Somewhere along the way I heard that the amount of activity the brain exhibits while watching television is equal to the amount of activity observed in coma patients. I have never bothered to see if that statement was accurate, but I definitely buy into the concept. In WTL, technology is blamed for desensitizing children to language thereby causing an increase in illiterate adults. My favorite quote from this selection is “books save most of us (6, 9R).” In short, kids need to read more and watch television less. It is unfortunate that educators are the one’s left holding the ball on this issue, because the problem really stems from the student’s home environment. Against all odds, teachers need to find a way to instill a love for books in children at a young age. Once a child learns to enjoy reading, I believe everything else will fall in line. “Long thinking (5, 9R), writing, and literacy are all byproducts of reading. Somehow teacher need to help administration understand that standardize test scores would skyrocket if we could only find a way to get kids to love books.
Ironically, I was feeling impatient while reading the introduction to Chapter One of 9R. I caught my self wanting to skim the page for important details when I ran into the following quote:
“It’s the twenty-first century for God’s sake. We don’t have time to focus (5).” I guess I am just as guilty as the rest.
“Facts are language, not meaning. . . [they] are meaningful because I can make [them] meaningful (41, WW).” One of the most exciting things about the written word is that while all of us can read the same words, we will each have a different personal experience. I think that this is a concept that can be built upon in the classroom to encourage a love of reading, writing and books.
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