Have you hugged your teacher today?

As you may know, I feel strongly about giving ourselves permission to read for pleasure, at what ever age, and whatever books might be the ones that we love. When I was in high school and college, because the only books assigned in English classes were the classics, I came to believe that they were the only books in existence that were good for me, and for many years I ceased to read for pleasure. This was my fault, not my English teachers'. They never told me I shouldn't read anything else (though I did hear one teacher mock the popular novels). However, I've maintained that English teachers are in a very powerful position to encourage teens to be lifelong readers. By recommending and even assigning a variety of literature along with the classics, I believe their students are more likely to fall in love with reading.

An example. I spoke recently with a man who had a very difficult time in high school. His reading skills/interest was low. He struggled in his basic English class. Then the teacher assigned them the book The Princess Bride. He ate it up. He read the classics too, but it was that one book that really stood out. Because it was assigned by his teacher, it was as though he was given official permission to read for pleasure. And as an adult, he still does. His favorite reads now aren't funny or fantastic like The Princess Bride--he prefers poetry and literary short stories. But that act by that teacher allowed him to keep reading after high school until he found the kind of literature that he loved.

My point, dear reader--even one silly book, one fun book, one different book among the Hemingways and Steinbecks and Melvilles, made a huge difference for this reader. So many teachers are already doing this. Thank you. Some aren't, and it's to these teachers that I appeal.

Because this is an issue I feel so passionately about, I speak about it with strong words and have unfortunately led some people to believe two erroneous things about me: that I hate all classics and that I blame the English teachers. This is not true! Again, I do NOT think the classics are bad and should be banned. Far from. I only think that there should be some variety in the curriculm, even just one assigned book with some humor or adventure or with a protagonist that a teen can relate to, written in the vernacular. And I most certainly do NOT think that English teachers are bad or are to blame for the problems. My goodness no. I've been pretty heartbroken that my words made anyone think this way. English teachers have a tough, nigh impossible job of monumental importance and the last thing they need is to some writer making them feel underappreciated.

So let's do something positive, shall we? Let's spend some time this week thanking our English teachers or librarians or people who have sparked in us a love of reading. Write that former teacher a letter. Go thank that current teacher for all she/he does. Share a story here of a particularly powerful teacher. I'll start.

For 9th and 11th grade English, I had two of the greatest teachers of all time. We all knew that they truly cared about us and wanted to instill in us a love of words and the ability to think. My 9th grade teacher asked us to find vocabulary words from the books we read that we didn't understand. She posted them around the room and we learned those new words all year. I still remember them. Both teachers were so patient with me and allowed me to fulfill assignments in a creative (and perhaps ridiculous) way. I remember doing a presentation on Edgar Allen Poe as if it were a funeral, with lights out and candles lit. I remember doing a reading of a poem with drums and mock-interpretive dance. They not only put up with me but encouraged me to be creative. They not only helped me survive high school, but they gave me a class that I loved. I owe them much credit for anything that I've accomplished since. Thank you Ms. Fowler and Ms. Romney!

Comments

[Jessica]

I love it! I love the Poe funeral and the mock interpretive dance. My friend and I had interpretive "body language" for the Robert Frost poem "The Road Less Traveled", and I can still recite the entire thing, with gestures! And yes, teachers need their students' support! My sister is an AP English teacher, and she constantly feels like she is fighting a losing battle, trying to coax her students to read. She plays games and shows movies and divides the class into Roman city-states, and it makes her year when a student says "Thank you!"

[Nikki]

I have three great examples. One was my fifth grade teacher, who let me write a novel instead of just a short story and then found someone to type it up for me (I still have that typewritten copy!). In high school the first time I met my senior AP English teacher, I just had a question that I didn't think required me to introduce myself, so I told her I was nobody, as in nobody important. She scolded me, and I've remembered that lesson ever since about not thinking of myself as nobody. Then in college I took a class in YA lit, and the teacher told us to choose our own books! We just had to read 30, and they could be Harry Potter or whatever YA we wanted. That was the only time in college I felt a guilty pleasure doing my homework, and that was the class that introduced me to The Goose Girl and made me fall in love with YA lit.

[Nikki]

Oh, I have to share one more thing. As a student teacher I didn't have any choice over the curriculum, and I was assigned to teach The Iliad to tenth graders. How cool it was to hear the students that thanked me for the way I taught it, or said that it really came alive for them, or told me they had fallen in love with it. Even the classics can make an impact on high schoolers, and I know firsthand how much a thank you means to a teacher. =)

[Cristina]

Not every district has great teachers.

