Non-Reader Nation

One of the more remarkable adaptations that the COVID pandemic has wrought concerns the media.  The fact that people can be interviewed from their homes via new technology has made many production schedules function as normal.
We see the local news delivered from home by our recognizable home teams.  We see the classic news shows like Face the Nation and Meet the Press go on as usual.  In many instances, we are now familiar with virtual pane discussions.  We do it at home via Zoom, and they do it in the newsroom daily on CNN.
I've been fascinated by the rooms from which people are now broadcasting.  Instead of the old, "thank you for inviting us into your homes," it's a two-way street and we are privy to go into the homes of our favorite news personalities.  One of my local weather guys often has his cat sitting on his desk with him.  Occasionally, social media goes viral with the interruption of a child or a domestic pet.  Most of the time, these make-shift TV studios function smoothly and give us a little insight into the personalities and homes of the owners.
By far, the most frequently seen items are books and bookshelves.  While most of the shelves in the background are filled with books, there are some with only one or two volumes and then a display of ceramics, arts/crafts, houseplants, or personal photographs. Occasionally we can read the book titles.  Usually, we can discern which books have been read and which are for show.

In thinking about this phenomenon, it occurred to me that one might get the impression that the vast majority of Americans are readers.  That's hardly the case.
One of the more shocking statistics I've ever read concerning the American people is that in the last year more than 50% of the population of this country did not read a book.  This information came to me right about the time the father of a former governor of New York, who knew Donald Trump well, uttered, "Donald Trump hasn't read a book in 50 years.  I believe that to be true.  One glance at his comprehension of the breadth and depth of American History or even the Presidency makes that obvious.
In all the fuss about how virtual education can or cannot replace in-person teaching and the experience of attending classes with other people, I sometimes wonder if many classes could simply be replaced with well-conceived reading lists.  Oh I know not every subject would work that way, but many would.  Anything we could do to remedy that 50% figure woud be time well spent in my view.

Alternative Education Anyone?

Most teachers get the pull.  This is the time of year when we begin to think about next year and put a little energy into the upcoming new semester.  Most teachers enjoy this.  It can be as simple as going toma stationery store or office supply and looking at colorful folders or anything that's new.
Not so this year.  This year begins with an IF.  If there will be school as we know it.  Chances are that's a resounding no.
I count myself as one of the fortunate because I'm retired.  Yet, that pull to return never leaves and this year it's tempered with the question of what would I have done?
I admit I've been thinking about how I would approach distance learning.  In my 40 years, I did a bit of it, as we all have.  What stands out for me most is that it depends on what subject is being taught.  For a Language Arts/Social Science teacher, it might not be such a big deal.  Sure, there will be fewer discussions and probably none on the level of those in person.  That's huge.  But if one considers whether or not any quality learning is happening, that's an easy hurdle to overcome.  Students can still exchange ideas online.

After much thought what I've come to believe is that distance learning offers many students, especially the older ones a golden opportunity to take responsibility for their own education.  That's a goal we've been trying to reach for many years.  Whether it be project-based or a version of an I-Search paper, or a group problem-solving activity, it has the potential of being just as worthwhile and successful as something done in any "normal" school year.
One of the most intriguing ideas I've seen recently organizes all this in the form of students writing blogs.  There are various kinds of blogs and whether it be designing and building something, or a critical review of a text, film, object of art or even a meal, all lend themselves to the use and demonstration of multiple skills.  This kind of personal responsibility would easily prepare any high school student for college success.
My vision would have students check in with their teachers daily or at least 3 times a week, document everything they do, and submit completed work in any way the technology allows.
A great experiment it would definitely be.  But one that could be and seems like it might satisfactorily the loose, ill-conceived, non-participatory version that we saw last year.
Of course, teachers would need to log their time too.  Time spent talking to a group of 35 would be replaced by time communicating with a few each hour.
It's not the desired substitute but should be challenging and worth the time and effort.

Post Card From A Pandemic

We've moved into the dog days of summer.  In Portland that means that you can wash your car and have it last for a few weeks.  There is no rain in the immediate future, so we get to enjoy the shine for a bit.
But nothing this year is predictable.  We have very little to look forward to.  Things have disappeared.  They have been canceled.  People are longing for that which they resisted last year.  This how it is.  When those of us who survive tell the younger generation all the "how it was" tales, what will we say?

