Blog #3

Textbooks… Hmm, it’s a complicated relationship we have. When I think of high school textbooks, a slow wave of bitter boredom sweeps across my face and ends in a small sigh. My relationship with textbooks have surprisingly blossomed into something wonderful since I’ve been at UGA! Sometimes you even find yourself lucky enough to stumble across a book worth keeping on your bookshelf. (Laugh if you want but I absolutely love my Anatomy and Physiology textbook… SO INTERESTING!)

After reading Chapter 3, I asked myself why I found these high school textbooks so terrible, so unattractive and difficult to read? A textbook may offer a reservoir of information and facts but textbooks can only engage a student for so long and I agree that the problem lies in the way textbooks get used in schools. Textbooks are reference books and although some offer real word scenarios and attempted ways of entertainment, textbooks should not be the center of lesson plans. This type of continuous reading is a “perfect recipe for ineffective and unpleasant reading experiences.” Content should be the center of lesson plans, right? So how can we use textbooks properly and effectively?

My professor from my favorite class untraditionally used a Scientific American magazine as our required text. This magazine was packed with fascinating research and relevant information that led to other articles and reads that stimulated class discussions. My class was so engaged!

The chapter explains that relying on a single source teaches kids to accept a “single voice.” Using various sources to teach content opens a child’s mind and allows them to “develop a balanced view, hear the alternative theories, and make up their own minds.” There is a way to use textbooks properly and effectively, and “single souring is not the way smart and free people read.” (300 words)