March 19, 2010
Dear Dr. Hite:
I was educated in the era of summer reading; that has made a significant difference in the choices I’ve made in life. As corny as it sounds, summer reading offered me the opportunity to think for myself by opening a book with no direction and making it important to me. My analytical skills were tested; I began to understand that I wasn’t just any student. Anything I took away from a book was my own and that presented me with a rare gift – control over my education. I learned the extent of my intellect; it has been the one thing that no one has been able to take away from me and has taken me places that my individual circumstances could never dictate. I became a teacher to empower students in this direction; I wanted them all to understand their role in their own education and, in turn, the outcome of their lives.
Times have changed since I was an eleventh grader reading Baldwin for the first time. In this technologically-driven world, innovation trumps imagination. The easier and quicker gadgets make life for us, the less we feel obligated to do for ourselves. In every other area of our children’s lives, innovation could be considered a fantastic thing, but in education, it only eliminates the need for hard work. We’ve become enamored with the technology of SMARTboards and lost the quest for smart students. Too afraid to compete with the technology of Facebook, we’ve given up on the art of class discussion and bringing everyday life into the classroom. Most secondary schools are no longer training grounds for the imagination. They have become protocol factories where teachers are held accountable for two grades per week (whether or not the students have actually learned anything) and schools celebrate AYP, although adequate seems as dangerous an adjective as mediocre.
Although it’s a long shot, perhaps all of this is a result of the death of summer reading. We’ve taken an important challenge away from our children and replaced it with a sense of entitlement. Presently, many parents and officials in Prince George’s County believe it’s too much work to ask a child to pick up a book of literary merit, read it, and figure out why someone would bother to write it and what relevance it has in the world while on their summer vacations. However, they expect students to return from vacation and perform. I understand many people do not share my views, and there is nothing I can do to convince parents to encourage guided analysis instead of giving their children ipods and expensive cell phones. In spite of this, I try my best every day to re-ignite the brains of my students. More than anything, I want them to be lifelong learners with more options than obligations in life.
I teach Research/Term Paper, a class that helps fulfill the SAT Prep credit at Laurel High School. Students have the option to take this class for the first time in 11th grade, the most important level in high school. It’s the first grade in the county where they are not preparing for the HSA and when their post secondary options are moving into their everyday lives. When I first started teaching the class in the 2006-2007 school year, I had no idea it would become such an important part of my students’ lives. It became a route to merge English, writing, and constructive analysis into each school day; I’m proud to say most students enjoy my class.
This letter is not about my work, however. There are many teachers in this county who do great work in educating students. This letter is about the children who benefit from a class that attempts to open their minds, challenge pre-conceived notions, and promote goal-setting (which helps them discover what they enjoy and what they want to pursue after high school). If Prince George’s County really desires to promote lifelong learning, it must put effort into developing a sound writing curriculum that begins in the 10th grade and is implemented in its own class. Writing deserves its own space; expecting fluent writing and analysis within the content level English curriculum is absurd. Literary conventions take so much precedence in content level English classes that writing strategies fall by the wayside. Teachers of 9th and 10th grade English have prescribed pacing guides and objectives, and writing is not at the forefront of either curriculum. If Prince George’s County expects most of its students to graduate and be successful in college, writing must transcend the occasional descriptive or comparison essay.
As proof of the effectiveness of this idea, I am enclosing letters from members of my first semester research class. I asked them to write down their thoughts about what Research class has done for them. I think you will find that most students were positively affected and truly embraced the space and opportunity to shape their opinions, organize them, and present them to their peers in written form. If you should find grammatical/spelling errors, I ask that you view them as a reason to invest more time and energy into a writing curriculum instead of using them as proof of the Research class’s ineffectiveness. I have not read or edited any of these letters, as I found it time my students were allowed to speak for themselves.
If you would like to discuss this matter, feel free to contact me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Tyauna A. Bruce
College Summit/Research Teacher
Sometimes...you've got to say what you feel, no matter the consequences. What's life without the limb?
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