My "Takes" on Hard Readings

Last week - while I was inevitably doomscrolling Instagram - I came across this article - Stop Meeting Students Where They Are: What I learned when I finally started assigning the hard reading again by Walt Hunter. As someone who touts the power and potential of the teen brain, this article gave me just a little hope, and I thought I’d share it here, along with a few of my insights:: 

My Take #1:

This article supported my belief that we ‘they’ them too much. (All the ELA teachers are going to spit out their coffee with that sentence!). What I mean by that poorly written sentence is that we have a tendency to group teenagers under a blanket of ‘they’: they can't read, they're always on their phones, they’re addicted to technology, they’re so emotional, they're entitled, they’re lazy. If, for argument's sake, all of those statements were true, what then? Would that mean we all just give up? Would the author, an English professor, just pack up his stuff and go home. Well, I suppose he could have, but he didn’t. Instead, he heard the arguments of “they don’t read anymore” and flipped it on its head and assigned the reading anyway. As he writes, “The reaction to declining reading skills, poor comprehension, and fragmented attention spans should not be to negotiate or compromise, but to double down on the cure.” 

My Take #2: 

Although he assigned the readings, the author more importantly established a clear purpose for WHY.. He doesn’t deny that students struggled with some of the readings, but in his design (studying a variety of works by one singular author at a time), “The students [he] taught last semester turned enthusiastically to” the pieces “Because I asked them to, and told them it was worth it.” If I read between the lines here, I get the sense that this author had a great relationship with his students. They trusted him. They knew he believed in them. And I’m sure he displayed enthusiasm in teaching them … all traits of teachers that bring out the most engagement in students. The takeaway here is clear: when students understand the purpose behind a task AND when they feel empowered too, their willingness to engage can improve dramatically.

My Take #3: 

Getting creative with writing assignments is just a result of living, working, and teaching in an AI world. I liked his “flash essays” - in-class, short writing assignments with prompts that were given on the same day, instead of the longer take-home assignments the author gave in the past. As he writes, “I wanted my students to have a taste of the adrenaline and, yes, stress that came from writing when faced with real time constraints.” And when a student came to him, worried about this new structure and feeling like he was writing without a plan, the author assured him that that was “exactly the point.” The types of prompts he gave were unique as well; he moved far beyond the “tell me about a quote you enjoyed”, the author instead gave a prompt like, “Write about your morning routine, but in the style of Faulkner.” No cookie cutter answers there, I’m sure. 

If you read the article, I’d love to know your thoughts as well!

~ Jen Otte