A teacher in his or her classroom should go as far as they can to make their lessons engaging every day. When I use the word "engaging" I don't mean fun or entertaining. Sometimes the sheer academic rigor or difficulty of a task (like learning how to dissect Shakespearean language) is engaging to students, and it should be that individual teacher's goal to read his/her classroom and choose that most engaging way to approach each subject... that is (afterall) what we went to school to learn how to do and what we're paid for. I think I made my feelings on making every day "fun" pretty clear yesterday: it's not necessary nor an excuse for truancy. Many days in the classroom can (and should) be fun, but it's not a lesson requirement.

As to this new interesting idea. I find this morally hard to approach. Anything that has a student reading is a positive, but there should be a line. Many of the books I find my female students reading, for example, fall under the "urban" genre. Many (not all) of these books advocate living in "the game", promiscuity, and drug abuse. Additionally, many of these books are published independently or through obscure means (such as myspace) and are FILLED with typos, misspellings, and various abuses on the English language. And no, I don't mean the books use slang (which they do) I mean characacter's names are not capitalized in one sentence but are in the next, or the author forgets to use a period for several sentences... Author's like Zane opened the floodgate for the Urban Novel's rise, but if publishers aren't going to be editorially responsible, are they really going to mind what content even gets into these books in the first place? That's my rant on the topic, I hope this pans out as much as yesterday's discussion.

I think we need to look beyond fun to something more longterm - perhaps happiness is a better word. On All Things Considered yesterday there was a story on getting people engaged in museums. They were looking at using alternative reality games for this. A game designer talked about what is needed for happiness - "satisfying work, the experience of being good at something, time spent with people we like, and the chance to be a part of something bigger." I'm not sure if ARGs have a place in schools, but that definition of happiness is to me what a great school experience is. Fun is trivial, school should be more.

Well, humans have come this far because learning IS intrinsically fun. It's hard to understand where the idea that learning is work came from in the first place. Solving problems and figuring out how to make things work for us is part of our DNA and is rewarding to us. Otherwise we would still be living in caves without any tools or fires -- and no one would ever try to learn a new skill, like winning a computer game, for instance!

Learning that is engaging and fun does NOT have to be edutainment. But it does require planning and thinking outside the "spray and pray" model. I have seen the difference between a classroom where the teacher has each child read aloud a paragraph of the text book and calls it teaching (ugh) and the one where the teacher makes learning more like a game than a chore through the use of appropriate activities (which would you rather do?). Many teachers do it well, incorporating a variety of engaging approaches that help the students learn and connect what they are learning to the world outside the classroom. I am happy to say my children have been in their classrooms in Baltimore County. But I am sure it is difficult to do all the time, especially when trying to map everything to a rigid curiculum rather than specified outcomes...

I tend to agree that getting a student to read anything is better than having them read nothing at all. However, we do have to try to get students to move beyond the "urban lit" genre. What happens when a student goes to college and hasn't read Shakespeare, Poe, Steinbeck, Hemingway--and on and on--ever? Granted some of this literature is not as entertaining but it makes people think and that is too often left out of the educational system. We have had independent reading time in middle and high schools for several years now. Students are occasionally allowed to bring outside materials in for reading. My rule was "If you think I would be embarrassed to read your book (magazine, etc.), then don't bring it in." For most students that policy worked well. I only had a few times where I had to censor a book in three years. Students will choose higher quality literature if presented with it in a non-threatening setting. We are entirely too focused on the "entertainment" factor of education and often forget that students want to learn about things that are not familiar to them. My students found it fascinating that I had attended school in seven different states before I graduated from high school. One never knows where the "entertainment" factor comes from. It is the job of the teacher to present all materials in a positive, non-threatening way and see what takes hold.

