Bushman

This is a little conversation about, "Using Young Adult Literature in the Classroom" between two college students who have to read it for class. Jimmy,(J) a street-smart college senior Billy,(B) an uptight book worm

(Scene: JIMMY and BILLY are seated at a table in a quiet corner. JIMMY is picking his teeth with a tooth pick while BILLY highlights every page of his text book.)

B: Gollie gee, Jimmy, this sure is a big ol'     book we have to read for class. Look how thick it is!

J: No sweat, it'll make a nice doorstop when I'm done with it.

B: Are you a fast reader?

J: You bet you're sweet bippy, I am. I just put it under my pillow, then, badda-boom badda-bing, I soak it right up.

B: That's super-duper amazing, Jimmy! It takes me along time to read things.

J: That's cause you read every word on every page. That's may be necessary with lovely pieces of literature--I read How Ta Kill A Mockingbird two and a half times--but this text is not one of those, Sherlock.

B: It isn't?

J: Nah, from what I can tell, this is mostly a reference guide with some basic ideas about presenting lessons on reading and writing. You's gonna be a teacher right?

B: Oh yes, I'd wager two sweet dippies on it.

J: Right. Well, this book'll be a handy reference guide for ya. It's got a fat old appendix, that's worth leavin' in, with a long list of books you might want to use in the high school classroom. That's a lot of what this the book is. It makes a bunch of suggestions about what books to use when you feel like teaching about certain topics.

B: Like what sorts of topics?

J: You know, "Should we read just the classics or maybe some new stuff, fiction or non fiction, plays, poetry and so on.

B: You don't sound too excited about the book...

J: Well it wasn't all that exciting... Just basic stuff; like how reading and writing are connected, for instance. Somebody stop the presses! You mean if I read words it'll be easier for me to write words?... It's genius, I tell ya, genius!

B: And do you read much, Jimmy?

J: Mostly just the methaphysical poets. That Donne's a doosey. And you?

B: I love to read Consumer Reports when I'm not reading every word of every page of every reading assigned in class.

J: Very funny, Billy. But on a serious note, (C Major, I think,)let me just say that this book does makes a valid point about the importance of providing a diverse range of literature to students. Depending on where you're teaching you're gonna have a range of students with different experiences, different economic situations, and cultural backgrounds. It's worth diggin' through Chap. 8 of this book to find some literature they'll connect with.

B: Well, you certainly are right, Jimmy. And let me just add, I have always enjoyed when teachers present a diverse array of authors and not just the standard canon of "dead white guys."

J: Hey, those dead white guys is my heritage, buddy. And let me just say, I am not white, I'm "irish-english-german-italian american." Which metaphor you think best explains that? ...the melting soup one or the tossed salad one?

B: I couldn't say...geting back to the book...

J: Right, right...It don't take no genious to figure out what he's getting at in the book. In Chap. 1, he says you gotta present books that connect with the students' interests and what' they're goin' through.

B: Their interests?

J: Yeah,they like reading books that understand how it is being teenagers, with sqeaky voices and hormones going wild. They got lots on their minds--parents, college, careers, dating..

B: ...And how to be come well rounded, productive members of their community.

J: Yes--that too. What I'm sayin' is don't stress about going word for word with it. You cut out the lists he puts in every chapter and the examples he gives of, "Here's how you can use this story to discuss this topic" then the book is cut in half. Some okay thoughts, but it felt a bit repetitive.

B: Well, I still think the magic book fairy will give me a quarter if I savor each and every word of the text.

J: And I say, pull this book out when you're a teacher, dig through the chapters for some ideas, use some of the charts they give you if you can, and keep the list of books in the appendix handy. And that is that. Peace out, this library is snooze-ville.

B: Thanks for the advice, Jimmy. Peace out to you too.

END


 * written by Caleb Mains

This post will borrow from Peter Kittle's idea that suggests the use of an archaeologist's take on finding this text sometime in the distant future. The book in question here is "Using Young Adult Literature in the English Classroom" by John Bushman and Kay Parks Haas. Because the book is so lengthy and each chapter goes into extensive detail, I've decided to have my "archaeologist" find only one chapter, chapter nine, titled "Media and Young Adult Literature." I believe the rest speaks for itself. Creative but straightforward--just like many of the ideas proposed within this professional book choice.

