Reading is not cool

In my non-writing life, I am, among other things, a Health teacher. This week, our fourth and final marking period of the school year began. I teach seventh and sixth grade Health and, in the first class of each marking period, I review (for the seventh grade) and introduce (for the sixth grade) the Wellness Triangle. In a nutshell, the triangle represents each one of us and the goal to achieve good health - aka 'wellness' - is to attain an equilateral triangle by balancing your physical health, your mental/emotional health and your social health.

In the lesson, I talk about how you can nurture each area independently but, really, it's better and more fun to develop and maintain all three at the same time. I explain how, through things like dance or being part of a sports team, you can do that. I also talk about how doing something like reading books can do that. When I get to the books part of the discussion, I usually begin it by asking the following question: "How many of you like to read?"

In past classes, the students either raise their hands or they don't. Seeing students shoot their hands up, speaking as a reader and writer myself, is very pleasing and encouraging. In a recent New York Times Book Review podcast, it was reported that more kids are reading print books and e-books. This rise has to do, in part, to the lowering cost of Nooks and Kindles that allow tweens and teens to carry and read more books at one time. In my own school, I see students reading all the time. In the weeks leading up to the release of The Hunger Games movie, the eighth grade lunch period I proctor had clusters of students eating together who were also reading The Hunger Games (some were on to Catching Fire or Mockingjay). Other clusters had students, the YA dystopian sitting on the table, discussing the book and/or planning when they were going to see the movie. When Breaking Dawn, the movie, was about to come out, the same thing was happening with the Twilight books.  Again, as a reader, writer and advocate for the power of books, this is very pleasing.

My excitement, however, took a blow the other day. In my opening Health class, when I asked my stundents how many of them like to read, at first only one student, raised her hand. Well, she raised it only as far as her eyes and she did so coyly; hesitantly, apologetically even, like she was owning up to having done something wrong. It wasn't until two of her classmates' hands went up that hers stretched fully towards the ceiling.

Naturally, I'm very happy when I see kids read and I'm happy to meet them. With the abundance of good YA books out there - and there are more coming, like Marie Lu's Legend 2 - I honestly felt that the era of kids who read being viewed as 'nerds' or 'not cool' and having to find safe haven among other nerds just like them had long passed. My student's honest and brave answer to my question, however, told me that it hasn't. If she had just be hesitant, I would've felt that maybe she thought she was the only reader in class and didn't want to stand out and/or appear like she was saying she's better than the others. However, when the look in her eyes and her body language apologised for being a reader, it made me feel that children - and I'm sure some adults - still make fun of those who read and that being able to read, understand and appreciate a good book isn't as admired as being able to score a goal, belt out a song, dance, dunk a basketball or run a record setting race.

What you're about to read is probably lost on your eyes because I'm likely preaching to the choir. Nonetheless, it has to be said, read and written.

Reading IS cool.

Reading develops language and creativity. It helps us experience emotions and teaches us how to deal with some of those feelings. It brings people together and gives birth to new friendships when the readers find a common bond like with the group reading and sharing of The Hunger Games as the movie was about to be released.

So, don't be shy. Don't be afraid. Be proud to be a reader and announce it to the world. And, pay it forward by sharing something you've read. Abbott Press, the publisher of my debut novel Back Kicks And Broken Promises, put up a post on Twitter today. It said something like, "If you can read, thank a teacher. If you read a book again, thank a writer." That may be true and, as a writer, if anyone reads my book - and future books - more than once I'll be very grateful. However, the last word in that tweet can also be "reader."

Read on and be proud.

Teaching Kids To Love Books

As a writer and reader, I value books. I value them for entertainment, education and emotional support. I also value they’re part in teaching young people language, helping them develop brainpower and processing skills and for how they nurture one’s imagination. So, naturally, when I became a father I was adamant that my son is read to every night. Even as a newborn, the parenting magazines all say for parents to read to their babies. Since his infant days, my wife and I read to him most nights. Some nights, mostly on the weekend, our son falls asleep downstairs and I carry him up to his bed. On those nights, he misses the reading.

