On "Remediation"

A brief note about "remediation."  I teach a class called AIS; it is strictly for students who (a) failed the Regents exam, or (b) are at risk to fail it.  It is supposed to be a sort of remedial class so they can all pass the state test.  Anyway, long story short, I was having them practice a skill they will need for the test - the ability to interpret a one sentence quasi-philosophical quote - by having them look at about ten or twelve quotes from my favorite writer, G.K. Chesterton.  In one period we only really discussed two quotes; but we did also discuss the mathematical term "tangent;" the metaphorical phrase "going off on a tangent;" some of the moral prohibitions of Islam, Christianity, Mormonism, and Judaism; the idea that humans have a body, a mind, and a soul; and we were apparently (some of us) surprised to have found out that Mormons are nice people.  How's that for remediation?
To the sentences.  As always, these are from student papers and my comments are in (   ).

- John Proctor continually downgrades Abigail.  (Yup; now she's flying coach.)
- Sometimes I get a little off track with my message sometimes.
- At times I feel that if I am confused about what to write.  (Like right now?)
- The (hiking) trails are hard to wonder off of.
- Elizabeth also doesn't want to be the blame that he'll look down upon.
- This will increase ones chances of getting bake to the car by dark.
- Once observation I have looking at the picture in more detail...
- People were dyeing...
- Western saddles provide realisticness to these movies.  (Really, spell check didn't say anything about that one?)
- The fighting was hand to hand to hand combat.  (Sounds confusing.)
- Throughout Henry's journey of running away he met a lot of new faces, even some he already knew.
- He say Mary and her lover in a cab some where so he fallowed then.  (That should be saw, followed, and them; just so we're clear.)
- While fishing the worst that could happen is the fisherman drowns.  (Is that all?  I should take up fishing!)
- Once my father was supposed to be watching me and he fell asleep, and I went out to the front lawn and relieved myself because I had seen him do it and thought it was acceptable behavior.  (I bet you don't ask your dad to read your papers, do you?)

Until next time...
J

Reading Stuff Good

            I just ran across something as I was cleaning out my flash drive.  It is a list generated from an education textbook of “Strategies Used by Proficient Readers.”  They include the following: Asking Questions, Visualizing, Determining Importance, Making Inferences, Making Connections, Synthesizing Information, and Using Fix-Up Strategies.  I made a handout for my students listing these and including descriptions of each.  At the time, I thought it might be helpful.

            As I looked at it again I began to wonder.  The truth is “good readers” do these things, and the more they do them the more they will get out of reading.  Yet to call them “strategies” now seems to me a bit off.  The word strategy implies a conscious effort is being made, like implementing a specific strategy in an athletic competition, and I don’t think that applies to “good readers.”  And giving pupils like my high school students a list of strategies to implement may not be the best way to encourage their use.  I’ll try to explain.

            Take, just as an example, Visualizing.  Any time I read a novel I am visualizing the setting, the characters, the events, etc.  But I am not doing this “consciously.”  I do not sit down with a book and tell myself, “Remember to visualize what you are reading.”  If you have ever gotten lost in a book you know what it is like to become so involved in the process of reading that the world around you melts away, and all you see are the words on the page and the images in your head; often it may even seem you are not reading at all but simply existing in the world of the book.  If someone or something distracts you it might take a minute to reacquaint yourself with reality.  That’s a great book.

            But if I tell students to Visualize, if I make it, in a way, an assignment or a task, I am making it conscious, I am focusing their effort on it.  My hope is that the “required task” will eventually become habit, but I am not sure that it will.  Unfortunately the psychology of the modern student, well trained by our educational system, is to do that which is required and then forget about it.  Visualizing becomes a task you must complete to earn a grade or points, not something that becomes habitual and valued.

            The question, which I have no answer to at the moment, is how do we get our students to read organically?  How do we get them to “use” these strategies without having to consciously think about the strategy they are employing?  How do we teach them to read well in a culture that is saturated with images so that they never need to imagine anything in everyday life?  I am not sure that presenting them with a list of strategies is the way to do it.