I hated the baseball analogy, but that is just a surface problem I have with the Deeper Reading text. The anaolgy really drove the point home between surface and deeper understanding. As a student, I was a surface reader. But when it came time to test, I could answer the deeper questions. I wonder if some students are like me? Reading on the surface but actually understanding when tested or question. I think a lot of students find comfort in actually answering the "easy" stuff, surface stuff, things they know are right. But when you delve into the deeper meaning of things, I think students are afraid of the teacher's response.
I believe that many of us have the same fear, that there are going to be students that come to our classroom a little behind, but at the senior level (which is what Gallagher's students were), shouldn't we have fewer students with the inability to comprehend the deeper meaning in a text? I think Gallagher has valid points, and I loved Guymon's "Conversation Piece." I don't think just teaching students how to read deeper is going to be enough. I think reading beyond the surface in every piece of literature or text that we teach, will be required with today's students.
~Stan
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3 comments:
Why do you say you are a surface reader? Perhaps your only were asked surface questions until test time, and when you were asked critical thinking question you were able to think deeper. That wouldn't make you a surface reader, just a surface thinker ;-)
Right now in my field experience, i am noticing that there are a lot of students ahead and behind the average. Because my class is made up of at-risk students, there is a lot of diversity and recognizing this is important.
It seems to me that students today do think on a deeper level than I was expected to by far- thanks to those who have brought diversity into the curriculum. We can always go deeper, though. This comes through a willingness to learn, but teacher direction is what a lot of students really want to push them, I think.
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