One of the things I'd comment on is how they took into account their own lessons in writing their textbook. After getting the book late, I was forced to play catch up and decided to read the recently assigned chapters first and then read the stuff from the start of the semester. Fortunately for me, the book is written in a way where you can hop in and still understand what's being said in one chapter without having read the previous ones.
On one hand, it struck me as kind of odd that a textbook would suggest not to use a textbook entirely in the class. It makes sense to me as a student and future educator but reading it seemed like, "Gee, that's a little counterintuitive. Don't you want folks to read your whole book?"
I like though that the book reads, for the most part, like a conversation. It's not the usual authoritative, supreme being telling me knowledge ordained from them. With the use of repeating examples, like the same teachers in different scenarios, it's almost like I'm getting to know characters in a book and predict their behaviour.
I would ask Daniels and Zimmelman what strategy they found most effective in teaching. Throughout my classes, there seems to be a theme of teaching either too strictly to the standard or too closely to the individual student. I would like these authors to tell me through their own experience how to find a nice balance between these two extremes.
I would also ask these fellers advice for new teachers. As someone going into the field of education I have many questions on many components of being a teacher. One would be the day to day functions of a classroom. I'm sure most of this comes with experience, but advice never hurts. I am curious about planning lessons for the week that build up into months of the school year that turn into the curriculum itself. Breaking down these ideas would help with understanding how to create lesson plans in general.
I found this section of the book to be incredibly useful. In high school and even now in college, textbooks provide an overload of information in only a few pages. All of this information is impossible to memorize while doing the assigned reading. I would ask Daniels and Zimmerman about their strategies for new teachers, who may be a little more afraid of standardized tests and less familiar with the school’s textbooks. New teachers who are unfamiliar with the textbooks may not yet know which sections students struggle with. Also their classroom library will be smaller than someone who has had many years in the field. I would want to ask how I can can improve on these aspects during my first year teaching. I would also like to ask about incorporating more books and texts into the class without losing valuable class time. I really liked the chapter where the authors suggested books that teachers can use other than textbooks. One of their suggestions was actually a book I read in high school called The Hot Zone. Although the book covered several topics in biology, it was a summer reading that was never discussed in class. While reading it over our vacation we had to answer a packet of questions. I remember everyone in the class along with myself hated the assignment. It made reading a book that could potentially be interesting and educational miserable. I would ask about ways to make readings outside the textbook more enjoyable for students. For example, what activities can students participate in while reading the book that help them remember information but also does not make reading it unenjoyable? Also, how can such books be better incorporated into units but also help move forward with class material?
These two chapters were so relevant to my experiences with textbooks in both high school and college classes. If I could ask Daniels and Zimmerman anything, it would be their opinions on using textbooks provided by the school that are older and somewhat outdated. I found that a lot of the time in my high school classes, we were using textbooks that had definitely been around for a while and were not the newest and nicest editions available. In this case, there is not much a teacher can do besides use what they are told and provided. They do touch on similar issues in chapter 3, but nothing really is discussed about the age of the textbooks being used in schools. One thing I would tell the authors is how helpful and enjoyable I've found this book from what we've read in class so far. It doesn't bore me to have to read about topics that are not about the most exciting things in the world. I also like how they give examples for each content area and show it on the side of the page. I can see myself going back to refer to this book all throughout my career as an educator.
Hi Jenna, these chapters alao made me think a lot about my highschool experiences with textbooks.The textbooks in my highschool were definitely outdated, I'm also curious about how as a teacher to deal with such textbooks, especially in a subject such as science where information is always changing.
Have I mentioned how much I love this textbook? If I were sitting having coffee with Smokey and Steve, the first thing I'd HAVE to ask is where the nickname "Smokey" came from. Just to get that out of the way.
I liked these two chapters, for many reasons because I am grateful to be a future English teacher, a subject that comes without a textbook. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the reasoning benefits of textbooks, especially using the techniques that D&Z show in these chapters. As a student, I would have LOVED one of the "Guide-O-Rama Study Guides" to accompany the textbooks I was forced to read in high school!
