everything else

Another reason that young people don’t read

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon I’ve written before that many teenagers don’t like reading because our society doesn’t value it. What’s happening, of course, is that the rich continue to buy books (from Amazon, now that most independent bookstores have closed, Borders has closed, and Barnes and Noble is near bankruptcy) and read them. Most everyone else isn’t reading.

Much of the rich’s reading, of course, is done in private — in homes and cafes, increasingly on Kindles — far away from libraries, whose funding continues to be slashed.

In fact, state funding for libraries in California has now entirely disappeared.

Here are the numbers, according to the KALW report:

In the 1999/2000 fiscal year, libraries received $56.8 million from the state. That was a good year. By the 2008/2009 year, libraries were only getting $12.9 million. That was a bad year, but, in retrospect, still pretty good. Libraries now get nothing.

Sure, local governments still provide funding, and libraries in some communities — like Berkeley and San Francisco — won’t be affected too much, thanks to generous taxpayers.

But in most places, these cuts mean fewer library programs, fewer librarians, fewer books — and fewer young readers.

It’s possible, of course, that libraries — one of the most important institutions for a democratic society — may soon become extinct in California.

Some people may claim this trend is inevitable in our digital age — that it’s the Internet’s fault. There’s no need for libraries, the argument goes, because everything you need is on the Web.

Those people have not visited a library lately. With its free books, free computers, free literacy classes, free computer classes, and many other free services, libraries are a crucial space.

Many of my students haven’t been to a library for years. When I ask them why, they never tell me that it’d be boring. They have other reasons. One of them is that they haven’t been invited.

As reflected by our state budget cuts, we don’t expect our young people to like the library, so we don’t take them there, and then we blame them for not liking to read.

Meanwhile, we keep reading at home, in private, by ourselves. favicon

teaching

Saturday sessions to prepare for AP test

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon My latest effort to support my students to pass the AP English test is what I call “AP Saturdays.”

Every other Saturday morning, we meet for a couple hours to study for the test. We’re focusing mostly on the multiple-choice reading section, which is worth 45 percent of the overall score.

We’re doing practice tests, analyzing questions and answers, and trying to get scores up.

There’s been some progress, but we have a long way to go.

We’ve had three sessions so far. The first one was well attended. The second and third ones, however, have been sparse. For example, this morning, I had just 10 students (out of 23 total). Last time, I was extremely disappointed with my students, many of whom didn’t even bother to let me know they weren’t coming. Yes: completely disrespectful. This time, they did a much better job communicating with me and letting me know about their other responsibilities.

I’m finding out a lot about my students. They live full and complex lives. They’re committed to many things at the same time: school, family, work, sports, co-curricular activities, friends. On weekends, school largely goes away, while other activities take priority.

Here are some of the reasons students didn’t attend today’s session:

  • Little sister’s birthday party
  • Had to work (couldn’t change schedule)
  • Being recruited by college soccer coach
  • Went to internship
  • Took the ACT test

The excuses are understandable. But my students’ dream of passing the AP test cannot come true without many hours of focused study. There’s the rub. (Yes, I’m teaching Hamlet.) I’m realizing that part of my job this year is to convince my students that it’s worth it to drop something else they love and replace it with AP English — something they don’t particularly love.

In other words, in my role as the teacher, it’s not enough to motivate, and it’s not enough to have high expectations. In other words, in order for me to lead my students to pass the AP test, I’ll have to facilitate the destruction of another significant part of their lives.

Does that sound harsh?

* * *

On a positive note, several students did extremely well on today’s practice test. One student got 49 correct out of 56. With that score, he could score a 5 on the test in May! favicon

The mini-saga of Kindle #12: A Kindle gone rogue

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon Just a few days ago, a generous donor contributed Kindle #12 to our classroom. That means The Classroom Kindle Project is half way to reaching its goal.

But a complication quickly emerged. Kindle #12 required a password, and the donor did not know it.

Why? Because she’d received the Kindle from Amazon in a box along with books she’d ordered. (Crazy story!)

Yes, Kindle #12 is a mystery Kindle, a phantom Kindle! A renegade, a Kindle gone rogue. Its code needed to be cracked. Here’s what happened next:

Step 1. Figure out the password. The hint was “talkative.” So I punched in synonyms: “loquacious,” “garrulous,” “chatty,” and others. No luck.

Step 2. Try to reset the password. Amazon’s site says you can reset your Kindle’s password by typing in “resetmykindle.” So I did that. Again, no luck. Why not?

Step 3. Realize the real problem. I noticed that my passwords always came out uppercase. Then it dawned on me: The Shift key had malfunctioned. There was a little crack on the bottom left side of the keyboard, which caused the Shift key to be stuck in the down position.

