to write clearly, concisely and correctly (at the expense of 15 minutes per paper) x 125 students [5 classes] or 31 hours per week.
Marking 8 compositions a year with 5 classes of 25 students or more added 241 hours to my work schedule in addition to lesson planning (several hours a night) and teaching (about 7 hours a day) and overseeing an extracurricular activity (2 to 3 hours per night in the spring). I was also required to assign at least one research paper.
Of course, the board expected me to teach grammar, spelling, vocabulary and public speaking and assumed that I would prepare exemplary lesson plans and would mark and return tests and compositions promptly so that students would know their grades and understand their mistakes.
To accomplish these tasks, I was given one American literature anthology and one grammar text.
Why on earth would I ever teach English, given these circumstances and requirements?
The challenge!
And in the process I grew to appreciate the personalities, skills, and creativity of my students, who taught me at least as much as I taught them.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
So You're Going to Major in English (2)
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on the Book, Teaching English, How To….
So You’re Going to Major in English….(2)
A Word about Reading….
Maybe I was the only one in the world who thought that to read a book was to begin on page one and plod steadily through until the last page. And above all, never walk away from a book until you've finished it. Once started, you must complete it.
I still thought that way even through college.
What a waste! Sir Francis Bacon had it right when he said in 1625 that “some books are to be tasted” and some few books to be read thoroughly and carefully.
Take my advice:
If the book is nonfiction: (1) Read the Foreword or Preface. They will summarize succinctly the major ideas of the book. (2) Read the first and last paragraphs of each chapter. The first paragraph will introduce the topic of the chapter and the last paragraph will usually summarize the major ideas of the chapter. You will also learn which chapters are probably most significant to the meaning of the book. (3) Read the first sentence of each paragraph in each chapter. If you are “hooked,” read everything. If you are not, keep reading the first sentence of each paragraph. You will be gathering the main details. If you have personal questions at the end of the chapter, skim back over it to find the answers to your questions.
How to read a novel: OK. You’re going to think I am crazy, but reading from first line to last in a 500-page novel inevitably put me to sleep. Try this!. Read a paragraph a page. You will become “hooked” and you will keep reading until you hit another slow spot. Then go back to reading a paragraph a page. You will be amazed at how much you will learn from just a paragraph a page. What if—like Henry James and Sir Walter Scott—the paragraphs are pages in length? Start in the middle of the paragraph and read for the length of a modern middle-sized paragraph. You will often be caught up and want to keep reading. You will lose nothing from the continuity of the plot. And you won’t fall to sleep.
How to read a professional journal: Read the first and last paragraph of the first article. Jot a brief summary. Know enough? Go on to the next article. Need to know more details? Go back and read the first sentence of each paragraph. Know enough? Go on to the next article. Rarely—and I mean rarely—will you need to go back and read the entire article.
Those of you who insist that the only way to read a book is from first word to last, go right on doing so. Using my methods for reading, I will have finished ten books to your one and will know as much or maybe more about the ideas in the book.
Raymond Stopper
Based on the Book, Teaching English, How To….
So You’re Going to Major in English….(2)
A Word about Reading….
Maybe I was the only one in the world who thought that to read a book was to begin on page one and plod steadily through until the last page. And above all, never walk away from a book until you've finished it. Once started, you must complete it.
I still thought that way even through college.
What a waste! Sir Francis Bacon had it right when he said in 1625 that “some books are to be tasted” and some few books to be read thoroughly and carefully.
Take my advice:
If the book is nonfiction: (1) Read the Foreword or Preface. They will summarize succinctly the major ideas of the book. (2) Read the first and last paragraphs of each chapter. The first paragraph will introduce the topic of the chapter and the last paragraph will usually summarize the major ideas of the chapter. You will also learn which chapters are probably most significant to the meaning of the book. (3) Read the first sentence of each paragraph in each chapter. If you are “hooked,” read everything. If you are not, keep reading the first sentence of each paragraph. You will be gathering the main details. If you have personal questions at the end of the chapter, skim back over it to find the answers to your questions.
