Summer in the Amazon

Summer approaches and that means vacations, camps, relaxation, and required summer reading. We don't like to think of it as "required" reading, but, nevertheless, it is expected of all of our students.

The summer list, as noted on the Portal, is not exclusive. It is a healthy sample of books from which students are welcome to choose two books they'd be interested in reading prior to the commencement of seventh grade. The question many of our students face is: which two books?

There are other questions too, such as: Which two books are the most interesting? Can I pick from any genre? Which are the shortest? Which books are the easiest to understand? The answers to these are often a matter of preference and ability, depending on the student asking.

So, how do we pair students with the best two books -or hopefully, three, four, or more books- during those fast-moving summer weeks? I like to use Amazon.com.

Amazon offers superb methods for reviewing books from the comfort of home, or, better yet, by the poolside using a wireless computer. One can examine the summer list for potential reading matches. Then, while visiting the site, search for the book and select it for review. Amazon has a "Search Inside" label, which when accessed, allows a visitor to see and read the front and back covers, see the table of contents, and read the first five or so pages. It's a superb way to taste a book and see if it's palatable without running to the stores or library to hunt and peck.

Amazon, also, surprise, makes it fantastically easy to purchase books. Buyers get a complete list of sellers ready to part with their copies of books -both new and used. In many cases, the new copies are cheaper than Amazon's listing. I've bought books from Amazon, Amazon-approved sellers, and even private sellers without issue over the years.

Using Amazon's tools, my students and I took part of a class to examine books from the summer list, and we discovered much. Page count was a big concern, but more than half realized page count didn't matter when print was large or the reading was easy. Seeing and sampling the writing was a powerful experience in this way. We also spent some time looking at reviews by professional editors and those John Q. Public types that decided to give their two-cents. Again, this helped students make better-informed decisions. Many students, I felt, left eager to continue searching the summer list using Amazon.

So, if you're not an experienced Amazon user, you may want to give it a go. You can turn to your son or daughter if your get stuck on anything. ;)

Summer LOOMS

Summer looms...hmmm...LOOMS is an interesting word and subject to interpretation. As a father of three boys, summer absolutely LOOMS ahead. I'm already dreading the cries of "I'm bored" and "I don't want to read". And, if you are twelve? Well, LOOMS is about as off-the-mark as a word choice there can be to describe the delicious freedom summer brings from school.

I digress...

The aim of this entry is to offer some summer suggestions to encourage reading and further the continued development of your growing adolescent. If your child cannot agree that summer looms, then you can bust out the, more appropriate, phrase "seventh grade looms." No one wants to go to the next grade level too far behind.

Summer Suggestions

I am asked each year by concerned parents what activities or steps they may take to assist their child with his or her learning over the course of the summer. I’ve put together a short list of suggestions, which while not popular with the kiddos, will help immensely.

Have your child read regularly from books of his or her choosing. This means agreeing on a schedule for reading during the week and sticking with it. Routine reading helps to improve the reader on so many levels. It builds the reader’s vocabulary and overall comprehension. It exposes them to different cultures and points of view. It builds discipline. It also helps to make an individual into a lifelong reader.

Call Smith School and acquire a list of the books your child will be reading next year. Knowing what books will be read next year can alleviate some of the stress for a child. Especially if some of the more challenging books are read by your child before the beginning of the year. If possible buy copies of some of the books and let your child write notes within the pages and/or highlight confusing parts. When school begins he or she will be better prepared to discuss the book and share his or her confusions for clarification. This is particularly helpful if you know your child is slow to complete homework or if your child tends gloss over read books.

Insist that your child writes. Writing is by far the most difficult form of expression. It requires clarity in the writer’s mind before something can be placed into writing. Ask your child to write short, concise summaries of what he or she reads. If your child can hold a whole chapter’s worth of information in his or her head, then have that summarized in writing. If your child is more forgetful, or prone to skipping portions of texts, then insist that short summaries be written after a couple of pages. In time, your child’s memory will improve. Your child will also learn to attend more to the text. Your child will hold an internal conversation in which he or she continually asks, “What has happened? Does it make sense to me? How would I write that?”

Hire a tutor. Sometimes the best of parent intentions turn into a war. The child refuses to work, or pays lip service to your requests. The best way to solve this event is to remove you from the problem and hire a tutor to be the bad guy or gal. Tutoring doesn’t have to occur every day to be effective either. Meeting twice a week, or alternating between twice a week and once a week, can be effective. It is always a good idea to give the tutor a specific idea of what skills you wish to have him or her develop.

Multitasking is an insidious word. It's really part of an alien conspiricy.

The term multi-tasking is frequently bandied about in education. Most educators use the term in place of the more accurate phrase I-have-tons-to-handle-so-please-don't-add-more-to-my-plate; or, something to that effect. Adults can say they're multi-tasking and in large part be faithful to that statement because we have a great deal of experience in our respective areas of instruction and have years of experience juggling varied tasks. It also helps that our brains are, ehem, up to the task. (Then again, the task of speaking on a phone and driving a car at the same time is an example of multitasking that we're coming to understand is far from easy or safe.)

