Would it be weird to come clean that I didn’t enjoy a book I’m teaching?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Next school year will begin with me teaching a book that I didn’t enjoy. It’s not without merits so I don’t mind teaching it, but I don’t want to lie that I think it’s great. Would you find that weird as a parent?

What grade?

I think that's fine in high school. Before that, I would be hesitant.

-- Someone who has taught both elementary and high school, but not middle school so I don't really have an opinion there.

[Anonymous]

I actually think this could make for a really interesting lesson that I had to figure out the hard way in my 20s, and might really help the kids become readers long term.

Wait until you're done with the book, then start a discussion purely about opinions. Who liked the book? Who didn't? Why? And add in yours "while I really love almost all the books I teach, this is one I happen to dislike because X, Y, Z."

Then you can talk about finding books and authors you love and ways to do that - book reviews, sites like GoodReads, getting recommendations from friends, recommendations from librarians. Talk about what makes books fun to read, and engaging. Tell them that there are so many wonderful books in the world, that once they're not in school, they shouldn't be afraid to put a book down and pick up another one.

Finding books you like and that are fun to read is a skill that is NOT taught in school, and IMHO, that's part of why so few American read books. I had years after I got out of school when I barely read because I didn't know how to find fun, engaging books to read.

Could be a really interesting, humanizing lesson that they carry with them into adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most books that adults read for fun have zero literary content. Think ACOTAR or Fourth Wing. They are read for entertainment, just like most of what's watched on TV is for entertainment. Most kid books are junk too. You can't teach classes on those.

Most adults are not reading those books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most books that adults read for fun have zero literary content. Think ACOTAR or Fourth Wing. They are read for entertainment, just like most of what's watched on TV is for entertainment. Most kid books are junk too. You can't teach classes on those.

Most adults are not reading those books.

Most adults aren't reading. Of the shrinking percentage of adults who read for pleasure, many of them are reading those books.

[Anonymous]

Write a five-paragraph essay with quotations from 3 books as evidence to support your thesis that it's not a very good book. Remember to start and end with a hook quotation connecting your essay to some issue of the modern world. For example, "4 million Americans died last year. Reading a mediocre book robs you of part of your life."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No because people are allowed to have opinions but I also don't think you should ruin it for the students right off the bat. You can give your opinion if it comes up organically but try not to ruin it for them before they read it.

I agree. This is why I said that I don’t want to lie. The other teacher is always so excited about the book. I didn’t teach it last year so this is a new dilemma for me.

I'm a parent. I would prefer that you work to have the curriculum changed vs. telling the kids you don't like the book.

Schools have a lot of problems these days and some of them involve respect for the basic process of learning and authority. Although I am a pretty liberal person, I think teachers have become a bit too informal with students. Conveying your thoughts on curriculum flaws adds just another data point to tell the kids that the people in charge are not doing a good job.

When I was in high school, I read a lot of canon works that were boring and flawed or that I didn't like. But I understood why they were being taught to me at a basic level. I've even said on this site that I feel that no harm will come from dropping some of those canonical works. I've gotten a lot of flak for saying such things. From people who liked the works better or feel their significance is undeniable.

I think it's better if you just let the kids come to their own opinions.

It's okay to point out flaws without saying you don't like the book overall.

My preferred solution would be more autobiographies instead of cringy fiction. "My Indian Boyhood" by Luther Standing Bear instead of Sherman Alexie fiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No because people are allowed to have opinions but I also don't think you should ruin it for the students right off the bat. You can give your opinion if it comes up organically but try not to ruin it for them before they read it.

I agree. This is why I said that I don’t want to lie. The other teacher is always so excited about the book. I didn’t teach it last year so this is a new dilemma for me.

I'm a parent. I would prefer that you work to have the curriculum changed vs. telling the kids you don't like the book.

