Mr. Lane’s Effective Reading Blog

For years I have been telling you, my students, that I want to see you put forth effort in all that you do.  I want this even when then results do not turn out the way you want.  The reason for this is really quite simple, the only guarantee you get by not trying is failure.  I want to see you put forth the effort and find that you can be successful or, when things end up wrong, that through your attempts you discover better and different ways to approach the problem.

And too often, I have not followed through on my advice.  I know this because last week I had a conversation with a student on this very topic.  Then, over the weekend, I watched as a ten-hour project went terribly wrong – pictures and names in the presentation I was creating (that featured student work) ended up upside down or sideways.   I debated holding off on sharing the end result with all of you until it was “perfect”.  The problem with that approach would be that I would be guilty of not proving to my students, and colleagues, that attempting to do something and “failing” is better than never doing anything.

So here is the Prezi presentation that is not perfect – portions of it still upside down and sideways. But here’s the kicker – in the course of looking over the presentation I think I figured out what I might have done wrong.  The next time will be so much better!! And the student I had the conversation with about  effort, he came in, sat down, and kicked out the vocabulary test – scoring 99% through pure effort!!

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Filed under: Audio Read, That Was Then

I first read That Was Then, This Is Now when I was in middle school.  Yes, I know that was seriously a long time ago — about 30 years ago.  However, even with that said, the beauty of the book is that there are so many things to think about as you read it.  You can look at the issue of relationships between friends, family, and significant others; you can look at the issues of morals – knowing the difference between right and wrong and then acting upon your decisions; you can also look at the issues of growing up during the teenage years and the leaps and bounds one takes as maturing process takes place.

However, the topic I want to deal with is freedom.  I clearly remember feeling limited by my teachers and fighting my parents for more of it (this continued right up until the day I graduated high school).  Knowing that many of you are close to the ages of Bryon, Mark, Cathy, M&M, etc. – and your personalities and desires – this topic is clearly just as relevant today as it was 30 years ago and even 40 years ago (when the book  was written).

In fact, freedom is a big theme throughout  the book.  Many of the characters run around, seemingly without any parental supervision.  Mark reminisces about the summer he and Bryon did not come home for weeks.  M&M gets involved with a group of hippies who promote the idea of free love.  So what I would like to know is:

• What is your definition of freedom? Be very specific in your definition. 
• Do you think the characters in the book are truly free? Use examples from the book to support your position.
• What are the limitations and drawbacks to their freedom? As possible, draw upon your own life experiences to support your position.

Please post your responses as comments below.

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Filed under: Audio Read, This Is Now