Can it be November 13th already? When I looked at this week's readings I couldn't believe the textbooks were nearly finished. Just because the textbooks are finished, however, does not mean the legacy of Gallagher and Appleman will not live on in my head! Whereas Appleman's last chapter was more of a summary/conclusion, Gallagher's Chapter 9 gave me a lot to think about. Gallagher's emphasis on becoming familiar with current events reminded me of a story my dad has told me several times (he tends to repeat stories).
When he was in university in the 70s, he recalls a history class where the professor asked the class full of students names of Canadian Members of Parliament. My dad knew the answer to every position the professor named, and he was the only one - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, Minister of Finance, and so on. My dad has always emphasized the importance of being informed about the world around us, which is why the sound of CBC radio has never left our garage (the radio hasn't been turned off in 15 years, another one of my dad's favourite stories), the tables, endtables, and bathrooms are scattered with Time, MacLeans, The Economist, and the daily newspaper, and why the sound of Peter Mansbridge's voice feels like home. So how do I pass on my dad's influence to my own kids, and to future students?
Gallagher had many useful tips on how to incorporate real-life situations into a lesson. How many times have each of us gotten spam or junk mail? I'm not sure how I learned, but I'm sure when I was 11 or 12 I clicked on one of those messages with the subject: "Hey!" only to find it was an anonymous sender telling me I won a trip to the Caribbean, not one of my school friends. Teaching students to take what they have learned in an English class and apply it to real life is a lesson that will be invaluable to them in the future.
I especially liked the activity about statistics and lies. I'm not sure what made me this way, but I am naturally skeptical of almost everything around me. I read with caution, I hate reality television (do people really think it isn't staged?), I don't consider anything from an entertainment source to be true, and I usually know a tall tale when I hear one. In a world full of advertising, reality television, bloggers, government-regulated programs, and more, how will future students know how to separate reality and truth from lies and manipulation? Teaching students critical analytical skills is something they will take with them forever. Gallagher's most important line in Chapter 9 (and perhaps the whole book) was about how, ten years down the road, he wants students to remember critical thinking skills rather than the use of symbolism in Lord of the Flies (Gallagher 169).
I absolutely loved Gallagher's exercise on having students collect and analyze newspapers articles. If there is one activity I will take to my future classes, it is this one. I worry about future generations becoming disengaged with the world around them, and I think newspapers are the perfect place for students to begin developing a lifelong appreciation for reading and learning. Even to have students read an article on the internet on a news website would be useful. I often wonder about the future of newspapers with the rise of the internet. I wonder what Gallagher would have to say about the rise of social media and technology, given that Deeper Reading was written in 2004.
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