Pytash Ch.3

I like how Jago points out that the most important job that teachers have is picking out what books their students should read. I also think she brings up a good point when she provides that rationale in choosing a text for a class. This decision should not be made on a whim or just because a teacher likes a text but a teacher should develop multiple reasons in which reading this text is important to students.

I was surprised at the amount Jago's students had to read in a year but, she states that as teachers we can not work in the zone of minimal development and that her students live up to these expectations.

I liked that Jago allowed her students to choose from a list of texts at times rather than assigning every student the same book. I also think its great that she makes literature circles based on whichever books students choose to read. I feel that it would help students in understanding more difficult texts.

I think it is a great idea to have students begin a log of what books they read in high school so that they can look back at later. I would definitely use this in my class, so that students can always have to opportunity to look back at the texts they have read over the years.

Lastly, Jago's reading for empathy was really interesting to me because I feel like English can be in the shadow of math and science now a days. In this section Jago describes how medical schools allow their students to take literature classes so that they can learn how to emphathize with their patients and learn how to listen to their patients stories. This goes to show how very important literature is in all fields.