How to read a novel: OK. You’re going to think I am crazy, but reading from first line to last in a 500-page novel inevitably put me to sleep. Try this!. Read a paragraph a page. You will become “hooked” and you will keep reading until you hit another slow spot. Then go back to reading a paragraph a page. You will be amazed at how much you will learn from just a paragraph a page. What if—like Henry James and Sir Walter Scott—the paragraphs are pages in length? Start in the middle of the paragraph and read for the length of a modern middle-sized paragraph. You will often be caught up and want to keep reading. You will lose nothing from the continuity of the plot. And you won’t fall to sleep.
How to read a professional journal: Read the first and last paragraph of the first article. Jot a brief summary. Know enough? Go on to the next article. Need to know more details? Go back and read the first sentence of each paragraph. Know enough? Go on to the next article. Rarely—and I mean rarely—will you need to go back and read the entire article.
Those of you who insist that the only way to read a book is from first word to last, go right on doing so. Using my methods for reading, I will have finished ten books to your one and will know as much or maybe more about the ideas in the book.
Monday, July 7, 2008
So You're Going to Major in English (1)
Essays on the Teaching of English
Raymond Stopper
Based on Teaching English, How To....
So You’re Going to Major in English….(1)
Your first step, if you’re going to teach English, is to major in English in college. To help you get through that, you will need three indispensable reference books: an encyclopedia of literary works and authors; a listing of major events in the history of the world; and an encyclopedia of literary terms.
Check on Amazon.com. You will find some of the most recent works available. Here are the three I used:
Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. An Encyclopedia of World Literature. Fourth Edition. Ed. Bruce Murphy. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Summarizes every major work of literature and supplies a biography of every major author. Order the most recent edition.
A Dictionary of Literary Terms. JA Cuddon. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. Defines every literary term in practically plain English. You can’t do without this reference tool. Again, purchase the most recent edition.
The People’s Chronology. A Year-by-Year Record of Human Events from Prehistory to the Present. New York: Henry Holt and Company. The most readable history I ever read.
Before you even start your first course in literature, read the summaries of each literary work you will be assigned to read and the biographies of the authors. Go over the major events of the period. This information will give you a tremendous amount of background information with which to begin your course.
One of my teachers told us that in the “old days,” English majors were expected to have already read every literary work to be studied in class so that the majority of time could be spent on literary criticism related to each work. Reading these reference tools will bring you as close to that ideal as is possible if you have not even read the works scheduled for class.
Raymond Stopper
Based on Teaching English, How To....
So You’re Going to Major in English….(1)
Your first step, if you’re going to teach English, is to major in English in college. To help you get through that, you will need three indispensable reference books: an encyclopedia of literary works and authors; a listing of major events in the history of the world; and an encyclopedia of literary terms.
Check on Amazon.com. You will find some of the most recent works available. Here are the three I used:
Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. An Encyclopedia of World Literature. Fourth Edition. Ed. Bruce Murphy. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Summarizes every major work of literature and supplies a biography of every major author. Order the most recent edition.
A Dictionary of Literary Terms. JA Cuddon. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. Defines every literary term in practically plain English. You can’t do without this reference tool. Again, purchase the most recent edition.
The People’s Chronology. A Year-by-Year Record of Human Events from Prehistory to the Present. New York: Henry Holt and Company. The most readable history I ever read.
Before you even start your first course in literature, read the summaries of each literary work you will be assigned to read and the biographies of the authors. Go over the major events of the period. This information will give you a tremendous amount of background information with which to begin your course.
One of my teachers told us that in the “old days,” English majors were expected to have already read every literary work to be studied in class so that the majority of time could be spent on literary criticism related to each work. Reading these reference tools will bring you as close to that ideal as is possible if you have not even read the works scheduled for class.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Annotated Table of Contents. Supervision: Authority
Teaching English, How To.... by Raymond Stopper
Part Seven: Supervision
Chapter 30. Supervision Lesson #4: Authority.
Does leadership without authority work? The trouble with Mary was grammar--not her use of it but her teaching of it. The setting was a junior high school in the mid-1960s. My role as instructional consultant in the building was to help teachers improve their instruction--but I had no authority to demand change. Whatever change I was able to accomplish had to occur because of my personality and methods of persuasion.
