Dr. Pytash (Chapter One)

I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed reading this book. It helped me to understand more of the conversation we had with Professor Ford in her lesson. The discussion was about why teachers should teach the books in the cannon. Jago points out that it is important for students to do reading on their own. Pleasure reading is something that should be strongly encouraged. But, it should not be the only thing students get their hands on. Jago talked about the importance students gain from literature as opposed to books read for pleasure. She also talked about how these books can bring students into other time periods, cultures, and worlds.

I was alarmed and sad when I read the statistics about students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It is hard for me to read about this because these students do not have the same opportunities as others. By the age of three, children had much larger vocabularies when they were living with parents not on welfare. Children who are three cannot help what they know and do not know. It is like they are being set up to fail...


This is where awesome teachers come in. This is why the achievement gap is bogus! It is simply not fair to these students. Teachers who step it up and challenge students who come from tougher backgrounds are going to help them succeed. It will be a struggle, but totally worth it. The text talked about how students in lower or regular level classes were not tackling the same type of work as the honors students. Why not? Because it is too hard? I don't think so. The regular classes should be the ones trying harder, pushing to get ahead. Reading tougher material and finding out what a "harder to read" book has to offer is what a "regular" English class should be all about.

I really like this text and plan on keeping it for the rest of my life. =)