Pray tell, what’s in a name and where art thou, SparkNotes? You are reducing literary classics to condensed, yet quite informative summaries. You are in my future students’ book bags (printed copies), on their desks at home, and in the permanent “favorites” on their Internet browser, slowly defying English teachers’ instructions for students to READ THE BOOK! The PBS documentary, “Growing up Online”, illustrated the growing number of students (8 out of 10) that use summaries online as opposed to reading the assigned books. The students’ excuse? “We don’t have enough time!” Well, maybe if they would sign out of Facebook, power off the video games, and quick texting, there would be more time to squeeze in 15-20 pages a night before bed!
The “8 out of 10 student” statistic can’t be far from the truth. On Thanksgiving, I asked my boyfriend’s cousins (two very bright high school students) what they were reading for literature in class. The extroverted cousin answered with a rant about the crappy literature they have to read and how they always use SparkNotes and get A’s anyway. Now, I was a little surprised to hear this from the scholar who makes the honor roll, plays the cello, holds a seat in the student council, and travels to nationals in New York for the debate team. Even the straight-A students are guilty of finding a virtual friend in SparkNotes. Who is to blame? The universities that expect students to be well-rounded in all areas (sports, band or choir, leadership, and volunteering), the students of the digital age who have limited attention spans and can’t peel themselves from the computer, or the “boring” (as quoted by Renee) literature? Most likely all of them are to blame to some extent.
So, what is an educator to do with this competing technology that is free and very accessible? The documentary suggested two ways to approach this problem. Fight technology, or accept technology and the way the world works now. If students like my boyfriend’s cousins are using it, then I don’t know if I have a choice but to lay down my sword and understand that all of my students won't be reading texts in their entirety. Some things I can do for my class to promote a full reading include: more choice in literature, paced reading schedules, and time in class for silent reading. According to author Rick Wormeli (a middle school guru), teachers are supposed to assess students based on an understanding of the concepts("mastery of content and skill"), not on effort and whether they did the full reading assignment. Would it be fair to give a bad grade to a student who did very little reading all year, yet passed each test with flying colors, demonstrating an understanding of the material? No, I don’t think so. It would be punishment for mastery.
As a future teacher, I will encourage my students to read the entire text. However, just as I can’t make my friends call me (many only text), I can’t make students read every page when they have a new technology at their fingertips that make things so much easier for them. Are they cheating? Ask Shakespeare, Twain, and Hawthorne… or would the technology overwhelm them too much?
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