Schools have a lot of problems these days and some of them involve respect for the basic process of learning and authority. Although I am a pretty liberal person, I think teachers have become a bit too informal with students. Conveying your thoughts on curriculum flaws adds just another data point to tell the kids that the people in charge are not doing a good job.

When I was in high school, I read a lot of canon works that were boring and flawed or that I didn't like. But I understood why they were being taught to me at a basic level. I've even said on this site that I feel that no harm will come from dropping some of those canonical works. I've gotten a lot of flak for saying such things. From people who liked the works better or feel their significance is undeniable.

I think it's better if you just let the kids come to their own opinions.

It's okay to point out flaws without saying you don't like the book overall.

My preferred solution would be more autobiographies instead of cringy fiction. "My Indian Boyhood" by Luther Standing Bear instead of Sherman Alexie fiction.

OP didn't say the book didn't belong in the curriculum, she said she didn't enjoy it.

I teach English. I have books that I love, that I would have chosen to read even if I wasn't teaching them, and books that I respect, I think are important parts of the canon, and that I didn't particularly enjoy reading.

There are lots of ways we want kids to interact with literature, and lots of things we want them to get out of literature. One thing we want them to do is to identify the books they love, and seek out more books with those features. Conversations like "What did you love?", "What was your favorite thing you read this year?", "I really love Scarlet Letter, if you enjoyed this book too, here are some other books you might enjoy." "I'm so glad you loved this book! It excites me when students find things they love about a book. Tell me what you loved about it!" Those are all appropriate conversations for teachers to have with students.

[Anonymous]

I agree - it's fine but don't tell them from the get go. Maybe at the end...and let them try to change your mind.

[Anonymous]

I would wonder why you didn’t find a book that you thought was better. I would not want to hear that you didn’t like the book, but you are still forcing me to read it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would wonder why you didn’t find a book that you thought was better. I would not want to hear that you didn’t like the book, but you are still forcing me to read it.

Many schools and districts expect teachers to teach from a specific list. I don’t get to pick the books I teach.

I also force kids to do things I didn’t enjoy all the time. I loved some parts of math, but I didn’t enjoy memorizing math facts. Should I stop teaching those?

[Anonymous]

I don't know that my professor loved the Marx-Engels Reader either but he had to have it on the reading list and we spent a week talking about it.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. Just explain, to the best of your ability, why other people admire it. And when you teach books you DO like, share other people's objections. Students should know how to explain why they don't like a book beyond "It's boring" and "It's stupid."

[Anonymous]

I don’t think whether you like or don’t like a book is relevant. None of my professors ever brought their personal taste into it.

[Anonymous]

I teach English. I have often discussed my personal opinion of something about a book that I didn't like and it becomes a discussion about the book, which is what is supposed to happen. In fact, I say " I didn’t like ......, tell why you disagree."
All authors have some flaw. All novels do as well. Furthermore, it's personal- it's an opinion only, which is what you are supposed to be teaching- how to form an opinion of their own. When I taught many students from different cultures around the world, I learned that many thought it was very disrespectful to criticize a piece of text or book, and just wouldn't. That mindset doesn't promote critical thinking which defeats the whole purpose of reading. We worked very hard at overcoming that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach English. I have often discussed my personal opinion of something about a book that I didn't like and it becomes a discussion about the book, which is what is supposed to happen. In fact, I say " I didn’t like ......, tell why you disagree."
All authors have some flaw. All novels do as well. Furthermore, it's personal- it's an opinion only, which is what you are supposed to be teaching- how to form an opinion of their own. When I taught many students from different cultures around the world, I learned that many thought it was very disrespectful to criticize a piece of text or book, and just wouldn't. That mindset doesn't promote critical thinking which defeats the whole purpose of reading. We worked very hard at overcoming that.

“I didn’t like how x character responded to y” or “I didn’t like the author’s use of X analogy” is different than “I don’t like this book I am making you read.” The first 2 promote critical thinking, the last does not and undermines the curriculum. —lit major and writing teacher