I remember lugging
around multiple textbooks when I was in elementary, middle, and high school. The
word “textbook” has a negative connotation whenever I think of it. I always hated
using textbooks whether it was being forced to read chapters from one or being
assigned homework out of it. Textbooks have always overwhelmed me because I
feel that they have way too much material in them. Not to mention, I have never
read through an entire textbook in my life.
Subjects Matter provided useful tips on how to use
textbooks more effectively. In my classroom, I will never revolve around a textbook;
textbooks will be used as resources and extra help when necessary. I do not
believe assigning chapters and homework from the textbook is beneficial for
students. Not only is it incredibly difficult for students to comprehend the
material in these textbooks, but relying on a textbook to guide a class is the
most boring, uninteresting way to go about teaching and learning.
“Have empathy
Help kids get
started
Don’t leave kids
alone with their textbooks
Choose wisely
Supplement
richly”
(182-183, SM).
(182-183, SM).
These are a few
strategies that Subjects Matter provides to help educators learn how to use
textbooks more efficiently in a classroom. For me, these are important
strategies because middle grade students can range from 4th through
8th grade, so I cannot expect them to be able to interpret
everything out of a textbook perfectly on their own. Their success with
textbooks will come from help and guidance from me.
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI really like the ideas that you bring up in this blog post. I also connected with this chapter in Subjects Matter because I think that textbooks are being utilized way more than they were intended to be used. Assigning textbook chapters for nightly reading should be a thing of the past, and textbooks should be used as a resource rather than a nightly narrative. When textbooks are used that often, students begin to lose focus and begin to resent the subject and the teacher--which is counterproductive. Great post, Taylor!
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Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI really like the tip about not leaving kids alone with their textbooks and also being empathetic. As teachers, we need to be able to relate to kids and see things from their perspective. We have been through a lot more school than they have, so we have learned how to make the most out of textbooks and what methods have worked and what hasn't. Providing our students with helpful worksheets and questions to guide their reading is going to help their focus and help us make textbooks the most useful in our classroom.
I really enjoyed reading your post!
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