Teacher's Typical Text

In my major, texts are often limited to textbooks. Most of my life, my teachers had us read textbooks. I hated reading textbooks because they were so dry. I didn't care about the dates in my history classes and science seemed boring in textbooks. I didn't get much out of the reading when classes solely used textbooks. In fact, I realized that I didn't need to read them, because we would talk about the reading in class. I knew I would probably get more out of listening to them talk than reading it on my own. Reading was always my weak point in school. Textbooks were hard for me to understand and they didn't hold my attention well.

One thing that would have helped me be more successful in reading the textbooks would have been reading for a purpose. The teacher could have asked a specific question or could have given more direction, instead of reading just to have read the material before class. Buehl talks about "framing essential questions". He says, "Most of the questions that confront students in our curricula are leading questions. They direct students toward a set answer and can be helpful for clarifying key information. However, essential questions help students dig deeper into a topic" (23). I would have done well with more direction. No one ever taught me how to read and interpret difficult text, especially textbooks. I felt self-conscious about reading, especially out loud or timed, because I was afraid that I wouldn't understand. When I am a teacher I want to teach my students how to read difficult text. On page 30, Buehl states, "Students are expected to comprehend texts dealing with sophisticated concepts --and that are more abstract, ambiguous, and subtle--by engaging in advanced literacy practices that...'are rarely taught'". I want all students to be prepared to enter college confident that they can read hard texts.

Not all of my teachers were this way though. They had different techniques. I don't remember a single textbook that I have read, however, I remember some historical novels that I have read. In middle school I had a social studies teacher, that assigned novels to teach us the material. That is when I first started to enjoy reading. I remember the main idea of a lot of the books and I remember the way I felt reading them. There were other things that helped me to enjoy reading and understanding more. I had a history teacher in high school that once asked us to write a paper from the perspective of someone that lived in a different era. Not a particular person, but a fictional character that we had to make up. So we had to research what it would be like to be a person in that era. I remember getting really into the assignment, researching a lot about that time frame. It was a really effective way to learn on our own. Buehl questions the motive of the assigned text: "Did the students select the reading material or did someone else? Are they reading to enhance their knowledge about a topic, to discover how to accomplish a task [or] to experience certain ideas..." (8). My teacher obviously contemplated the reasons for each text and how to use them.

I am taking a physics class that is about important scientists and I really appreciate the literature that he uses. We have books that were written by the scientists, not necessarily about them. He also assigns articles that are first-hand experiences to historical, scientific events, like the atomic bomb. These texts are more intriguing because they are actual people interacting with science. It is easier to relate to, which makes it more meaningful. I appreciate the time, energy and research that he underwent to find these texts. I want to have a good collection of educational novels that I can use to help students relate to scientific events.