I think I'd like to know some personal things from Smokey and Steve. What kind of students were they? Who were the teachers they looked up to? Why did they want to be teachers? I would tell them how grateful I am to have their textbook as a resource for my first few years as a teacher, as I know I'll need to reference it on a regular basis. Many of my own worries and nerves about my first year as a teacher are eased when I remember that time itself will bring more confidence. Aside from "hang in there," what practical advice would they give to teachers entering their first year?
I must say I fly through the readings from this textbook. Daniels and Zemelman provide so many eye-opening strategies and information relevant to teaching in schools today. Honestly, their advice puts my mind at ease in certain circumstances. Not only is this book full of so many useful tools, but it's full of so much personality! I think that is why I love it so much, and why I am constantly underlining, marking and taking notes on every page.
So, if I had the opportunity to have lunch with these two, I think I would focus more on their experiences. For instance, after doing a little research on the two -which is certainly a definite before coffee- I learned that Harvey Daniels has been a city and suburban classroom teacher, as well as a college professor. Steven Zemelman has worked to promote innovative schools in Chicago and has lead the start of a number of innovative small high schools in the city. So, these two clearly have a wealth of experience and knowledge that I would love to draw from. This knowledge is expressed throughout the pages of "Subjects Matter," and since I can open those pages at any time, I would use the time I had with Daniels and Zemelman to ask them to reflect on their own relationship to education.
Such as, what aspect of education sparked their interests and pushed the towards their careers? Do they remember a specific teacher who made an impact on them, why? Then I would ask them about the students and environments they've worked with. I'd ask them to tell me about a time they had to level with a student who was acting out? How did they handle it? Are their times that they had felt defeated, or felt like they've failed a student? How did they overcome that? I'd ask them about their experiences in both suburban and city classrooms. What are the differences between the schools/students? Do they prefer one school environment over the other? I'd express my anxieties about becoming a teacher. Such as, being able to fully engage my students, being likable yet standing my ground and generating effective yet intriguing lessons. So, how can I ease these nerves of mine? Finally, I'd give them the scenario that if they were only able to give me one piece of advice for my first day of class, what would it be?
While reading these chapters, I couldn't help but think about the role that textbooks played while I was in High School. While I do see the benefits of textbooks, I think that Daniels and Zimmerman do a great job building the argument as to why (some) textbooks might not work (sometimes). If I were to sit down for coffee with Daniels and Zimmerman, I think I would want to ask them a lot about themselves personally. Why did they want to become teachers? How did their first day on the job go - tell me the story!
I would like to know their feelings about technology versus textbooks. If textbooks disappeared in the classroom, do you think they would get replaced by forms of technology? Would this, do you think, be a benefit or hinderance in the classroom? I would be interested to know how they feel about technology in the classroom.
I think I would also ask them if they have leaned on textbooks in their teaching past? Do you think new teachers use textbooks as a crutch? I could definitely see how textbooks are used to help a teacher shape her unit or lesson. However, I couldn't agree more with D&Z, especially with my personal high school experience, that textbooks are so annoying. I found it very helpful when D&Z (ch 6) introduce different ways to use textbooks and to supplement those textbooks with other materials that benefit learning. I love the "Guide-o-Rama"! The SQ3R method is something that I would do to study/remember things that were important. I would definitely ask Daniels and Zimmerman for some advice about teaching that they don't offer in their book that could be useful to me in the classroom as a new teacher.
If I had an opportunity to sit down and ask D&Z anything, I think I would pick their brain and ask them how they would approach their very first year of teaching. One of my biggest stressors is not classroom presence or management or even the work load of being a teacher. My biggest stressor, without a doubt, is how to prepare to teach that first time. This stress is understandable when you consider that I am the ultimate planner and organizer. I would love to hear from them how, if they were graduating this May and immediately got a teaching job in September, knowing what they know now in life, how would they start out and fulfill the journey of preparing for that first year. It might be a weird question, considering we are education students and are learning how to be teachers, and I don't know if anyone else has the same worries, but I feel anxiety right now when I think about how to go about "starting" to teach. So, without a doubt, I would ask them this critical question. If I had to tell them something it would simply be that I like how they wrote their book. "Subjects Matter" is very enjoyable to read and it is written in a very underwhelming way. It is written in a way that is almost conversational. I don't feel like I have to decode anything or even look many words up in the dictionary. So, I would definitely tell them that I appreciate the way they wrote our "textbook".
