GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

When I announced to my three classes during the second week of June that they would be responsible for reading two books over the course of the summer, a riot nearly ensued. Amidst the cacophony of groans, deep sighs, and loud complaints, I was the recipient of a populist anger not seen since the Grinch was around stealing Christmas. In fact, I was charged with a similar crime: stealing summer and forcing my students into the no-fun zone of intellectual hard labor.

With summer reading assignments of my own a less-than-distant memory, I chose the two books with empathy to the agony my students would surely endure if assigned a pair of less than captivating novels. Thus, I was genuinely excited about my choices of “Copper Sun” by Sharon Draper and “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, and assumed my students would be as well, which paved the way for either a huge letdown or an epic battle of wills. I presented the novels to my students with great fanfare and as I responded, first calmly, to the barrage of attacks with statistics on summer learning loss and the importance to prepare for high school, I lost my cool when a student defiantly declared that I could not make him read in the first place and that he could choose not to read at all. A battle of wills was at hand.

As I hurled threats towards him of serious academic consequences such as failing the summer reading test and hurting his chances at a good grade, I was most frustrated by the truth in his statement. I really could not force him or any other student to read. As a teacher that strongly cares for his students, thinking that their minds going to waste over the next two months was agonizing for me. That was the real reason behind assigning summer reading in the first place — to prevent the learning loss that typically afflicts low-income students during the summer time because of limited exposure to activities, resources, and experiences that would provide academic stimulation. I feared all the progress we made over the course of the year would evaporate as quickly as water spilled on burning pavement during a hot summer day. I had witnessed this phenomenon before with this same group of students as they returned to school after the previous summer. Those that participated in an enrichment program I offered at my school were adequately prepared for the rigors and expectations of seventh grade, while those that languished by the poolside or in front of the television returned mentally sluggish and in poor condition to begin the yearlong academic marathon that would follow.

Although I may have suffered an initial defeat in the war of summer reading, I would not be overcome by my students’ intransigence. (more…)