Interestingly, my school is reading a book as part of our PD. We re-read an early chapter last week as I modeled a vocabulary activity. I re-read a section where it states:

One novice teacher asked for a discipline method to get kids to pay attention in class. Our answer: "Teach in a way that is either interesting or meets students' needs as learners." He responded, "But I can't always be interesting or meet their needs. Sometimes, I am either boring or just plain bland." Our answer, "Then sometimes your students won't pay attention." (Discipline with Dignity, pg. 41)

It strikes me that it is less about putting on a show and more about making learning connect to what kids know and are interested in.It also, as others have stated, has something to do with giving students choice - just as we have. I like the idea that we ask students to do what real readers, writers and thinkers do, which is read, write and think. On my bedside table is a novel I am reading, in my work bag are two books for school and then there are magazines in my "libraries" which all interest me. I choose what to read, read different things for different needs, abandon some things, re-read others, write when I need to and that's ultimately what I want teachers to do with students - get them to understand what read readers, writers and thinkers do and then have them do it. Much like the (overused) analogy of driving a car, while there is some classroom learning when learning to drive a car, most of the time is spent behind the wheel.

I think independent reading is a fantastic thing, because once students have been successful reading books that THEY choose, they are much more likely to read a book that the whole class is reading (like a historical fiction novel). I say the same thing as Veteran Teacher up there- if a student gets embarrassed when I ask to glance through his/her book, then it shouldn't be in the room. (Bluford High books have been a great alternative.)

Another 2 thoughts on the earlier discussion- projects tend to be the most engaging things in the classroom. I've seen (suburban) students put on plays in German, make 3D board games using English lit questions, build a 1920s speakeasy in the classroom, etc. A great deal of prep for these projects must be done at home, and many require regular attendance by the whole class to finish the product. The fact that my students need skills instruction every day really drives my instruction, and we simply don't have time to do a lot of these engaging projects.

Another thing that engages kids are extracurriculars. My school doesn't have a band or choir, makes cheerleaders buy their own uniforms, doesn't have debate, etc. When people ask me if more money is going to fix our urban schools, I ask if they had these things in high school, and say, "then don't our kids deserve them, too?"

Those words "fun" and "engaging" keep getting tangled here. I don't want to give the impression that I try and keep me students silent in rank and file while I drone out a lecture. My class is animated, often times loud, and very engaging... but not always fun. Not because I don't want to be fun, but because too much fun can detract from the engagement of the lesson.

Katie makes a great point when she wrote "Another thing that engages kids are extracurriculars. My school doesn't have a band or choir, makes cheerleaders buy their own uniforms, doesn't have debate, etc. When people ask me if more money is going to fix our urban schools, I ask if they had these things in high school, and say, "then don't our kids deserve them, too?"". TMHS shares its sports teams with Samuel Banks, a relationship that works out as best it can. After sports we have nothing. No debate team, no theater or drama club, no functioning choir (chorus is a 9th/10th grade "elective" that everyone seems to be forced to take). We have no marching band, no drum line, our cheerleaders are still waiting for their uniforms to arrive in the mail after they paid for them. We have no chess club, no student government, no mock trial.

We have tried to start many of these groups in the past, but lack of funding cuts out the majority of these programs instantly. Knowing there's more to school than just class would engage a lot of those lost soul students.

Brandon,

It is not just lack of funding that cuts the extracurriculars out. Extracurriculars also require staffing, after-school transportation, and parents who are willing to allow their students to stay after school. Athletics seem to be the only area in the city that is consistently supported by parents at most high schools. Since I have been teaching in the city, my high school has lost its marching band, choir and drama department. We have debate and student government but participation is low as the first question from parents is "How will you get my child home?' or "When will they be able to go to work?" Extracurriculars go a long way towards encouraging students to stay in school. The activities I remember from high school were NOT geometry class or English lit. Drama, choir and forensics were the things that I remember doing and I was a good student. Scary that we can't give that to our students.