[Faith #2]

I love my teachers for a great reason- they were my mum and dad. Mum taught me to read when I was 4 and my dad showed me all the great books out there. Including GG and EB! my dad gave us a few classics, but also a LOT of YA literature. Thanks mum and dad!

[Anon]

I dip again my pen in acid...
I prefer classics to many of the books that are popular right now. Who cares whether Millicent goes to the Promenade? Does it matter that cliches get their cliched goals done? Some of them are even really easy to read and exciting, like BEOWULF. If you don't read classics, you are the loser.

[Nora]

My teacher has always been my mom (I'm home schooled). She helped me to learn to read,let me read the Thoroughbred series about horses. and when I saw the movie Pride and Prejudice and wanted to read the book she helped me understand some of the words that Jane Austen used. She assigned me the book watership down by Richard Adams, I wasn't sure I would like it but as it turned out I loved it!! I have also read all of Shannon Hales books and another Jane Austen book. And lots of YA books! I love my mom. Thanks!!!

[Callie the Strongbad Fan]

Yeah, I realized after reading the comments on yesterday's blog that some teachers might misinterpret the message. When I place blame on the schools, I place blame on the system, state curricula, and politics, not on individual teachers. I should give my compliments. First, I compliment my 9th grade teacher, Mrs. Fischer. I feel sad to realize that she was not appreciated. She assigned good literature to read and thanks to her I expanded my vocabulary. Next, I thank my 10th grade teacher, Mrs. Minor, one of the most loved teachers of our school, who helped so many students develop a love for reading, was fun and creative, used a lot of humor, and assigned very good worthy works of literature. I would only express my anger to modernist snoots who have corrupted high school curriucla throughout the Western World, plaging the Western World with the idea that high school students should only study classic, modernist, and post-modernist literary works and not popular fiction.

[Callie the Strongbad Fan]

Yeah, I realized after reading the comments on yesterday's blog that some teachers might misinterpret the message. When I place blame on the schools, I place blame on the system, state curricula, and politics, not on individual teachers. I should give my compliments. First, I compliment my 9th grade teacher, Mrs. Fischer. I feel sad to realize that she was not appreciated. She assigned good literature to read and thanks to her I expanded my vocabulary. Next, I thank my 10th grade teacher, Mrs. Minor, one of the most loved teachers of our school, who helped so many students develop a love for reading, was fun and creative, used a lot of humor, and assigned very good worthy works of literature. I would only express my anger to modernist snoots who have corrupted high school curriucla throughout the Western World, plaging the Western World with the idea that high school students should only study classic, modernist, and post-modernist literary works and not popular fiction.

[Callie the Strongbad Fan]

I'm sorry about the double posting. That was a mistake caused by my slow internet connection.

[Addie]

I can't really remember having a teacher giving us choices for books to read or having assigned books be ones that are popular at that time. That's not to say that I have never actually liked something I've been assigned to read because I have, but it's never had the specialness of actually going to a bookstore and choosing a book there for myself. That's always been amazing to me because sometimes I sit in a bookstore reading a chapter or two of a book before I actually buy it to make sure I'll enjoy it. I also like finding authors that I've read a few books by them and I come to find that a book by them is always a good choice (including anything by Shannon!).
But my mom and dad have always read to me before bedtime and that's where reading starts. You need someone there to instill that reading books is fun, that there are good books out there that will appeal to you, even if at that time it was a 10 page story about a mouse during Christmas-time or The Twelve Dancing Princesses. (I'm not saying to parents go home and read your teenager a picture book, but let them know that there's a book out there that they'll like. Start with a topic they love. Liking horses started me on a path of reading horse books and books about animals. That has branched out to many different types of books. Even now though, I can go back to a book I got when I was 7 and still enjoy it.

[Jordan]

Anon, you are a rare soul. It's wonderful that you love the classics so much. I agree, it is very sad that so many people hate the classics. However, this doesn't mean that people who don't love classics or read all the classics are losers. It just means they're different from you. "To each his own."* And I know, you have your opinions, but please stop "dipping your pen in the acid," so to speak.

*quotation attributed to Cicero

[Anne]

Thank you Mrs. Lynn Stiles, who for one week made us read different Cinderella stories while wearing tiaras (and crowns).

[Jordan]

And I would like to thank Mrs. Sherri Nunley, not for instilling a love of reading in me, but for furthering it, and for also teaching me to love writing. Thanks for believing in me!

[duchessaofrandomness]

classics can be very boring, yet some are good. it annoys me though how teachers only assighn classics. sometimes they lead children to belive that reading is boring because of the nature of classics. its vey sad. poor souls.