If I could tell D and Z anything, I would tell them that I love their chapter on textbooks. Growing up in the public school system, I am no foreigner to textbooks, and I am certainly no fan either. I whoeheartedly agree with what they assert on page 56 when they say that when we rely on a single secondary/tertiary source for all of a course's content, we are informing the students that consideration of one view is acceptable; we are teaching them that just consulting one perspective on an event is what they should do. And that is so wrong! In a democratic, ethnically mixed society that we live in, we should be encouraging our students to consider multiple viewpoints, analyze them, compare and contrast, pro and con, make connections, and then formulate their own opinions as a result of a critical thinking process. If I could ask them anything, I would want to know what kind of books they like to read for pleasure because I love the way they write in this textbook that we use for this class... they write as if they're sitting down and having a productive conversation with you over coffee. I enjoy reading their textbook very much.
After reading these two chapters and seeing how critically Daniels and Zimmerman are about when to use textbooks, which textbooks to use, and the most effective ways to use them, the research that these two have done becomes very obvious. Having said that, I would be very curious about which specific textbooks they've encountered that they feel are the "most" successful and which are the "least." Being able to use these two textbooks to examine what works and what it looks likes, as well as what isn't effective, would help inform any decisions about textbooks I might make in the future. I'd also love to discuss the ways in which English is different from all other subjects, as far as the usage of textbooks vs supplemental texts. In a previous chapter, D&Z voiced their support of the "Windows & Mirrors" theory, as it relates to literature and how it can function, and this is a theory that I also strongly support and plan to try and utilize in my own classroom. Having an opportunity to discuss this theory with these authors and pick their brains about what they have seen work and what hasn't would be valuable information as I'll prepare next year to step into the field. Also, if you haven't read about this theory, I encourage you to check it out. Finally, I really enjoyed the strategies they discussed in Ch. 6 about how to use the textbooks we do use in classrooms to their maximum potential. I agree with Sarah and Eva about the "Guide-O-Rama" strategy. There is no real reason to assign students material to read and engage at home with no kind of support or guidance. Not only does it leave them vulnerable to misreading and misinforming themselves, it can also prevent them from feeling like they can even approach the material. These types of situations seem very likely to encourage students to check out and simply choose to not read or engage whatsoever. These chapters were super useful and informative.
One thing that strikes me is that there is no such thing as a perfect textbook. The only textbooks that are hopeless are the ones that contain errors of fact. If a textbook is not inaccurate it can be used: this requires flexibility and imagination on the part of the teacher. This flexibility is necessary even if the textbook is very good. Every textbook makes assumptions about the student reader: if the students don't conform to these assumptions, then the textbook will not be effective. The teacher must adjust his/her approach depending on the students for whom he/she is responsible: the variability of the students is the greater consideration for the teacher. The textbook for a certain course is a given: the teacher can come up with strategies to maximize the effectiveness of its use. This can and should be done before the course begins. The students, on the other hand, are an unknown until the course begins. While the teacher has prepared for the course, including his prospective use of the text, he/she must be ready to make adjustments based on the students he/she is beginning to know at the beginning of the course.
If I could talk to the authors of our text book, id tell them id agree. Their chapter on textbooks is crucial especially for social study and history teachers. Understanding the damage the "single story' can do is important in this field of education. Multiple sources, opinions, perspectives, and the use of primary sources are key. Students should be taught to be skeptical and be able to uncover bias. Id tell them I couldn't agree with them more and ask to work and collaborate with them to push this philosophy. Maybe ask if they would be willing to conduct a workshop at RI colleges with me and my social studies club. I really appreciated how clearly they broke down this chapter into concise chapters that got directly to the point also.