I will probably give away my age if I ask anyone if they remember the bumper sticker that read something like" When will we have bake sales to raise money for bombs?" As a nation we seem to find enormous amounts of money for war, bailouts,etc but minimal money(relatively speaking) for school buildings, maintenance, instructional supplies and materials, teacher salaries and benefits, and extra curriculars.

Even more staggering are the glaring discrepencies between the city school system and the surrounding counties. The city system is like a third world county in terms of facilities and offerings. Recently, I visited several Howard County Schools. The comparison was unbelivable no matter what you compared.

When will this nation stop supporting a two or more tier system of education. What happened to the Thorton money that was supposed to begin to solve the ever widening gap. If nice buildings that are clean and well maintained, adequate equipment and supplies, a complete range of extra curriculars, and so on are good enough for the counties, why not the city? Parents in county schools would be screaming at school board meetings constantly if confronted with conditions we accept on a daily basis.

When people state that money does not solve the problems are never willing to give up money from their school system!

News flash! Parents, the school board will listen to you! Staff is not encouraged to speak the truth.Demand what you want for your children!

@Wise Educator -
So if I go to a school board meeting and say "It's the 21st century and our kids deserve an up to date and inviting learning environment! The buildings need to be beautiful and inviting, the libraries should have working computer systems, each child should have a laptop and teachers and schools should have the time and training to put all of the information I want on the Web so I can look at it!" complete with fist pounding and passion, and then through magic AAA will be able to manufacture the money required for this and it will happen? Odd, since the much smaller requests that needed money to be solved never magically were solved just because a parent (or many parents) showed they cared.

So here's a news flash - the city doesn't have the money, the state doesn't have the money and even in times when it does making City Schools up to par with Howard and Montgomery County schools is not a priority.

PS - Speaking "the truth" at a board meeting, if it makes a school's principal look bad, is "not encouraged" for parents either. Vindictiveness is not reserved only for teachers.

Have you ever actually read the Wimpy Kid books, or Junie B Jones? People supposedly complain about the lack of literary value, but the books are just plain FUN to read. Few adults read a steady diet of Shakespeare and Dickens. And when was the last time you read Moby Dick for fun?

I just bought the last Wimpy Kid book for my kids and I also get anime books... hope that doesn't make me a "bad parent". OTOH that's for personal reading, not classroom.

To A Parent,

I was not inferring that the school board would give you the world or a blank check. I was trying to say that in my experience the school board is much more responsive to parents than staff. I'm sure there is a price to pay all around if your request is coming from a problem not solved by an employee, but if you as a parent are making a reasonable request, I believe you will get a response from the board. Yaou may not alwys like or agree with the response but at least there will be a civil answer. In my experience, the squeeky wheel gets heard.

Regarding books and reading,I believe that encouraging kids to read almost anything and "hooking" them is great. By reading what they enjoy, kids increase their fluency and comprehension. Then,hopefully they will move on and read some of the great books of the world and discuss them with some of the great teachers who post in this blog!

Everybody enjoy this amazing weekend!

I strongly support having a diverse library for my students. I have a lot of these books in my classroom (the Wimpy Kid books, JBJ, Babymouse, Ricky Ricotta, etc.). They are wonderfully engaging for many of my students and are an important part of our library. Students are able to apply most if not all of what they learn about being good readers to what they read. And they're also critical thinkers smart enough to understand that, for example, Junie B. Jones is a character and is written as a kindergarten/ first grade student. So when she says something grammatically incorrect or spelled/ pronounced incorrectly, they realize that this is reflective of how someone that age might speak.
With any age, I think it's important to show students how the strategies they learn and use can be applied to all different genres and in every day life, in and out of school.

yeah umm like i have to do a school project and i have to say its ok to dissect animals and i lovvvvvve animals and so im studying off this stuff!

Previously posted: "What happens when a student goes to college and hasn't read Shakespeare, Poe, Steinbeck, Hemingway--and on and on--ever?"
Those kids don't go to college.