Ok...I'm getting a little bored with the hum-drum routine of writing for the teacher so that she knows I did the readings. If I'm blogging, I apparently did at least some of it and my real point is that I do need to write from the heart. Not force out tid-bits of summary (oh, sorry, my "viewpoints")by covering it up with my own words. If I was to do that with this weeks readings, none of you would be able to fit your blogs on this page. So, now that I've done you the honor of saving you some page space, we can now get on with the real motivator this week: my addiciton to sniffing books.
Sniff, sniff, sniff...Mmmmm...How I've always loved the smell of books. And how I always thought I was the only one who actually did. Apparently, this is not true. I am so extremely elated by Spandel's view of why current media will never replace books as an entertaining/learning experience (and she sniffs!) I've been fighting this concept for years with my friends, peers, family, children, etc., who all seem to feel that video games, t.v., and the internet are by far the more entertaining of the two. Spandel's right...How fast do we need to train our children to think? The "schizophrenic technology" (made by our hands) has indeed "turned impatience and restless disengagement into normal states of mind." How very sad and how very true. My kids have become the product of this truth.
For years, I have been trying to find the words to express why books are so much better and why we will always need them. Needless to say, I failed. Young impressionable minds have been asking me since I was a child (especially those who detest books and ughh--reading)about the possibility of books becoming obsolete and why I love to read. I could have used this book at that moment. After I sniffed it first to check for freshness, I would have pointed out that "books save most of us". This is so true. It saved me from hell and I could share this horror, but not with a child who asked me for a much less complicated answer. I would say that indeed, "they develop our imaginations and our ability to think" (6), because it allows us to "curl our legs under a cozy blanket" (8) and feel the tangible (smelly) object in our hands. You can't scratch and sniff the internet (sorry, on a tangent), nor can you take it with you, everywhere you go (I'm sorry users, but computers really can't go everywhere that a book can and I can argue the point if you like). I love looking at how many pages are left to my excitement or demise, and I get a chill thrill at turning the pages and feeling my success as a reader--page by page as I near the end. The Internet (yes I do love that too) cannot cuddle with me on a cold and blistery day, while I watch the fire burning in the hearth (or the t.v. yule log) and relax to my favorite relaxation music--soft jazz, Singers and Standards, Loreena McKennitt or Enya. A book can shut, but will never shut down and I can use bookmarks to quickly retrieve my page. I do correlate the smell of books with the smell of coffee, but I'll settle for just the books in their "peace and anticipation". I think you get the point.
More importantly, we need to emphasize to our students that reading quiets the mind. And I can't emphasize enough the importance of quieting our minds in this rat-race we call life today. Yes, with our complicated and sometimes difficult lives, it could take a while to master this procedure. However, it can be achieved in the right environment. We need to slow down in the classrooms as well, giving them an opportunity to "long-think" about what they're reading, writing and speaking. If you can't give them ample time to answer the damn question, don't ask it! No wonder why they find talking as a crime in the classroom to get away with, when talking is hardly ever allowed. I get phone calls frequently from my children's teachers about this. As if it were in fact, a crime to want to get to know your fellow classmates. Rules are meant to be broken aren't they? Yet, reading is somehow the new form of punishment, like writing was and still is. O.k., so no more reading (I used to hide my books from the teacher), no more talking, no more writing (especially if it does not pertain to your boring class notes!)...What next? No more showing up for school?
Maybe I am getting too far-fetched, as Jim would say...But really, how far can these teachers push these kids? I don't give two-shits about policy (yeah, I know, I just hung myself as a teacher, right?) or curriculums or anything else. God help the school district that awards me tenure...I want my students to enjoy learning and I rarely see a face that does anymore. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but since I've taken this class, I've heard "I hate school", "I hate writing" and "I hate reading", more times than I care to digest. Yet, I always find a cheap thrill in telling some seventh grader that my drug of choice is sniffing. I then give them a demonstration. With my new-found words of wisdom, I can now also give an explanation as to why I'm addicted to books--I mean, sniffing. Hopefully, an explanation that will addict them for life.
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