Teaching Eager Reading
This anecdote began as an attempt to respond to the article “What To Do When 60% Of 12 Year Olds Can’t Read Or Write” by Joy Stevens. The Medium system refused to post my response and insisted that I turn it into a Story. So, I sent just a short paragraph of praise as my response to Joy’s article. The rest of my response is below.
In the fall of 1967, I was a substitute teacher in Chicago. I had a 1964 BA in English, and I had taken and was taking night school education classes. I was in charge full-time of a 7th grade class while the regular teacher wasn’t working, for I forget what reason. All the students in my class were African Americans from a nearby high-rise housing project. All of the students were at a 4th grade reading level. The Reading textbook was at a 4th grade reading level. The other textbooks were at a 7th grade reading level. I forget what subjects they were. I suppose history, arithmetic, geography, whatever. We got through the school days as best we could, managing to achieve a modicum of teaching/learning.
One day — remembering that, in my favorite class in grade school, the teacher had assorted books in a bookcase at the back of the room…
