The first article I read for this class, in earnest, was the New York Times article “A New Assignment: Pick Books You Like”—the Nancie Atwell article published the day before the semester began. I had it already bookmarked and earmarked when we were forwarded it as a class. I meant to respond to it in my blog then, but after reading In the Middle it seems as relevant now as ever.
Much like Elbow’s work in Writing Without Teachers, I think there’s a lot that we can take from her methodology as future educators. While it may be hard to replicate in a setting where the district and department have a tight hold on syllabi and course requirements, I think it’s important to offer students choice and agency in the books they read. I remember getting to chose a biography to read for my tenth grade class and being so intent reading a book about and by Jackie Robinson, a monumentally important figure in baseball history. Because it was sports, it felt a little bit less like “English” to me.
I think it’s easy to dismiss a lot of Atwell’s work, but not productive. To say that it’s easy to run your classroom the way you want in your own private school is evident. She certainly has the advantage of working within confines she creates and not having to answer to a state-run board of directors. That said, I think we as young teachers can think creatively to find ways to integrate her curricula into ours, instead of passing it off as fairy-tale and ideal. If we play the “Believing Game” with Atwell, I feel our classrooms can only improve.
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