We will talk about the time we couldn't go to restaurants, but some restaurants came to us by delivery.  The great mask dilemma will no doubt be a big topic.  Even then there will be no adequate response to the reasoning some folks used to resist wearing a mask.
The politicization of almost everything will surely find its way to the discussion.  In that category will come the mother of all denial in describing how some people continued to believe the pandemic was a hoax.   With no evidence and the fear stoked by paranoia bubbling in their brains, they sallied forth giving credence to the ridiculous.  Contraries find a way to move forward despite logic.
I'll tell the story of my long walks.  Couldn't go to the gym, so I walked.  Often I'd pass people with no mask.  I'd smile at kind faces even though they could only see my eyes.  We learned to read eyes.
A few times I rose early and went fishing on my favorite nearby lake.  There, for a few hours, it was possible to forget.  Social distancing is the rule when fly fishing and there was often the profound thought that it was something you could always do.  Keep a mask handy, but slowly traversing a lake, wind blowing, fresh air, slight mist, catching, and releasing rainbow trout can all be done without covering up.  Catch relief was more like it.
We had no baseball.  No live competition.  For the night owls, there was baseball from Korea.  For everyone else, there were series games from the past and all manner of sports contests where you could Google who won if you forgot or simply wanted to turn in before the finish.  Only horse racing remained live.  No crowd in attendance.  Jockeys looked more like banditos on horseback, but the horses ran and the Triple Crown happened albeit out of order.
We avoided the grocery store until necessary.  Masks required, grocery carts sanitized, some commodities in limited supply, RULES.
Birthdays took a hit. Hard to buy presents unless you go online.  No parties.  No groups of over 5 people.  10 is a risk.  Travel is a bigger risk.  No flying, car travel only.  What about trains or hotels? Lots of uncertainty.
I miss my weekly music group and the progress I made at my gym.  Those are on hold until I don't know.
And the constant thought of the burning question: Is this the new normal?

No Text

Even though the President of the United States has declared the BLACK LIVES MATTER movement  "a symbol of hate" and a threat to the country, the nation nevertheless is having a racial reckoning.  Look at the composition of the demonstrations in most American cities and it's apparent that many white folks get it.  They need no explanation.  Yet this begs the question of why so many people in the US don't really know their own history.  I'm of the opinion that the answer is right in front of us.  Just look in our history books.

For years the conventional wisdom held that history was best taught from history books.  Those cumbersome texts we all carried around at some point were really worthless when it comes to accurate history.  I know I'm generalizing, but as one who taught the subject at one time collected and many texts as I could, the real history of this country was seldom found in those volumes.
From the time I first walked into a classroom until I locked my classroom door for the last time, I made my own curriculum and eschewed most textbooks.
So what's wrong with them? For starters, they ignore many of the significant events of America's struggle with race relations. And why?  Because the sad truth is that this had been a country founded on genocide, racism, slave labor, and the suppression of civil rights for all its citizens.  If you have to read this continually, from the age of colonization through the last few "endless wars," you might start to feel differently about all the star-spangled messages we constantly receive about "American Exceptionalism."
Our history lies in primary sources.  What if our students could read and discuss the documents that hold the honest truth.  Then they'd see the 3/5th clause in the Constitution.  They would read a real Green Book or the letters of a young soldier mired in the mud of Vietnam.  You get the picture.
Fortunately, today there are resources like the Zinn Education Project, the Choices Project, and The Jim Crow Museum that make teaching textless not only possible and preferable but much easier than the old days before we had the internet.  I vividly remember putting together handouts I typed while trying to hold open diaries, documents, and letters.  I made slides and tried to get photographs copied for years.  There is something particularly satisfying about letting students form their own opinions from reading and viewing primary sources.  This allows them to do the work of historians.  That, in turn, teaches how complex the work of history can be.
In the last few months, with the increased time spent at home due to the pandemic, I've been culling my collection of primary sources.  I plan on passing along many to other educators who get that the text is merely a point of departure.  A classroom, with ample displays of primary sources, along with student work) can go on teaching without the teacher.  I like that idea.