One of the things I'd comment on is how they took into account their own lessons in writing their textbook. After getting the book late, I was forced to play catch up and decided to read the recently assigned chapters first and then read the stuff from the start of the semester. Fortunately for me, the book is written in a way where you can hop in and still understand what's being said in one chapter without having read the previous ones.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, it struck me as kind of odd that a textbook would suggest not to use a textbook entirely in the class. It makes sense to me as a student and future educator but reading it seemed like, "Gee, that's a little counterintuitive. Don't you want folks to read your whole book?"
I like though that the book reads, for the most part, like a conversation. It's not the usual authoritative, supreme being telling me knowledge ordained from them. With the use of repeating examples, like the same teachers in different scenarios, it's almost like I'm getting to know characters in a book and predict their behaviour.
I would ask Daniels and Zimmelman what strategy they found most effective in teaching. Throughout my classes, there seems to be a theme of teaching either too strictly to the standard or too closely to the individual student. I would like these authors to tell me through their own experience how to find a nice balance between these two extremes.
ReplyDeleteI would also ask these fellers advice for new teachers. As someone going into the field of education I have many questions on many components of being a teacher. One would be the day to day functions of a classroom. I'm sure most of this comes with experience, but advice never hurts. I am curious about planning lessons for the week that build up into months of the school year that turn into the curriculum itself. Breaking down these ideas would help with understanding how to create lesson plans in general.
I found this section of the book to be incredibly useful. In high school and even now in college, textbooks provide an overload of information in only a few pages. All of this information is impossible to memorize while doing the assigned reading. I would ask Daniels and Zimmerman about their strategies for new teachers, who may be a little more afraid of standardized tests and less familiar with the school’s textbooks. New teachers who are unfamiliar with the textbooks may not yet know which sections students struggle with. Also their classroom library will be smaller than someone who has had many years in the field. I would want to ask how I can can improve on these aspects during my first year teaching. I would also like to ask about incorporating more books and texts into the class without losing valuable class time. I really liked the chapter where the authors suggested books that teachers can use other than textbooks. One of their suggestions was actually a book I read in high school called The Hot Zone. Although the book covered several topics in biology, it was a summer reading that was never discussed in class. While reading it over our vacation we had to answer a packet of questions. I remember everyone in the class along with myself hated the assignment. It made reading a book that could potentially be interesting and educational miserable. I would ask about ways to make readings outside the textbook more enjoyable for students. For example, what activities can students participate in while reading the book that help them remember information but also does not make reading it unenjoyable? Also, how can such books be better incorporated into units but also help move forward with class material?
ReplyDeleteThese two chapters were so relevant to my experiences with textbooks in both high school and college classes. If I could ask Daniels and Zimmerman anything, it would be their opinions on using textbooks provided by the school that are older and somewhat outdated. I found that a lot of the time in my high school classes, we were using textbooks that had definitely been around for a while and were not the newest and nicest editions available. In this case, there is not much a teacher can do besides use what they are told and provided. They do touch on similar issues in chapter 3, but nothing really is discussed about the age of the textbooks being used in schools.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would tell the authors is how helpful and enjoyable I've found this book from what we've read in class so far. It doesn't bore me to have to read about topics that are not about the most exciting things in the world. I also like how they give examples for each content area and show it on the side of the page. I can see myself going back to refer to this book all throughout my career as an educator.
Hi Jenna, these chapters alao made me think a lot about my highschool experiences with textbooks.The textbooks in my highschool were definitely outdated, I'm also curious about how as a teacher to deal with such textbooks, especially in a subject such as science where information is always changing.
DeleteHave I mentioned how much I love this textbook? If I were sitting having coffee with Smokey and Steve, the first thing I'd HAVE to ask is where the nickname "Smokey" came from. Just to get that out of the way.
ReplyDeleteI liked these two chapters, for many reasons because I am grateful to be a future English teacher, a subject that comes without a textbook. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand the reasoning benefits of textbooks, especially using the techniques that D&Z show in these chapters. As a student, I would have LOVED one of the "Guide-O-Rama Study Guides" to accompany the textbooks I was forced to read in high school!
