Reading in the Content Areas

     This chapter was a great way to summarize what teachers need to be teaching their students other than simply their content areas. Yes, it is important for students to be familiar with classical works of literature (for example). However, it is more important for students to be able to apply that knowledge and other skills to their future lives. I felt that Friedman's eight roles that the author mentioned could be summarized by the skill of critical thinking. Students need to be able to explain information, adapt solutions, etc., to be able to solve problems. Knowledge is important, but in today's world, it can be easily gained on the internet. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills cannot and are vital to all jobs and roles that students will have later in life.      One aspect that I can easily incorporate into my classroom is internet research. Too often, teachers require students to use only a few internet resources and rely mostly on physica...

     The author questions the validity of standardized tests with the story of Derek, who made huge progress over the last year of school but did not quite meet the standards required by his state and NCLB, according to his state test. I have often thought that standardized tests should be valued less than individual progress reports. Often what is a bad grade for one student may be enourmous improvement for another student. Further, a student might be a bad test-taker despite their grasp of the subjects. But what struck me most in Derek's story was his frustration. He had been excited about his progress and was feeling pretty good about the work he had put in. But because of the emphasis on the state test, he was left feeling that his progress was not good enough. In addition, he probably felt that his hard work was for nothing, since he was still in a remedial reading class. Placing too much emphasis on standardized tests not only gives teachers and schools an inaccurat...