Now, with my son almost four, he’s aware of what books are. Even though he can’t read the words yet, he’ll grab one and flip its pages. If it’s a picture book with a story that we’ve read to him before, he’ll turn the pages and tell us the story without our reading the words. My wife and I spend a lot of time reading, too, and our son sees that. We bring him to the bookstore, whether it’s our local indie or a big Barnes and Noble, and take him to the kids’ section and he’s starting to look at books himself. Since he can’t read the words he’ll be attracted by the pictures - especially if it’s of something he’s into, like superheroes or Cars 2 characters - and ask if we can get it. Then, after we get home, he asks us to read his new book to him. So, I have to say, I’m very happy. I love books and everything they can do and, so far, my son seems to be grasping that they’re valuable to his father and so they must be valuable all around.

My son’s development into someone who likes books and words took a serendipitous boost last weekend. I was downstairs, while my son and wife were still asleep, catching up on football developments on Fox Soccer Channel’s early morning news program. A little while later, Jude came trudging down the stairs. He ran over, we played hide-and-seek (which consists of him closing and covering his eyes, me asking where’d he go, him removing his hands and yelling “boo!” and the two of us laughing and hugging) and then I made his customary chocolate chip Eggo waffle.

As he was eating, he said that he wanted to watch the “gold king.” I had no idea what that was so I questioned him. Eventually, he said that I could find it in “the white,” referring to our Wii. Immediately, I knew it was something from Netflix, which can be streamed through the Wii. So, we turned it on and started looking. Nothing. I continued to question him for more details but, all of a sudden, he stopped me and told me to scroll back up the menu; not just one row but three. Following that, he hopped off the couch, walked to the television and touched a picture of a boy in a green suit and green mask. Next to him, in big green letters, was SUPER WHY! Honestly, I think he thought it was a “Green Lantern” show of some kind.

When we turned it on, however, it turned out to be a kids’ program that promotes reading and books to kids. The green-masked character is Super Why. His alter ego is Wyatt, Jack’s (from “Jack and the Beanstalk”) younger brother. Wyatt enters a bookshelf and comes out on the other end in a secret fantasy world that’s very much like our world. The only difference is that everyone is a character from a fairy tale, including talking animals. As the show progressed, Wyatt’s baby sister wouldn’t stop crying so it fell upon him and his friends - Red Riding Hood, Princess Pea and a pig (fro, I think, “The Three Little Pigs” who had their homes huffed and puffed by the Big Bad Wolf) - to find a solution. In doing so, they go a secret lair situated in a library and become their superhero selves - Super Why, Little Red, Purple Princess and Alpha Pig.

After an incantation from Purple Princess, a book flies out and from that book their solution is found. They enter the book’s story, find Super Letters along the way that, at the end, form the word that lets them know how to solve the problem in their real world. In this particular episode, they went up the beanstalk - meeting the book’s Jack and not Super Why’s actual brother who was outside the book - helped put the giant to bed and returned home to put Wyatt’s sister to sleep. Music was the solution of the day.

As they discovered the solution, the four superheroes (I tell you, in any form, my son loves his superheroes) used steps made by letters thanks to Alpha Pig and his ‘power of letters.’ Little Red has the power of words, Purple Princess has the power of spelling and Super Why has the power of reading. Also, as they put the giant to bed, they changed a sentence in the story by removing a word and putting in a new one from some clues their super computer gives them. Naturally, the words are all accompanied by pictures that help the young viewer learn them. The characters also talk to the young viewer, engaging them so they stay with it and do indeed learn.

I wasn’t sure if my son was going to like it but, after the episode one was over, he asked for more. Gladly, I obliged. I’m very liberal with what my son watches on television. I grew up watching all sorts of things and I turned out all right. Plus, seeing how he responds to some scenes in some shows, I see that he’s learning things empathy and creative. His response to different kinds of music, for instance, floors me. To a dance beat, he’ll start swaying his hips and such. When it’s something softer, he’ll start moving slower and pull out moves like he’s doing lyrical or interpretive dance. With “Super Why!” however, I am even more permissive. He’s learning letters, being reinforced in the value of books and reading and it’s also just a simply fun and wholesome show.

