I'm a fan of strategy teaching. And I have done every single one of these things with my kids. And I teach teachers to do the same. I know you haven't read the setup for the argument that Beers and Probst make here, but...how I am reading this is changing me. Which is kinda the point of reading.
Here's what I wrote on the side of page 21. "Are these the activities that we (the teachers) made up, thinking that this is how we make student thinking about their reading concrete enough so that we can see what's going on in their heads? Does is cause what we really want from readers?"
Beers and Probst explain: "All of those tasks are, at their core, about extracting. We would argue that in today's world, learning to extract information is not enough. It's not enough to hold a readers interest and it's not enough to solve our complex problems (2017, p. 21). The most common complaint I cannot answer: "My kids don't care. They aren't interested. They won't read." And despite powerful staff development and implementation of strategies, our problems with reading performance persist. No. This bulleted list is not enough. Nor is it something to abandon. We just aren't going far enough. We stopped too early. Making meaning is not enough.
I continued reflecting on the side of the page 21. "Sounds like a constant recitation and perseveration to check for understanding and NOT the actual teaching of reading."
I remember learning the term perseverate. Mom came home from school and described the following incident. Her room was next to the boy's restroom. Her horseshoe table sat next to that wall. As she brought groups up to her table, she kept hearing a rhythmic flushing of the toilet in the stall behind the wall. After releasing the last group, she went to see what was going on with the plumbing. In front of the toilet stood one of her favorite students. His body swung with the swirling water, his hands raised to mimic the water rushing down the drain. His eyes focused narrowly, his concentration blurring all else around him, even time and the presence of my mother. When the water reached the gurgling end, his eyes remained focused while his hand reached to pull the lever once again. Mom tenderly placed her hand on his shoulder, called his name, and welcomed him back to the hallway.
What if we have lost focus of the reasons we teach the things listed on page 21? May I call your name, place my hand on your shoulder, and welcome you back to our purpose? Do we perseverate on strategies that do not go far enough? What if we taught those things as tools for making meaning instead of ends in themselves? What if we let students choose which ones they needed to make meaning of complex text so that they could apply their understanding and take action for themselves and the world around them.
Beers and Probst are correct: "We need students who can do more than answer questions; today's complex world requires our next generation of leaders to be able to raise questions. They need to be able to hold multiple ideas in their minds. They need to be able to see a situation from multiple perspectives. they need to be flexible thinkers who recognize that there will rarely be one correct answer, but instead there will be multiple perspectives. They need to be flexible thinkers who recognize that there will rarely be one correct answer, but instead there will be multiple answers that must be weighted and evaluated. Yet, here we are in the second decade of the twenty-first century still focused on practices that teach students to extract evidence from a text. we ask students why Jess took Maybelle to Terabithia when we should be asking how Terabithia has changed their understanding of who they, the readers are.
"We think that knowing what the text says is critically important. It is a necessary part of the meaning-making experience, but it is not sufficient. Additionally, we must teach students how to read with curiosity. And they need to be willing to raise questions. We want them to ask not only, 'What does this text say?' but also, 'What does it say to me? How dos it change who I am? How might it change what I do in the world?'" (p. 21-22).
And the same holds true for writing. Of course you knew I would go there. Stop reading here if you want to keep your warm fuzzy feeling.
Choosing the reading strategies you need for understanding, change, and action reminds me of what we do when we let kids learn about various prewriting strategies and then select the type and style that fits their writing process and need at the time.
Oh yeah. But we don't do that either. We give them a graphic organizer and tell them to fill it out. Then they copy the junk from one meaningless form to another. Can I scream your name and shake your shoulders and insist you join us in the 21st century?
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