So, why is multitasking insidious? It's because the concept of multitasking has crept unchecked into the vocabualry of adolescents. Adolescents are not nearly as capable of stating they are multitasking and living up to it. How can this be? We see their desktops connected with all sorts of wonderful gadgets like phones, MP3 players, laptops, DVDs, and portable storage devices. Many children can make these things sing with one another in a manner that implies mastery of all things electronic. Don't be fooled. Yes, they can impress, but they cannot mulitask. At least, they cannot multitask well.

I found this statement in an article at LiveScience.com: "The part of the brain responsible for multitasking continues to develop until late adolescence, with cells making connections even after some children are old enough to drive." The article goes on to support the idea that young minds do not have the ability to prioritize and organize varied tasks as an adult would. Multitasking is beyond students in their early teen and even late teen years.

I'm sure most parents with teenagers knew this already on some level. Teenagers are wacky for lack of a better word. It's as if your kids were replaced with spot-on clones from some alien world with the grand plan of driving you nuts. I jest, but their version of an organized binder, closet, or room is far different from ours; and they honestly believe they're organized. One day I'm going to polygraph one of my boys just to prove it. 

So, next time you pop into Johnny's room and see the TV on, the iPod in one ear, and the twelve windows open on the laptop, only one of which appears to be homework, don't believe it when Johnny says, "It's okay mom. I'm multitasking." Johnny isn't multi-tasking, he's doing multiple things poorly. It's all part of the nefarious plan the aliens, who have temporairly replaced your little cherub with a food stuffing, late sleeping, know-it-all, are trying to maintain right under your nose using the guise of "multitasking".

Know that your teen has limitations when it comes to the thinking demands of home and school; and that placing one thing at a time before them is the best way to ensure success.

If you'd like to read the orginal article on the topic, which does a far better job of explaining why teens don't multitaks well, select the link which follows: http://www.livescience.com/health/050517_teen_thought.html

How do you read from a computer screen?

We all know the power of the Internet. We maintain communication with friends, make plans, play games, conduct financial activities, explore new things, and read.

It's the last item I've listed that every so often commands my attention, because I'm left to wonder if the reading I do from the computer screen helps or hurts me. And, by extension, I wonder how it impacts kids who spending time "reading" before the warming luminescence of a computer screen.

Here's what I know for sure. When I read from a computer screen, it's often a painful process. I dislike the experience. To begin, I'm usually in a chair, which is not my ideal reading position. The screen is no friend either. The light from most screens is harsh and the contrast between text and background is too extreme for eyes. Then there's the web "page" which is frequently saturated with advertisements or pop-ups designed to move me away from concentrated reading. Add in the mouse pointer, which I frequently need to move away from the spot I'm trying to read every twenty seconds; and also the temptation of embedded hyperlinks and I begin to opt for quicker avenues through any text of length.

Take a look at the list that follows and consider how many of these events are generally practiced by you or come to confound you:

>> skim far more than read word-for-word what's on the screen <<
>> drift from the page, with every intention of returning, as you click multiple hyperlinks <<
>> put your finger to the screen to help follow the text <<
>> use the mouse to highlight what you've covered as you read <<
>> click over to the print version of the article to avoid as many distractors as possible <<
>> bookmark the page again with the full intention of reading it fully at a later point <<
>> rarely reread because it feels like losing time more than improving understanding <<
>> print a hard copy because that's the best way to ensure you're reading properly <<

When I look at the list I know I'm guilty of poor reading. Reading is defined as a complex activity involving my knowledge, the text before me, and the author. Skimming, failing to reread, web page hopping, and good intentions to read later are all the proof I need in the Court of Me that I'm not doing this complex activity justice. So....

If I'm guilty of these poor screen reading behaviors what's happening with kids? Well, they certainly believe they're reading online, they insist as much. It only takes a few questions to know otherwise because they're dealing with all of the problems/adaptations noted above plus instant messages, music streams, and far less experience with book reading than you or I. I do not fault the kids of course for what I cannot avoid, but poor screen reading behaviors undermine reading proper. Reading is hard and we do know (despite the articles and claims to the contrary) that we comprehend best when not multitasking or confronted with distractions.

Books still have a place in our classes and homes if for no other reason than they continue to be the best vehicle for delivery of substantial information and ideas. Until technology can make information from the Internet present itself as a book, it's simply a very poor man's version of the real thing. A book does only one task and it does it well. We need to make sure our children learn this too.

The Right to Vote

I came across an interesting list this weekend and felt it was worth sharing. Women, as we know from our study of history, have not always had equal footing in society. We're all well aware of the division of labor, unequal pay for similar jobs, and lack of voting rights women have had to endure. Just the same, being what we are (i.e. human) it's very easy to forgot those times and inequalities. What I found particularly eye-opening was how long it's taken some countries to extend this right.




Look over the two lists below and try to match the country with the year for which women were finally given equal voting rights.






New Zealand 1971

Australia 1920

Finland 1913

Norway 1928

United States 1893

Britain 2006

France 1906

Belgium 1902

Switzerland 1946

Kuwait 1945





The answers, like a many life insurance contract, are in the very fine print located at the bottom. And yes, the 2006 date is accurate. I looked it up to verify- shocking and amazing.

























Answers: New Zealand- 1893, Australia- 1902, Finland- 1906, Norway- 1913, United States- 1920, Britain- 1928, France- 1945, Belgium- 1946, Switzerland- 1971, Kuwait- 2006