[Q]

Jessica--I think you mean "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. I love that poem.

I like some classics. However, I recently tried to read Utopia by Sir Thomas More and found it hopelessly boring. That was disappointing, because I did want to read it, it was just not interesting at all to me. However (after the first 170 or so pages) I adored "A Tale of Two Cities" (Charles Dickens).

Thank you Mrs. Hacken, who taught me how to write, and how to love Charles Dickens.

[Laura]

To Mrs. Findlay, whose obsession with grammar was paralleled only by the thickness of her accent; to Mrs. Beck, who let me do a book report on Star Wars; to Mrs. Miles, who told me I was smart when I most needed to hear it; to Mr. Reid, who somehow tolerated me despite my aversion to Hardy; to Mr. Maxfield, who introduced me to Neil Simon, and to Mrs. VanDyke, whose passion for literature burns in me still:

I say thank you.

[shih-tzu lover]

I think that it's important to realize that the classics weren't always classics. When they were written, most of them were just another book. Similarly, books being written today may soon be the epitome of literature to the near future.

[Anne]

i LOVE reading all these comments!!! Cheers for AWESOME TEACHERS!!!

[sara]

thank you to my current english teacher, mr.cohrs, who is not kind or understanding at all, but he really challenges us and wants us to learn--and he's fun, too! i loved all of my english classes, partly because i love english, and partly because my teachers have all been so great. thank you, english teachers of the world!

[Jane]

Thank you Mrs. Hoffman--my advanced reading teacher when I was in 1st grade.

I have to say that I like classics better than most contemporary fiction. The reason is that time is the severest critic. Anything that is being published decades or centuries after the author wrote it has to be good. It means that it's survived social changes and revolutions, that something about it can affect people from all generations. The "classics" have substance and meaning. That's why they are called "classics".

That's not to say that all contemporary fiction is drivel. Who is to say what books will last into the next century and what books will fall out of print?

[Enna Isilee]

To Miss Peterson (now known as Mrs. Hall)

You may never know how much your teaching has infulenced me. Did you know that you were the one who got me into English? Without you I never would have gotten as far as I did. You were the best English teacher I ever had. I've missed you lately. Did you know that I still think of you on your birthday? Did you know that I cried when the school year ended?

That was many years ago, but I will never forget you.

Thank you.

[Laini Taylor]

Great post! I heard Ann Brashares speak at SCBWI last week and she said something to the effect of: often there's one book that turns a person into a reader, one book that awakens you to reading. . . and it's probably not The Brothers Karamazov! For a long time as an English major I read classics classics classics, and I still read them, but I have so much fun now with all kinds of books. In fact. . . I just spent about 3 hours on the couch finishing Princess Academy when I should have been writing! It was such a delight! Thank you for a marvelous read! And thank you SO MUCH for the beautiful endorsement you wrote for MY book, "Blackbringer." It's great to "meet" you through your blog!

[Abby Goldsmith]

I also feel strongly on this subject. I wrote a very similar blog entry back in May 2006. See my "Posted by" link!

[Anon]

Jordan-By "losers", I mean the denotation, as in one who loses. People who do not read classics lose much of contemporary culture. They aren't referred to as "classics" for NOTHING.

[Nikki]

Jane, I think that is where I've gained a huge appreciation for librarians, independent booksellers, the ALA, and others whom can I turn to for recommendations. I too hate to waste time on "drivel" but I love to read the latest books, so I get recommendations from those sources about which new books are really worthwhile. So thank you to librarians and booksellers as well as teachers!

[Celes]

I've always been in Honors English classes, and have had amazign teachers since 6th grade. In 6th and 7th grade I had two teachers which allowed us to be creative and have fun, as well as learn a lot. In Junior High I had a certain Mrs. Staheli, who taught all her students to read whatever they like, as long as they were reading. Now I'm in High school, and I'm learning to appreciate the value of classic literature. I agree with Shannon in that it's important for students to find a book character they can relate to. I LOVE "Jane Eyre"! But that doesn't mean a teenage boy will find the same appeal, though they may love "Heart of Darkness" while I find it less appealing. Saying "all classics are good" is just as bad as saying "all classics are bad." You're still generalizing and sterotyping for people who aren't you! Everyone is different, and important values and lessons can be taught in todays novels as can be taught in classics. Go both!

*gets off of soap box*

[justina]

That sounds like awesome fun. Where did you go to high school? I may enroll and switch schools. ha ha.

[Nora]

Celes ~ I m reading Jane Eyre right now after watching it on Masterpiece Theater. I am about half way through it and I Love it too!!!