I looked the show up on IMDB. Sadly, the PBS show only aired in 2007 and 2008. That’s a shame. It’s such a good show. However, thanks to the internet and Netflix and streaming, it can still be watched. So, if you’re a lover of books and want your son or daughter to love them too, or if you just want another option for your young ones to develop their minds and language skills, you’ve got “Super Why!” on you side. Many of you may already know about this show. I didn’t until last Sunday. For some of you, though, this is the first time you’re hearing about it. Check it out. I don’t think you’ll be sorry you.

As for the “gold king,” I still don’t know what my son was talking about. 

Students

There's a general feeling among many of the teachers I work with that students today don't care about what they're doing; that they're lazy, unmotivated and less self-sufficient than when we were their age. Some of my colleagues cite lack of parental involvement. I guess that's true but my parents weren't too involved in my school work or school activities and I did all right. I got good grades, overall, and I played football (soccer), basketball (I was my school's captain) and athletics (I ran the 100m and threw shot and discus).

In my eighteen years of teaching, I have to say that I'm starting to agree with my colleagues. Athletes don't want to practise anymore, students talk back to their teachers and more often than not assignments are always late or not done at all. This lack of interest among my students became more evident when, on the first day of one of my seventh grade Health classes, when I was going over what's going to be covered, the grading scheme, etc, one student raised his hand and said, "Is the work hard?" and another followed up with, "Do we have to do it?" I've been teaching long enough to be able to discern when a student is asking a sincere question or just saying stuff to test boundaries and push my buttons. These two students were sincere. I looked at them wondering if I had a third head or a dunce cap on or if my fly was down. I was caught off guard, lost in disbelief, that students would wonder if work had to be done in school.

Things changed, however, the last few weeks. Not with these two particular students. They ended up not doing much work and earning less than favourable grades. What changed was my feeling that kids and their potential are going down the drain. In one of my current classes, on the day our first project was due and the students had to present their work, I asked if anyone wanted to go first. What do they say - the two things people most fear are death and talking in front of a group, not necessarily in that order? Well, one student shot her hand up and confidently presented her research on three eating disorders she'd been assigned. She had excellent information, was confident in herself, humble in knowing that she was doing a good job, gracious when I complimented her for doing so well and just downright pleasant.

I didn't just compliment her, I thanked her too. In eighteen years of teaching, one can sometimes feel jaded and become cynical. This student, however, brought me back and gave me a sense of hope for our kids and our future and a feeling of joy for being a teacher. Again, I thank this student and I thank her parents and everyone else who has shaped her into who and what she is. And, I encourage more to be just like her. Not in a carbon copy sort of way- because I'm a big believer in young people being able to experiment and express themselves in the way they need to at the time - but in a motivated, confident, wanting to succeed sort of way. This student did a class assignment. I dare say that she would've done work that was just as good if she wasn't getting a grade for it.

A funny thing happened after she presented. I asked who wanted to go next. Everyone looked down and I even saw a couple of people swallow in nervousness. It was as if they - we - were all thinking the same thing, "How do you follow that?" Well, someone did follow. And someone followed after that. Eventually, the entire class went. And, they were just as good. In examining their posters and reports, some had better material than others. Some posters were nicer to look at, some reports were beter organised. But, when they were up and facing the class, it appeared that whatever the first person has had rubbed off on them or enhanced their own already strong confidence levels.

There are two weeks left of this round of Health courses. I'll be passing this class on to another "special" - Art, Music, Home Ec - but it won't be without regret and gratitude. Regret because this collection of students is the kind of mix every teacher dreams of. I wish I could keep them for the rest of the school year. Gratitude because for, at least, once in my teaching career I had that 'best' class. As I pursue a writing career as a novelist, with the possibility of maybe leaving teaching one day, this class has reenergised my teaching battery and reminded me of the rewards of being a teacher.

So, whether you've been teaching for eighteen years, eight or eighty, be patient and remember that kids will surprise you. They are, after all, the best part of our jobs.