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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Also, if it sounds confusing and unworkable, just think of it this way: I don’t know exactly how my pilot flies my plane. I know he knows, but I don’t. If I have surgery I get at a basic level what’s happening but my surgeon is the one who knows what’s going on and all the working parts and moving pieces and they both always have training, a plan, and a team working with them. So if this sounds murky and weird to you, know that it’s much more manageable and sensical to me and other teachers who do it. We aren’t just winging it! [/quote]

I’ve had enough terrible English teachers that this is honestly not reassuring. [/quote]

Believe me, this thread is ample proof how bad most of your English teachers were. [/quote]

OP - why are you so incredibly nasty!?  God, I hope I never come across to my students like you do.  Also, you have made your fair share of grammatical errors, but I was trying to go easy on you since the whole thread is combative.

But honestly, there are a lot of good points.  You clearly are a new-ish teacher who thinks she knows it all and will change the world and the education system.  Lighten up.

Not everybody loves to read.  That's alright.  Some people love math, some people love creating art, some love solving complex labs and experiments.  The point of English class is not to make them love something, but the knowledge that they are supposed to leave your classroom with.  The world and life, including college if they choose to go, is full of references, allusions and wisdom from classic novels.  Why would you deprive them of this?  I vividly remember reading [i]The Stranger[/i] by Albert Camus in ninth grade, and pondering the meaning of life with my classmates.  Or [i]Night[/i] by Elie Wiesel, and arguing with my teacher about what was a fact that had happened to him and what was symbolism, and discussing creative license and the holocaust and tragedy.  To this day,[i] Catcher in the Rye[/i] is my favorite novel, after I was 'forced' to read it in eighth grade.  ""Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around—nobody big, I mean—except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy."  I have a tattoo of this, and a huge poster in my classroom.  I became a teacher because I feel like Holden, I want to protect and catch all of the children.  Violence, sexuality, crime, "phoniness" - one must accept the reality of growing up.  Plus, the study of WWII and its impact on literature, the world, people.  Salinger literally had this text with him while he was a soldier fighting in the war.  The idea of finding happiness in something small, amidst the chaos.

There are so so many classics that people [i]should [/i]read... Letting them pick (yes, I have read your adamant argument that there are certain themes, but - I could easily realize as a student that I was being challenged in calculus and sociology, and so I could just pick the easiest book the library had, probably one of the current/popular YA novels displayed in the front of the media center, and not ever have to think or do any level of work in your class.

[i]The Things They Carried[/i]? You could start this for the beginning of the semester in the class, talk about how stories are our only method of immortality.  When we die, the memories and experiences we held within die with us. In order to live on, we must pass on our stories.  
[i]Fahrenheit 451[/i]?  You're so obsessed with making them love to read ... Fahrenheit teaches readers the importance of books to preserve history, question the present and create a better future.  This and 1984 could be done concurrently.  So many of these kids choose not to read - there are so many other, more quick, options.  And watching shows, movies, and playing around with our gadgets does not exercise our minds at all. It keeps our minds still and thoughtless. Whereas reading literature does the opposite. Reading gets our minds thinking, improves our verbal abilities, focus, imagination. Last but not least, it ultimately makes you naturally smarter. Long story short, technology is diminishing our interest in literature and this is important because most people fail to realize that picking up a book is the most powerful weapon anyone can have.
[i]1984[/i]?  Especially in this political climate.  Teach them to think for themselves.  That the government isn't always right.  Especially with bring your own device, and in our present day, where technology has greatly advanced and government can be corrupt, it’s terrifying with what the combination of technology and government can do as they have massive potential to fully control a citizen’s life. What a great discussion of vulnerability, and dependence on technology... 
[i]The Alchemist[/i]?  Personal Legend (as he puts it- your destiny in life).  What are we dreaming?  Are we afraid of pursuing it?
[i]I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings[/i]? Heavy and relevant issues like rape, identity, and racism, plus from the perspective of someone their own age.  And POC writer.
[i]Uncle Tom's Cabin[/i]?  Teaching about how it is impossible to classify people as only bad or good.
[i]The Old Man and the Sea[/i]?  Resilience and bravery.
[i]Death of a Salesman[/i]?  The value of work, the difference in different kinds of work.
[i]The Souls of Black Folk[/i]? Right to vote, segregation, education, equality - truly the first text in the literature of black protest.
[i]Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass[/i] and [i]My Bondage and My Freedom[/i]?   This is perfect for your obsession with wanting them to love reading.  Learning how an enslaved and viciously beaten youngster became a free man by learning to read and write (largely on his own and despite serious obstacles) may just give disaffected, struggling students the courage to stay in school and keep trying.  
[i]Crime and Punishment[/i]?  What about if 1/2 read this and 1/2 read The Stranger - debate the meaning of life.  
[i]Of Mice and Men[/i]?  Study mental illness/special needs.  The study of friendship and protection, and how it isn't always the right thing to protect your friends - how incredibly relevant is that for our youth?
[i]Jane Eyre[/i]?  Absolutely the POC should be represented, as you said, but what about how women are in this world?  Why not show them this embodiment of a strong, female character?  Especially the young men, who will not want to read this.  
[i]The Color Purple[/i]?   Discussing how gender roles and opportunity for people of color have changed... The discussion of sexuality.  How do the white characters, such as Miss Millie, appear condescending through supposed kindness to African Americans?

[/quote]

My post had nothing to do with grammatical errors! My point was so many people in this thread have very negative ideas about what English class looks like (endlessly taking notes, highlighting texts, never getting to read what you want) that’s it’s clear your teachers were not very dynamic or forward thinking. There’s a very clear picture of what most people’s english classes were like just based on the tasks and ideas of what English class looks like mentioned in comments. [/quote]

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