[asha]

i want to thank all the great authors!

[Becky Levine]

Mrs. Hirons. Tenth-grade composition. People didn't take her classes because it was too hard to get an A and keep up your grade-point average. She put me outside in the hall for talking too much.

AND she taught me how to write an essay.

For the intro paragraph, the one that's like an inverted triangle? Where you start broad and narrow down to your thesis statement? Here's what we did.

We got in groups of four. Everybody had two index cards. You wrote a sentence, about anything, on one card and passed it to the person on your left. Whatever you got was your thesis statement. Then you wrote another sentence, about anything, and passed it to the person on your right. (It went something like this, anyway.) Whatever you got there was the first sentence of your thesis paragraph.

Your job: With two or three more sentences, get from the first sentence in the paragraph to the thesis statement. I can't remember what my thesis sentence was, but the first sentence I got to start the paragraph with had something to do with...ducks!

She taught me structure and organization. But how I use it today...if I need something to happen in my story, I can make it. I can get there, even if all I have to start with is ducks!

[Marie]

wow, this blog is getting to be very popular. there are so many posts!

[Faith #2]

shannon, for a GG club we made our Logo a picture of Queen Elizabeth with your head and you're holding a giant Hershey kiss in one hand and a copy of GG in another. :D it's funny, but it looks GREAT!

[Elizabeth]

My grammar teacher is great! We do all sorts of fun and interesting stuff in her class. She completely encourages reading for fun. She says if you aren't enjoying it, get another book, and that life's too short to be reading something you don't enjoy. She also recommends books and takes recommendations for herself. I said she should read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and lent her my copy. I think I'll have to recommend Goose Girl next.

[Jordan]

Anon - Sorry if I misinterpreted your post. Thanks for correcting me.

Celes and Nora - Jane Eyre is AWESOME!!!! I LOVE THAT BOOK!!!! And the Masterpiece Theatre version was a pretty good interpretation. I liked it better than the other version I've seen, which I think had Orson Welles as Rochester and Joan Fontaine as Jane...

[Rachel]

The only thing I have to say about English teachers assigning books that aren't classics is that there is always the curriculum to think about. My English teacher (who I absolutely adore by the way. He's by far the best English teacher I have ever had) would love to assign us books that are fun and that would engage us in more in-depth conversations, but he has to teach Great Expectations right now, which is the book that we are currently reading in class. I am totally with you on the fact that there is a book for everybody, but there are limits on what a teacher can do, which I'm pretty sure you're aware of.

[Celes]

Yes, I think Jane Eyre is getting some sort of revival going, partly because of the Masterpiece Theater version.

And, Rachel, you are absolutely right. That's a problem for some districts, is that they aren't allowed to expand their curriculum. For example, in my AP English class, we need to read the classics so that we can write essays on them for the AP test.

[Anon]

Perhaps it is also because there is a large number of females who are making a revival fuss over Jane Austen in general, especially with TWO versions of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, as well as other recent Jane Austen novels brought to the silver screen.

[Sijbrich]

I substitute teach and I have noticed that a lot of schools have Silent Reading time allotted to the schedule, which I think is great because it is a valuable time when the students can read whatever they want.
I remember Mr. Csellak from junior year in high school. He introduced us to Emerson and Thoreau and we read The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, which I have since reread several times. His motto was "Do Your Best" and while it seemed really cheesy at the time, there was still a power to it, even to us juniors.

[Hannah]

Thanks to my teacher-of-all, my Mom, for giving me some of the best books ever! (homeschooling's great!)

[Liesolotte]

I'm also homeschooled, and my mom helped me to love reading by reading books to me-even after I learned to read. I still love reading-its the best way to entertain myself and get something out of it.
I read Jane Austen, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Lucy Maud Montgomery's books, but I'm also into fantasy series like Harry Potter and Eragon and, of course, the Bayern books. I'm now reading Sense and Sensibility for the second time, and I find it every bit as enthralling as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. But I love Shannon's books because of her characters- i think in books it always comes down to whether or not the characters are well-developed and likable.

[Erin]

I couldn't agree more. English teachers, (or any teacher, for that matter) play such a huge role in their student's reading patterns. I know that it wasn't until I met my 7th grade teacher, Ms. Siwicki, that I could finally appreciate poetry. And my love for fantasy has only been encouraged by my teachers. The books they assign either mold that student into loving that genre, or it causes them to become curious about what other types of books are out there.
One other thing that affects a reader is how much they are read TO. We could all sit down in front of a book of any type and mull our way through it, but even at a young age, people get more interested in reading if they can actually experience it- through someone reading it to you.
And to back up what everyone is saying about their parents role in all this, I was home schooled for a few years, as well, and my mom fed my love for reading with every book she could get on her hands. I am so grateful to have her, and It's really great how I can see other people out there have been taught so well by their parents, too.

