You're kidding. You must be kidding. I have this larger than life picture of my 4th hour class of 7th graders this year sitting for hours doing "intellectual" work. Perhaps we need to define intellectual work. But I have to tell you that I am deeply offended by your remark that teachers who contextualize "jump through hoops to entertain". When was the last time you attempted to engage (you might want to read Deborah Brandt's interesting book on Literacy and Involvement) a classroom of children. If they are not engaged or involved (and this is NOT entertainment) then there is no learning going on. You the teacher can stand up in front of a classroom for hours and talk your brains out, but if the kids don't listen, then all your intellectual talk has been a waste of effort. And before you begin your lament that students today aren't what they used to be, check out what yesterday's students were really like. I'm not talking about you as a student. I'm talking about the other kids. I remember them. Engagement happens when students can connect what they are learning to what they already know about themselves and the world around them. And, if we are dealing with text, then they learn by connecting what they learning in or about text with what they already know. They may have to adjust their prior knowledge because of the new information they are receiving--just as you are attempting to adjust yours as you are reading this post. Your knowledge of a classroom tells you that students will sit still for hours. My knowledge of the classroom tells me this won't happen and learning won't happen if students aren't engaged, if they do not have a context, if they do not feel that what they are learning is important and meaningful. At 10:29 AM 6/20/01 -0600, you wrote: >I'm sorry, but the arguments below (getting fairly well known by >now) still seem to me to be just excuses. > >Why can't students just sit at their desks and do several hours of >intellectual work? > >"Contextual teachers" seem to jump through hoops to entertain >their students. Be careful, you'll spoil them! > Nancy G. Patterson, Ph.D. Portland Middle School, English Dept. Chair Portland, MI 48875 "To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn." --bell hooks [log in to unmask] http://www.msu.edu/user/patter90/opening.htm http://www.npatterson.net/mid.html To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/