One morning, the principal came storming into my office. He was angry. He had just come from Mary Jones's English class with seventh graders. She had been teaching, no, drilling, the students in grammar. "What is a noun? What is a verb?" etc.
"Ray," he said, "I haven't seen teaching like that since I was in grammar school a long time ago! Some kids actually had their heads down on their desks and were sleeping. Try to show her another way to teach that stuff."
Then he strode out of my office, his job done; mine was just beginning.
Part Seven: Supervision
Chapter 30. Supervision Lesson #4: Authority.
Does leadership without authority work? The trouble with Mary was grammar--not her use of it but her teaching of it. The setting was a junior high school in the mid-1960s. My role as instructional consultant in the building was to help teachers improve their instruction--but I had no authority to demand change. Whatever change I was able to accomplish had to occur because of my personality and methods of persuasion.
One morning, the principal came storming into my office. He was angry. He had just come from Mary Jones's English class with seventh graders. She had been teaching, no, drilling, the students in grammar. "What is a noun? What is a verb?" etc.
"Ray," he said, "I haven't seen teaching like that since I was in grammar school a long time ago! Some kids actually had their heads down on their desks and were sleeping. Try to show her another way to teach that stuff."
Then he strode out of my office, his job done; mine was just beginning.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Annotated Table of Contents. Supervion: Change
Teaching English, How To.... by Raymond Stopper
Part Seven: Supervision
Chapter 29. Supervision Lesson #3. Change.
What is needed for successful change in education? During my years in education, I have watched administrators make changes because of prevailing enthusiasms in the profession. The use of learning centers, behavioral objectives, whole language, the writing process--all of these changes were, in my experience, imposed on teachers from above. All were based on some good ideas, but all had some harmful effects as well.
And the results of pressure for change on the staff were predictable: a small core of enthusiasts embraced the change; the large majority went along with it but not enthusiastically, and, as soon as the pressure was off, dropped the procedure from their teaching; and a minority fought the change because they felt that it was not right, that it could even hurt students.
In this chapter, I discuss what happened when the need for change was clearly understood by just about everybody. But even with a clearly defined need for change, watch out for the side-effects. Evaluation is necessary to help avoid and correct the problems that are inevitable with change.
Part Seven: Supervision
Chapter 29. Supervision Lesson #3. Change.
What is needed for successful change in education? During my years in education, I have watched administrators make changes because of prevailing enthusiasms in the profession. The use of learning centers, behavioral objectives, whole language, the writing process--all of these changes were, in my experience, imposed on teachers from above. All were based on some good ideas, but all had some harmful effects as well.
And the results of pressure for change on the staff were predictable: a small core of enthusiasts embraced the change; the large majority went along with it but not enthusiastically, and, as soon as the pressure was off, dropped the procedure from their teaching; and a minority fought the change because they felt that it was not right, that it could even hurt students.
In this chapter, I discuss what happened when the need for change was clearly understood by just about everybody. But even with a clearly defined need for change, watch out for the side-effects. Evaluation is necessary to help avoid and correct the problems that are inevitable with change.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Annotated Table of Contents. Supervision: Inservice.
Teaching English, How To..... by Raymond Stopper
Part Seven: Supervision
Chapter 28. Supervision Lesson #2: Inservice.
How can teacher inservice programs be improved? When I took courses in education, I noted that professors often lectured about teaching practices without using the techniques themselves. For example, instructors would recommend that teachers individualize their instruction but would not individualize their own teacher education classes. From my first position as an administrator, I have made it a fundamental principle to teach teachers as I wanted them to teach their students. An example of how I "practiced what I preached" occurred in a workshop for teachers new to a large suburban school district.
Part Seven: Supervision
Chapter 28. Supervision Lesson #2: Inservice.
How can teacher inservice programs be improved? When I took courses in education, I noted that professors often lectured about teaching practices without using the techniques themselves. For example, instructors would recommend that teachers individualize their instruction but would not individualize their own teacher education classes. From my first position as an administrator, I have made it a fundamental principle to teach teachers as I wanted them to teach their students. An example of how I "practiced what I preached" occurred in a workshop for teachers new to a large suburban school district.
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