[Nita]

I have seen so many movie versions of Pride and Prejudice that I'm thoroughly sick of it! I loved the book, though.

When I was about 12, I was steeped in chick lit. I remember reading over 100 Babysitters Club books. Then my dad told me to try a classic for once. I thought "How boring," but I took out Little Women from my library. I LOVED it! It was like going from soda to champagne. Both are tasty, but one has so much more class. (wink)

I still enjoy both classic and contemporary literature. One of the reasons I became hooked on Shannon Hale's books is because they have a classic flair to them. Nice work, Shannon!

[Nita]

Oh and by the way, I read Jane Eyre feverishly when I was 16. I've never seen a movie version that I thought did it justice. The only character I couldn't abide was that St. John fellow. I really wish Bronte had left him out.

[Nita]

I'm chatty today! I just wanted to say that I really fall in love with some characters. Some classic characters are Mr. Rochester and Mr. Darcy.

As for Shannon's characters, all I can say is I would marry Talone tomorrow. I love that man. (grin)

[Mads]

Hmmmm *grips award dramatically* I would like to thank my mom, and my dad, and my grandparents (without them, my parents wouldn't BE here)... and who else? I made a list I swear! Wait! No! Don't go to a commercial! I just got started!

Lol. Seriously though, I would like to thank my mom, who home-schooled me for four years. She encouraged me a lot, and I owe her a lot.

To me, all English teachers should be congratulated and thanked. You have to be REALLY dedicated to work for as little as they do, their only satisfaction coming from the joys of seeing others learn and enjoy books as they do. *Winks* :o)

[Q]

Sijbrich--We have reading time at my school, but I rarely get to read during it because the teachers I have during that time just keep on teaching right through our SSR.

[Anon]

Nita-Perhaps a better metaphor would be going from Coors Lite Beer to Port. Keeping with the metaphor of alchol.

Sijbrich-I have met teachers who are in fact NOT allowed to do Silent Reading because they feel it is a waste of time. This is, they claim, because the children who actually need practice or help reading would probably not actually read and just screw about while bibliophiles would sit hunched over their books cooing in delight at life between pages.

[Jean]

Hopefully we've all had some wonderful teachers along the line-I know that I have and thank you to them. Thank you also to the authors that have influenced our reading experiences. Our book group is currently reading Jane Eyre and I'm also reading Captains Courageous by Kipling.

[Tink]

I would just like to say that you inspired me, Shannon! I took the time to get in touch with ALL of my favorite teachers (that I could find) and thank them for everything they did for me.

Mrs. Dukarm (elementary school) for allowing me to write the thoroughly frightening, and frighteningly bad, "Cursed With a Knife" story that started it all and led me to fairy tales.

Mrs. Peterson (middle school) for realizing that I wasn't stupid and single-handedly making sure I was promoted to AP English. For letting me do whatever I wanted for my Tuck Everlasting presentation (I got an A). It led me to think outside of the box--a phrase which is now cliche, but true.

Mrs. Reading (her real name; middle school) for not taking our reading time away to make us watch the OJ Simpson trial, as other teachers did. It taught me a lot.

Mrs. Peterson (a different one; high school) for instigating my love affair with Shakespeare and teaching me the wonderful word acquiesce! For apologizing that you couldn't do a different play and for introducing me to my best friend Scott (we now share and niece and nephew), the only person who could read Romeo across from my Juliet.

Dr. Christison (college) for teaching me everything I ever wanted to know, and a good deal I didn't, about theatre. It gave me the best possible base for the rest of my literary explorations. We explored everything from Aristotle to Arthur Miller (and the class presentations knew no limit of creativity, those theatre majors sure know how to entertain).

Professor Camoin for giving in and extending "To the Lighthouse" for an extra week. For telling me I made that class fun for you to teach; for telling me that I could do anything, and really believing it!

Lastly Professor Council (college) for helping me fall in love with Shakespeare's language all over again and encouraging my insane attendance of the Shakespearean Festival (I saw "Hamlet" 4 times)! Thanks eternally for letting me read The Tempest in front of the whole class and for complimenting my cadence.

And don't forget what Thomas Carlyle said: "What we become depends on what we read after all the professors have finished with us."

Thanks Shannon for helping me remember who I had to thank (and sorry for the novel).