Response # 3 for Dr. Pytash-- Classics in the Classroom Chapter 6

As I read chapter 6 of Jago's Classics in the Classroom, I reflected upon when I read the Odyssey during my freshman year at Kent State University. As Dr. Sanders taught my Great books classmates and me about the many characters, he used a diagram similar to the ones provided in the chapter. Additionally, just as explains on page 138-141, Dr. Sanders also had us not only read the novel but also take notes as an expert on one specific book within the Odyssey. By giving the class ownership over the lessons about certain chapters of a book, I noticed that we were not only able to establish a classroom community, but we also learned more about the text by teaching it to one another. Therefore, I found this to be a very effective strategy.

I have heard some of my cohorts explain that they do not agree with this method because it encouraged students to not read the entire novel. However, I disagree with this opinion. From my experience, I noticed that the students who chose to not read the assignments, thinking they could just follow their peers' notes and lessons, were not able to do well on the assessment about the assigned readings. Therefore, no matter who teaches or provides notes about the text, nothing can supplement actually completing reading assignments. Thus, if implemented correctly, this is an effective teaching strategy in the language arts classroom.

Response # 2 for Dr. Pytash-- Classics in the Classroom Chapter 3

After reading the third chapter of Jago's Classics in the Classroom, I was given a new perspective on teaching literature. At my high school, I was an honors student, and in our honors English classes, writing was focused upon much more than reading. Unfortunately, I did not read many books such as The Odyssey, Beowulf, and The Great Gatsby until I reached my studies at Kent State University. As a result, I have grown to excel in writing, but I often struggle with reading. Although I can read, my pace is slow and my skills are underdeveloped in comparison to many of my peers.

I began to reflect upon this as I read the quote "Great literature deepens our experience, heightens our sensibilities, and matures our judgement," which Jago stated on page 47. This, in coordination with her explanation of how her students read 20 books, made me realize that I was never really challenged to read until I reached college. That being said, I truly struggled at first when I found myself reading several novels in a month. Therefore, I am the embodiment of Jago's aforementioned quote, for if I was asked to stretch my reading ability when I was in high school, I would have been much more prepared for college. This is significant to me, as I will learn from my experiences to ensure that I provide a better opportunity for my students to succeed through reading than I was given by my high school curricula.

Response #1 for Dr. Pytash-- Classics in the Classroom Chapter 1

Upon reading chapter 1 of Carol Jago's Classics in the Classroom, I was left very troubled. One of the statistics provided on page 9 stated that the "lowest-performing twelfth graders have vocabularies about equal to high-knowledge third graders." Particularly, this fact scared me the most. From the message of this chapter, I feel that it is safe to say that a cause of this statistic is that high school students are not reading enough rich literary texts to develop sophisticated vocabularies. Therefore, this stands as a testament for the first principle listed by Jago, which simply stated, "Students must read."

As this stands as a staple for English education in America, I was even more disturbed by something I heard in Dr. Kist's class today. A teacher from Bosnia was visiting during our class, and when asked about the types of texts she is teaching in her classroom, she explained that the teaching of reading and literature in high schools in Bosnia is not a common practice. Upon hearing that, I was shocked. I couldn't begin to imagine English education without reading literature. This troubles me because without reading rich texts, students' vocabularies tend to suffer, as Jago pointed out in the quote I listed above. Therefore, through this classroom experience and through reading this chapter, I am scared to realize that the issue of inadequate teaching of literature is not only apparent in the United States, but it is a world-wide issue.