As a student, reading and writing for me were more a source
of anxiety than a means to creativity. Every new assignment gave birth to
another deadline, another sacrifice of my personal time; some other enjoyable
personal activity I would have to forego to expend valuable brain energy on
dumb words that I would forget about when the school year is over. Needless to
say, I didn’t exactly have a positive attitude regarding the language arts. I
was more interested in music, television, movies, videogames and sports. Little
did I know that all these activities could not exist without writing. Faced
with the task of comparing Orwell to Huxley, I would painstakingly breeze
through the reading and fill in the required information in a format assigned
by the teacher; all work and no play. I never actually took time to enjoy the
experience of the stories or to consider what they say about society. It was a
headache, an inconvenience; something to keep me from playing football in the
street with my friends. Twenty years later, I look back on the utopian visions
of Huxley and Orwell or the American spirit enveloped by Mark Twain and realize
that if taken in the proper context, reading and writing, and movies, music and
television are one in the same. Had I known that back then, I would have looked
forward to reading the next few chapters, or writing my own interpretation of
the piece. The obvious key to inspire students to learn is to make them want to
participate, instead of displaying reading and writing as a requirement. I feel
my ideas for the I-search project would encourage students not only to take
pleasure in assigned schoolwork, but also use the lessons learned In their everyday
lives and expand on their creativity to mold it into a possible career.
The
first idea I would like to expand on is the idea of reading books through
twice. I believe it would ease the scholastic pressure on students and enable
them to go far beyond the surface of a story, introducing them to symbolism and
personification. Students under less pressure to finish x-amount of books in a
short time window may be more likely to lose themselves in a story and
experience first hand how imagining situations in your head can be more
fulfilling than seeing the stories played out on screen. While students may not
be introduced to as much literature as with traditional teaching methods, complete,
intricate exposure to a select few works may cause average students who could
not be bothered with Shakespeare or Twain to realize how much fun they can be,
(fun meaning vulgar, violent and inappropriate,
following the Hollywood or TV standard when it comes to gaining kids’
attention.) Once exposed to how fun reading and writing could be, students can
then pursue any angle of literature they desire outside of, and beyond their classroom,
weather finding a good college to attend, or starting a career as a writer right
out of high school, which leads me to my second idea.
It is
important that students know that reading and writing is not just an activity
required to get you through to the next grade; it is just as much a personal
interest as it is a practical means of communication and evaluation. When
preparing students for after high school, whether it’s college or the
workforce, the goal of teachers is to help students decide what it is they want
to do with the rest of their lives. Ideally, they should find something they enjoy,
and writing applies to virtually any profession. This activity works to get to
know students on a personal level and work with them to suggest careers based
on their interests. Students would meet with teachers one-on-one on a weekly
basis and develop a creative project based on the students’ interests. Teachers
should design tasks for the students to complete leading up to a unique major
project. Such an activity would enrich the student/teacher relationship and
give the student some perspective on potential careers, helping them find a
career they enjoy so they never have to work a day in their lives.
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