-Jeremy

June 26, 3199.

Today I uncovered an usual item. I believe it is a "book." Many pages have been torn out, though it still looks enough like a "book" from what I've read about them. From what I've learned lately, it is what people used to read before everything moved to computers and hologram news. Speaking of computers, the author of this book cites a former president of the U.S., Bill Clinton, as saying that "Every classroom in America should be hooked up to the Internet by 2000." By 2000! My God! Was it that long ago that the some schools did not have internet access? Utterly insane! I bet they were still using steering wheels to drive their hoverspheres back then, too.

Something yet even more striking occurred to me upon finding this item. Citizens of this time would soil themselves on the spot if they knew how much we value education today. On the second available page of this "book," the author cites another's research that "even when equipment is made available, students aren't using it to extend, enrich, and enhance understanding... They use it in school to... play games, explore CD ROMs, and conduct Internet researches." If this portion of our history is revealed, surely our credibility as a long-standing intelligent nation will crumble. I am almost reluctant to relay what sentence I discovered next. It is so remarkable, that I must.... Some guy named John Pungente found that "by the time the average North American graduates from high school, he or she will have spent twice as much time in front of the televsion set as in the classroom." First of all, TWICE as much??!! Second of all, did they only have males and females back then? This text must be much older than I had originally thought--it gives no mention to the twelve other classifications of humans. Hmmm, well it seems they did take evaluation and grading seriously. There are extensive layouts that chart a student's or group's work on a given project. Maybe it is not as old as I think. How interesting. At the end of this portion of the "book" there is a list offering additional information; it contains no fewer than 50 total sites. The references for the information included within the given chapter has only 11 "books" as references. This must have been the time when the transition occurred to strictly electronic sources. Maybe if we still had "trees" left we could make more "books." Today I also found something that appears to be a hairhat. Further investigation will occur tomorrow. Insert non-formatted text here

Jose's Letter to Macmillan Publishing

For my contribution, I thought it would be interesting, and complementary to Jeremy Gerrard’s entry to write in the genre of a Captain’s Log of a time traveling vessel. -Sara Evans

Captain’s Log 2067

May 13

Our work is finally done. Our time machine is complete. Of course, humans have mastered the art of traveling through portals to separate times but we have never before been able to interact with primitive peoples. Several reasons exist, namely, it could alter the time space continuum completely but in this case, it is our only option.

May 14

The nightmares have returned; memories of the book that started all of this, the horror, the decline of civilization, the drones that write mediocre thoughts as if they are literary breakthroughs. I can’t help but feel that all of this is in partially my fault. The pointless observations and endless summaries of young adult books never cease to run through my mind. Damn you Bushman!

May 15

A relic from my past returned today, Jose Cortes, he looked surprisingly in good health at his age of 86, he’s obviously had preservation therapy but nothing can hid the scars of his wasted time. I had hoped the topic would not arise but he, of course, brought it up, “Remember when we read Teaching Young Adult Literature?” How could I forget? It was shortly after reading it that we realized we could never have that time back. We were getting older, and that part of our lives was lost. The damage that book did to Jose’s World of Warcraft career alone makes me shudder. It haunts me still. However, in a way, I am thankful for that book, after all it has led me to my extensive work on removing the arbitrary from the past to enhance the future.

May 16

We depart today to remove all irrelevant materials from the past in order to secure that only new ideas are published and authors don’t keep harping on the same repeated ideas as if they are insightful. The crew is wary; in doing this we may destroy the world and will certainly destroy the 2067 we are leaving today. The plan is go to the bookstores of the past and remove all materials deemed unnecessary by the Commission of Life Enhancement, namely Teaching Young Adult Literature. Wish me luck, we have not planned a return voyage, the situation is dire. I do this for the reinstitution of the word interesting for the human race. I take with me only this hairhat.