Chloe's Chapter 6

While in many ways, I felt like this ending chapter was too vague, there were some good take-away points.  I especially liked the reminder to use more visuals when students are making meaning.  They mention that using "music, video, visual arts, and electronic technologies...would build on the interconnections among various forms of literacy" (p. 186) and that it would give the boys a chance to demonstrate their strengths.  I would like to expand this (as do the authors) and say that this would be a great tool for many students, both boys and girls.  Some students do well with the more traditional forms of meaning making, such as comprehension tests, and/or summaries, but many students are left out when the focus is only on the traditional. I would like to keep this in mind for my own teaching.

Their point on making the class centered around a critical question seemed very useful as well.  I agree that this gets students to feel motivated to solve an issue.  I'm still not sure that I agree with the model they used in chapter 3, where the teacher asked the students to make a video surrounding a sports issue, because I feel like that is too narrow, and it leaves out others who may not have as much an interest in sports.  However, there could be a wider question that is pertinent to all students and school centered.  I'm thinking maybe a driving question such as, what makes a good reader? What is literacy? etc.  These are questions related to reading and writing, so they are relevant to all who are in the class and they get them to think metacognitively about themselves. I also like how it allows students a lot of freedom within it.  Students can choose topics as complex or simple as they like (within reason). 

One section that I would like to question is the one where Smith and Wilhelm discuss that shorter texts are intrinsically motivating to students.  I see their point that perhaps there need to be some shorter newspaper articles, or magazine articles included, but I don't think that teachers should then exclude longer texts.  I was thinking that perhaps it is the teacher's role to attempt to build student stamina.  Perhaps this could start though SSR, where students choose texts that are interesting to them, but by the end of the class, I think it would be fine to have a whole-class novel.  Realistically, they will need to learn how to read longer texts for university and college. Many of the boys want to go to university and college, so it is our job to get them ready for it. So, perhaps it is a matter of including more scaffolding and variety into the classroom.

In the end, I feel like this was a lovely read, but I don't think this is only for boys.  The teaching practices that the authors discuss would make any English class more motivating. I was happy to see what techniques they saw teachers use in the classroom, and I can see myself using some of the techniques, such as front loading materials, connecting it to home lives, trying to get to know my students more as individuals, etc.