Step 4. Call Amazon support. The representative told me that the Kindle was “defective,” that a replacement had been ordered, and that I needed to return the Kindle “within 30 days.” In other words: You’re a thief, and we know it. I countered by telling the representative that I’d received the Kindle through a donation, and that the Kindle had come in the mail from Amazon. He wasn’t buying my story.

Step 5. Call Amazon again. This time, a different representative confirmed that Kindle #12 was defective but told me I didn’t need to return the device to Amazon. Sorry, he said.

Step 6. Give the Kindle to a student to fix. On Friday, I summoned Antonio, Kindle extraordinaire, and gave him a seemingly impossible mission: Fix Kindle #12 by Monday.

He figured it out in less than 10 minutes. Somehow, he got the Shift key unstuck, typed in “resetmypassword,” and Kindle #12 was reborn.

I’m extremely pleased. Kindle #12 is now fully charged up, registered to my account, connected to WiFi, and loaded with a e-book library of 100+ high-interest titles, ready for a student to check out next Monday.

But will the mini-saga of Kindle #12 continue? Will Amazon Representative #1 come looking for his Kindle and demand its return? Will the Kindle’s original owner be punished for not returning the device? Or will I be tracked down?

I’ll be sure to keep you updated! favicon

reading/technology

Longform + Readability: One-two punch for finding great articles

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon I love reading nonfiction and current events. On my Kindle, I get The New York Times, The New Republic, The Economist, The Nation, Fast Company, and Wired. I also subscribe to Time and The Atlantic in print.

A lot of my reading, however, is online.

In addition to Google Reader, I rely on Longform, which I consider the best curator of excellent nonfiction articles. The editors do a wonderful job selecting only high-quality, in-depth articles.

Sometimes, I get frustrated with Longform because I can’t seem to skip any articles. They’re all good. The articles come from varied sources, which prevents me from sticking to my tried-and-true.

The downside is that there’s never enough time to read all the articles, especially in one sitting. That’s why I’m happy that Longform has teamed up with several read later services, like Instapaper and Read It Later. From Longform’s website, you can immediately save an article for later.

My favorite of these services is Readability. Like Instapaper and Read It Later, Readability lets you save articles for later reading. You click a button, and the service compiles a list of articles for you that you can read on your computer, phone, Kindle, or tablet. I also like that it’s free.

The most impressive aspect of Readability — and the feature that sets it apart from the others — is that it’s beautiful. The service converts web articles into a distraction-free reading experience. Gone are the ads and other annoying pop-ups that clutter up the screen.

I’ve even found myself using Readability with Diigo to annotate the articles I read. Readability provides the clean reading experience, while Diigo lets me highlight and take notes.

As a big-time nonfiction reader, I highly recommend Longform and Readability. Instead of worrying that I’m missing key articles, I trust that I’m getting the best the web has to offer. favicon

teaching/technology

A simple tech activity that went awry

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon Today, I decided I would try to use technology to facilitate a close reading of Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy.

My idea was to use Google Docs and have students comment simultaneously on the text. It’s a good idea — in theory.

It didn’t work.

We went to the computer lab, and each student opened the Google document. No problem there. Google Docs easily handled 23 simultaneous editors.

Students quickly found the chat window and enjoyed the distraction. (It’s always more fun to hang out than to do work.) This detour was funny but not a major problem. After about 30 seconds, my students started reading the soliloquy closely and making solid comments.

But quickly, three problems emerged:

1. The document was too crowded, so students got lost. I didn’t provide enough space between the soliloquy’s sections. Therefore, the comments felt like they were on top of each other. It was disorienting for some students and claustrophobic for others. Next time, I should put each section on a different page so there is plenty of room for comments.

2. Our school’s computers and Internet connection couldn’t handle 23 simultaneous users. Students complained that their computers were slow and their comments were coming out letter by letter. It was agonizing. Collaboration isn’t fun when the technology cannot support it.

3. Internet Explorer doesn’t handle Google Docs well. A couple computers froze; others had a script error. My students correctly said I should install Google Chrome, their preferred browser (and mine, too). I’m going to make a request to our IT support that Google Chrome be added to our school’s computers.

* * *

I learned a few things today: (1) Our school’s technology needs upgrading, (2) Technology does not always improve learning.

I think #2 is important. Even though I love using technology, it shouldn’t be a substitute to close reading, critical thinking, discussion, and human interaction. My lesson today would have worked better had we just sat in our classroom and marked up the text line by line.

My Google Docs activity, on the other hand, is a wonderful idea for a homework assignment. After all, learning cannot stop once class is over. Similar to my virtual office hours (which I might make mandatory soon) on iseroma.com/live, this online activity would likely work best with students on their home computers. There would be fewer technology problems and fewer distractions. favicon