Kajder Chapter 3

While reading Chapter 3, a couple of sentences on page 37 stuck out to me. Kajder says, "we need to redefine the "basics," and that "old school" practices and methods don't motivate or engage student learning." I agree and disagree with this statement. What exactly is this "old school" that we all talk about? I believe that in order to be a successful English student and teacher, we do need to keep some of the "old school" practices in our curriculum. For example, some of the classics, I believe, are very crucial to be kept in the curriculum. I do think that we need to keep emphasizing the importance of writing as well. However, Kajder's next statement will prove my next point. "I want all of my students to be literate in the dominant media of their time." Like I said, reading the classics and writing are so important to being successful in anything. What we need to do in order to get the students engaged is to find new ways to teach it. We don't always need to read a book and then take a test on it. We as teachers can do things like Liz did. Find ways for students to interact while using new technologies. Since technology is such a huge part of the student's lives, it should almost be required that we in some way incorporate it into the way we teach.