I think I'd like to know some personal things from Smokey and Steve. What kind of students were they? Who were the teachers they looked up to? Why did they want to be teachers? I would tell them how grateful I am to have their textbook as a resource for my first few years as a teacher, as I know I'll need to reference it on a regular basis. Many of my own worries and nerves about my first year as a teacher are eased when I remember that time itself will bring more confidence. Aside from "hang in there," what practical advice would they give to teachers entering their first year?
I must say I fly through the readings from this textbook. Daniels and Zemelman provide so many eye-opening strategies and information relevant to teaching in schools today. Honestly, their advice puts my mind at ease in certain circumstances. Not only is this book full of so many useful tools, but it's full of so much personality! I think that is why I love it so much, and why I am constantly underlining, marking and taking notes on every page.
ReplyDeleteSo, if I had the opportunity to have lunch with these two, I think I would focus more on their experiences. For instance, after doing a little research on the two -which is certainly a definite before coffee- I learned that Harvey Daniels has been a city and suburban classroom teacher, as well as a college professor. Steven Zemelman has worked to promote innovative schools in Chicago and has lead the start of a number of innovative small high schools in the city. So, these two clearly have a wealth of experience and knowledge that I would love to draw from. This knowledge is expressed throughout the pages of "Subjects Matter," and since I can open those pages at any time, I would use the time I had with Daniels and Zemelman to ask them to reflect on their own relationship to education.
Such as, what aspect of education sparked their interests and pushed the towards their careers? Do they remember a specific teacher who made an impact on them, why? Then I would ask them about the students and environments they've worked with. I'd ask them to tell me about a time they had to level with a student who was acting out? How did they handle it? Are their times that they had felt defeated, or felt like they've failed a student? How did they overcome that? I'd ask them about their experiences in both suburban and city classrooms. What are the differences between the schools/students? Do they prefer one school environment over the other? I'd express my anxieties about becoming a teacher. Such as, being able to fully engage my students, being likable yet standing my ground and generating effective yet intriguing lessons. So, how can I ease these nerves of mine? Finally, I'd give them the scenario that if they were only able to give me one piece of advice for my first day of class, what would it be?
While reading these chapters, I couldn't help but think about the role that textbooks played while I was in High School. While I do see the benefits of textbooks, I think that Daniels and Zimmerman do a great job building the argument as to why (some) textbooks might not work (sometimes). If I were to sit down for coffee with Daniels and Zimmerman, I think I would want to ask them a lot about themselves personally. Why did they want to become teachers? How did their first day on the job go - tell me the story!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know their feelings about technology versus textbooks. If textbooks disappeared in the classroom, do you think they would get replaced by forms of technology? Would this, do you think, be a benefit or hinderance in the classroom? I would be interested to know how they feel about technology in the classroom.
I think I would also ask them if they have leaned on textbooks in their teaching past? Do you think new teachers use textbooks as a crutch? I could definitely see how textbooks are used to help a teacher shape her unit or lesson. However, I couldn't agree more with D&Z, especially with my personal high school experience, that textbooks are so annoying. I found it very helpful when D&Z (ch 6) introduce different ways to use textbooks and to supplement those textbooks with other materials that benefit learning. I love the "Guide-o-Rama"! The SQ3R method is something that I would do to study/remember things that were important. I would definitely ask Daniels and Zimmerman for some advice about teaching that they don't offer in their book that could be useful to me in the classroom as a new teacher.
If I had an opportunity to sit down and ask D&Z anything, I think I would pick their brain and ask them how they would approach their very first year of teaching. One of my biggest stressors is not classroom presence or management or even the work load of being a teacher. My biggest stressor, without a doubt, is how to prepare to teach that first time. This stress is understandable when you consider that I am the ultimate planner and organizer. I would love to hear from them how, if they were graduating this May and immediately got a teaching job in September, knowing what they know now in life, how would they start out and fulfill the journey of preparing for that first year. It might be a weird question, considering we are education students and are learning how to be teachers, and I don't know if anyone else has the same worries, but I feel anxiety right now when I think about how to go about "starting" to teach. So, without a doubt, I would ask them this critical question.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to tell them something it would simply be that I like how they wrote their book. "Subjects Matter" is very enjoyable to read and it is written in a very underwhelming way. It is written in a way that is almost conversational. I don't feel like I have to decode anything or even look many words up in the dictionary. So, I would definitely tell them that I appreciate the way they wrote our "textbook".
