Big Reading Challenge for April 2018
Our Big Read this month is ‘Reach Before You Teach: Ignite passion and
Purpose in Your Classroom’ by Paula Prentis & Chris Parrott with Amy Smith
Abstract:
When we talk about “teaching to the self,” we are talking about connecting with the unique being of each one of your students. To do that, however, one must first understand what the self is. To understand the concept of the self, imagine someone gives you a gray-colored box filled with puzzle pieces. You open the box, and your go-to solution of separating flat edges from the jagged becomes defeating, for no flat edges exist in the box. Stranded with no picture of what the puzzle is supposed to look like and no flat edges to construct a frame, you may feel lost as to how to move forward. Yet, this is what we ask of our teens. We ask them to build an identity without fully discussing with them what identity is or what it is supposed to look like. We don’t let them see the picture on the box. We ask them to apply information to a seemingly vacuous concept. We also often fail to help them to build the framework of the puzzle, the fundamentals of themselves. We rarely delve deep into discussions of their values, morals, goals, dreams, feelings, and thought processes—all of which help them be better students and lead more fulfilling and purposeful lives. As you give students puzzle pieces such as math, science, prevention programs, English, and health, you are asking them to find a place inside of themselves where that piece will fit. But our current system has failed to provide students with a framework for the self. Students cannot incorporate those pieces without a framework.
In Reach Before You Teach, the authors examine an in depth means of allowing students to discover their true potential, to connect with both themselves and the world around them.
The idea of ‘the self’ is an important concept in this book; our authors suggest that teachers need to help students build an identity without fully discussing with them what that identity is or what it is supposed to look like. This is achieved by asking students to apply information to what they perceive to be a seemingly vacuous concept!
Reach Before You Teach then goes on to explore how early attachments in life set the stage for future successes, failures, our personality traits and ultimately our life capabilities. One particularly interesting chapter discusses the ‘school climate’ - the way students feel and live in the classroom, and the impact this has on their capacity to retrieve information at a later stage – and goes on to examine the similarities between the atmosphere in the classroom and the atmosphere in the students’ homes.
This is a great source of information for those who have ever wondered about the relationship between the classroom environment and the long-term effects it has on students’ lives. It is an easily overlooked idea that learning is an emotional event, and this book will help you gain an understanding of ways you can interact with your students on an emotional level to help shape for them a better future and guide them on their way to success!