I still really struggle with the notion of required summer readings/assignments for many reasons—but most of all? The idea that students are asked to do work for a classroom community that they have not been a part of yet. Trust first. Community first. Rapport first. There is time for the rest. - ThreadSky

marcusluther.bsky.social • 3 days ago

I still really struggle with the notion of required summer readings/assignments for many reasons—but most of all?

The idea that students are asked to do work for a classroom community that they have not been a part of yet.

Trust first. Community first. Rapport first.

There is time for the rest.

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pryor-politics.bsky.social•3 days ago

jessenathaniel.bsky.social•3 days ago

My HS did this for all freshmen (it was a K-12 private) … and I suspect their argument was that they wanted everyone to have SOME common ground coming in regardless of whether they were promoted from 8th grade or coming in from another school.

I’m surprised at how ambivalent I am about that tho 🤔

jessenathaniel.bsky.social•3 days ago

(Answer to why I might not see it negatively: in 4 years at that school, I was assigned 3 things by Black authors; that freshman summer read was one of them 🤷🏾‍♂️ … so I guess it set a tone that I appreciated entering high school…?)

marcusluther.bsky.social•3 days ago

Obviously love that they chose a meaningful book/author—but couldn’t the “common ground” also just come from what you read to begin the year in class?

jessenathaniel.bsky.social•3 days ago

Oh yeah - you’re clearly right about that. Lol I’m really surprised that didn’t leave more of a negative impression on my HS experience (as many other things after that did lol)

marcusluther.bsky.social•3 days ago

There are enough barriers to any classroom that we cannot control.

We don't need to build more.

mskaval.bsky.social•3 days ago

For AP Lit I give a suggested reading list, and suggest they read 1 or 2 books from the list or 1 or 2 books of their choosing. I'm on a 4x4 so some of these kids I won't see until Jan. I don't give a gotcha assignment when I do meet them. I just want them to read.

marcusluther.bsky.social•3 days ago

I love the idea of suggestions and encouragements! Fully supportive of that.

mskaval.bsky.social•3 days ago

I emailed them the list before school is out, so they can come talk to me if they want and check out a book from my classroom or the textbook room.

bren-wagner.bsky.social•3 days ago

Frustrated & uncomfortable with assigning summer reading but was required to, I assigned building a reading habit & a just-before-school-starts choice (HUGE shoutout to NEA Big Read) to foster community building, survey gathering, AND sustained reading.

Perfect? No. Positives: higher engagement.

wordyanchorite.bsky.social•3 days ago

I have a deep and abiding hate for summer assignments out of my own experience. I was a ravenous reader and writer, they had to force me out of doors, I was looking forward to a summer of freedom to learn, and then I was handed a stupidly easy test packet to ruin my summer? Heck to the no.

thevogelman.bsky.social•3 days ago

Eew a summer packet? No. Sorry that happened to you 😣 I love how my middle school handled it one year. Each teacher picked a book to read…kids used the list to choose. 3 weeks into the year kids met the teacher and other kids who picked that book from the catalog and talked about it for a period.

21cpedagogy.bsky.social•2 days ago

Twice I’ve assigned summer reading: 1) I taught IB & had the same students in 11th & 12th grade. They read between those school years. 2) I asked students to choose a book they wanted to read. Students usually read their summer texts the night before school starts.

msjhart.bsky.social•3 days ago

And while I'm at it let's not talk about how that's 'not that many kids'. The mobility rate of families has risen dramatically due to jobs and housing prices. Maybe in the 70s people bought a house and stayed there until retirement and their kids all went to one district k-12 but that's rare now.

msjhart.bsky.social•3 days ago

I'm against it for many reasons but my first one is all the kids who move in over the summer who had no idea about it automatically feeling excluded and behind from the jump is one of them

thevogelman.bsky.social•3 days ago

That’s a great point! Moves might happen right before school.

msjhart.bsky.social•3 days ago

Mobility rate even for lower income families has risen astronomically since the 70s. &the 'best time' to move if you have kids is the summer so it's a clean break and they don't miss school. The whole novel rarity of 'the new kid' isn't what it used to be unless maybe you live in a rural small town

thevogelman.bsky.social•3 days ago

We used to have it. Now we don’t. Now that I’m parenting teens I hear the parents of teens different, and many wish they had an expectation from school that their kids read one book over the summer bc it gives them a little leverage to get them off their phones.

marcusluther.bsky.social•3 days ago

Like all things education, there are of course downsides to any choice! But I'd also offer that requiring 1-2 books doesn't change the overall "summer phone dynamic"—not to mention, I don't think it's school's place to be a coercive instrument during the summer, either (even if parents prefer it!)

marcusluther.bsky.social•3 days ago

(Me saying this as a parent of a 5yo and 2yo, of course, and with all the humility in the world in knowing that my summers look very different than parenting teens in the summer!)

thevogelman.bsky.social•3 days ago

Fear not, in my experience, 5 and 2 are more challenging 😂

thevogelman.bsky.social•3 days ago

I think the number one concern is this: don’t start the year with a “gotcha” assignment. Communicating that a bit of book reading is expected and keeping anything we do with that positive…I’m ok with that.

mskaval.bsky.social•3 days ago

And that's what I do. I encourage them to read a book or two over the summer.

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