If I could tell D and Z anything, I would tell them that I love their chapter on textbooks. Growing up in the public school system, I am no foreigner to textbooks, and I am certainly no fan either. I whoeheartedly agree with what they assert on page 56 when they say that when we rely on a single secondary/tertiary source for all of a course's content, we are informing the students that consideration of one view is acceptable; we are teaching them that just consulting one perspective on an event is what they should do. And that is so wrong! In a democratic, ethnically mixed society that we live in, we should be encouraging our students to consider multiple viewpoints, analyze them, compare and contrast, pro and con, make connections, and then formulate their own opinions as a result of a critical thinking process.
ReplyDeleteIf I could ask them anything, I would want to know what kind of books they like to read for pleasure because I love the way they write in this textbook that we use for this class... they write as if they're sitting down and having a productive conversation with you over coffee. I enjoy reading their textbook very much.
After reading these two chapters and seeing how critically Daniels and Zimmerman are about when to use textbooks, which textbooks to use, and the most effective ways to use them, the research that these two have done becomes very obvious. Having said that, I would be very curious about which specific textbooks they've encountered that they feel are the "most" successful and which are the "least." Being able to use these two textbooks to examine what works and what it looks likes, as well as what isn't effective, would help inform any decisions about textbooks I might make in the future.
ReplyDeleteI'd also love to discuss the ways in which English is different from all other subjects, as far as the usage of textbooks vs supplemental texts. In a previous chapter, D&Z voiced their support of the "Windows & Mirrors" theory, as it relates to literature and how it can function, and this is a theory that I also strongly support and plan to try and utilize in my own classroom. Having an opportunity to discuss this theory with these authors and pick their brains about what they have seen work and what hasn't would be valuable information as I'll prepare next year to step into the field. Also, if you haven't read about this theory, I encourage you to check it out.
Finally, I really enjoyed the strategies they discussed in Ch. 6 about how to use the textbooks we do use in classrooms to their maximum potential. I agree with Sarah and Eva about the "Guide-O-Rama" strategy. There is no real reason to assign students material to read and engage at home with no kind of support or guidance. Not only does it leave them vulnerable to misreading and misinforming themselves, it can also prevent them from feeling like they can even approach the material. These types of situations seem very likely to encourage students to check out and simply choose to not read or engage whatsoever. These chapters were super useful and informative.
One thing that strikes me is that there is no such thing as a perfect textbook. The only textbooks that are hopeless are the ones that contain errors of fact. If a textbook is not inaccurate it can be used: this requires flexibility and imagination on the part of the teacher.
ReplyDeleteThis flexibility is necessary even if the textbook is very good. Every textbook makes assumptions about the student reader: if the students don't conform to these assumptions, then the textbook will not be effective. The teacher must adjust his/her approach depending on the students for whom he/she is responsible: the variability of the students is the greater consideration for the teacher. The textbook for a certain course is a given: the teacher can come up with strategies to maximize the effectiveness of its use. This can and should be done before the course begins. The students, on the other hand, are an unknown until the course begins. While the teacher has prepared for the course, including his prospective use of the text, he/she must be ready to make adjustments based on the students he/she is beginning to know at the beginning of the course.
If I could talk to the authors of our text book, id tell them id agree. Their chapter on textbooks is crucial especially for social study and history teachers. Understanding the damage the "single story' can do is important in this field of education. Multiple sources, opinions, perspectives, and the use of primary sources are key. Students should be taught to be skeptical and be able to uncover bias. Id tell them I couldn't agree with them more and ask to work and collaborate with them to push this philosophy. Maybe ask if they would be willing to conduct a workshop at RI colleges with me and my social studies club. I really appreciated how clearly they broke down this chapter into concise chapters that got directly to the point also.
ReplyDelete