'Why do I have to learn this?' 'When will I ever need this in the real world?'
How many times have we heard these questions from our students? And, admit it, these are questions we have even asked ourselves! While we don’t always enjoy these questions, they are valid wonders for our tween and teen students... and they present an opportunity.
Adolescents are interested in discovering who they are as they make sense of the world around them. Intense passion one moment can quickly turn to glazy-eyed boredom the next. That’s what I love about teaching middle and high schoolers – their honest reactions and heart-on-their-sleeve feelings. You pretty much always know where you stand.
Along with teaching high school English, for almost 20 years, I have provided literacy consulting services to K-12 urban, rural, and suburban schools across the United States. Lately, districts have been interested in one of the hottest topics in education – the science of reading. As I’ve worked with middle and high school teachers on this topic, some wonder: 'Why do I have to learn this?' 'When do I have time to implement this?' 'How would I even begin to use this information?' Sometimes I see the question in their eyes and sometimes it’s verbalised. I have to admit, it’s a valid question.
For many, the science of reading is most widely (and erroneously) known as 'teaching phonics'. So, it’s no wonder secondary teachers wonder what it has to do with them and their content areas. Most content area teachers are not reading specialists, but that doesn’t change the fact that our students need to engage in domain-specific literacy every single day. The science of reading, when applied at the middle and high school levels, can strengthen instructional approaches to literacy and learning by using scientific, research-based practices.