Brave New World? 1984? Both? Neither?

This weekend I read the final drafts of the Accelerated English III essays in which students could recommend Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and/or George Orwell's 1984 or recommend that people NOT read one, the other, or both. The audience was to be teachers who would assign novels or students deciding what to read. Two students recommended neither be assigned or read, and some students recommended one novel over the other (with compelling reasons). The majority, however, wrote that they thought the two novels should BOTH be read and in conjuntion with each other. They did a fine job at comparing and contrasting the fictional societies that ultimately resulted in a similar effect. Most of them made credible connections between the events in the books and contemporary society. Some of the students, who chose teachers as their audience, provided specifics including how the novels could be used to augment curriculum and included topics teachers could introduce to encourage discussion.

Reading these essays confirmed what research indicates and what I'd thought but never asked my students in such a pointed manner: thematic instruction makes reading more enjoyable and themes more obvious and meaningful. Also, when students are asked to, they can display an impressive level of metacognition. My goals now: seek out more thematically connected literature and encourage more purposeful metacognition. Wish me luck!

As I was reading the most recent issue of Time magazine yesterday, I came across the following snippet:

The Couch-Potato Generation
A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that U.S. kids ages 8 to 18 are consuming more media than ever before. According to the survey, children and teens are now using their phones, computers, TVs and video game systems for a total of 7.5 hours a day, or 52.5 hours a week. The authors explain that multitasking and dual-use devices such as cell phones that play video push those figures even higher. In the past decade, listening to music has increased the most--up nearly an hour per day.

The only leisure activity that has become less popular is reading.

I must report that I was not thoroughly disheartened, as one might imagine an English teacher who is attempting to inspire a love for reading would be. I was instead intrigued and more determined than ever--not necessarily to buck this trend, but to capitalize on it. How can I use cell phones for good rather than EVIL (pronounced E-ville)? Is there a place for them in the modern English classroom? How can I get kids who CONSTANTLY read "junk" on the Internet read some "non-junk?" How can a knowledge of video games with their imaginative characters and complicated plot lines be incorporated into some type of analysis or writing assignment?

These are the questions that crowd my metaphorical inbox :) 

Hmmm. Maybe I am more like my students than I thought.

I have had this blog set up for a couple of weeks. I have known I needed to post a post, and I have actually been excited about it because I like to write. However, it is Monday night and the due date for the post is Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. Could it be that some of the kids' habits of waiting till the last minute are rubbing off on me?

Considering this possibility, I started to think about reasons my students and I procrastinate. Here are a few good excuses I found for not completing homework on time:

• I was at a rally last night demanding better pay and conditions for our hardworking teachers 
• I left my brain in my locker last night. 
• It's against my religion to do homework on a day ending in a "y"
• I was being followed on the way to school by spies so I had to eat it to avoid it falling into enemy hands
• I got carried away with my origami class and my home work is currently floating around in our pond as paper Canadian geese
• My dog ate it, then my science project ate my dog.
• I'm motivationally challenged.
• Oh, you meant this week !
• I forgot to remember
• It was too complex for the ideas of the school.  
• There has been a shortage of food in my house, and paper contains necessary dietary fibres.
• I feel I should rewrite it as there may be some difficulty in comprehending it.
• It has progressed on my list of priorities.
• I am an atheist and a pessimist. I don't believe in anything.

I have actually heard versions of these, but most of my students are so honest that they usually just say they forgot it or weren't able to complete it. I appreciate honesty, so I'll reveal the real reason why I have waited so long to post this first post:

I had it all written out but then some aliens took it back to Betelgeuse as an example of fine Earth literature.