4 -- Theme Analysis Challenge

On the 4th day, I gave students a test in order to see how well they were picking up the concept of theme in interpretive literature. The stories I used for this varied, and often were changed from class to class, but they were always interpretive and always short (easily read in 15-20 minutes). I allowed students to use the already completed theme analysis worksheets for guidance.

In my classes, I gave each student a 3 ring binder, which was divided into three sections. One of those sections was obviously "Literature."  Copies of the stories, along with the worksheets were placed there. I kept two 3 hole punches near the desk where the days' lessons lay. Very high tech- since retirement, I've grown okay with fragments.

I should state here that I retired in 2008. During my last few yrs, I asked admin to give me computers and a smart board. No deal; I had to take 120 copies of Elements of Literature. Since my retirement, I have seen smart boards in almost every room, but they're not always used. In fact, I've seen a few teachers using them to tape up copies of old overheads.

I had a love/hate relationship with technology. The problem, as I saw it, was that administration bought computers, and then expected test scores to go up simply b/c students had access to them. It never happened. Teachers too often gave assignments in which students merely had to use the computer to retrieve information, and then publish it as a power point presentation. As I've said in my first post, I didn't see how this was going to develop higher order thinking skills.

The teachers I admired were those who used technology as an aid to learning. I recently read a blog from an English teacher who used a smart board as students dissected poetry, highlighting aspects of the poems as they presented to the class. Nicely done.

But in my school, and it's probably true in many, computers were being handed out without an idea of how best to use them. Now, of course, everyone is racing to buy iPads. That's great, but how are they going to foster higher order thinking?  Being able to boast, "All our students have iPads" by itself is not going to raise SAT or PSSA scores, or help students with AP exams. My friend Jim Gates, a nationally reknowned technology expert, asks the same question when districts contact him about using computers.

Schools will never be able to keep up with technology. Companies such as Apple and IBM eat their young. My younger daughter works for SAP, a huge international business software firm; her husband is employed by Cisco's telecommunication branch. What they're working on for the future is beyond my understanding. So I always grimaced when I saw admins, and teachers too, act as if our graduates were going to be able to leave our high school with enough tech knowledge to allow them to ease into high tech jobs. I could imagine admins addressing some 8th and 11th grade English and math teachers with, "Why aren't PSSA scores rising? We bought you computers!"

As I've said, I think we should concentrate on the higher end of Bloom's. I have no evidence of this, but I feel developing those skills will give young adults the best chance of success.