our teacher gave us an assignment on modern

The teachers who inspired us, and even changed the trajectories of our lives

Rita Pierson leads off TED Talks Education, our first televised event, which will air on PBS on May 7. Photo: Ryan Lash

Rita Pierson is the kind of teacher you wish you had. An educator for 40 years, she is funny, sharp and simply has a way with words — so much so that today’s talk feels a bit like a sermon.

“I have had classes so low, so academically deficient that I cried. I wondered, ‘How am I going to take this group in nine months from where they are to where they need to be?” says Pierson, in this amazing talk . “I came up with a bright idea … I gave them a saying: ‘I am somebody. I was somebody when I came and I’ll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here’ … You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.”

Pierson’s talk will open our first-ever television special, TED Talks Education, which airs Tuesday, May 7 at 10/9c on PBS. It will be an exhilarating night, featuring talks from educators and innovators with bold ideas, plus performances from host John Legend. Set your DVRs and read lots more here »

In honor of Rita Pierson and TED Talks Education, I asked the TED staff: who is that one teacher who just really, truly influenced you?

“The teacher who changed my life was, serendipitously, my English teacher for kindergarten, 7th grade and senior year of high school. Ms. Barbato taught me how to write eloquently (I hope!), and she had this unexplained faith in me that really galvanized me as a student. What she taught me stuck with me through college and beyond.” — Olivier Sherman, Distribution Coordinator

“Mr. Eric Yang was only in his mid-twenties when I had him as my AP government teacher, but he was unforgettable. He was the first teacher I had who made keeping up with current events mandatory, forcing us to read news sources on our own time and not just from the textbook. He exuded discipline, and that was contagious.” — Thu-Huong Ha , Editorial Projects Specialist

“Mrs. Bailey was my English teacher. I loved her. I was the younger sister of an already very successful big sister, and that was a cloud over my head too. She held my hand and brought me into the sun with her love of the English language. She recommended books just to me, she made me feel special and I just couldn’t get enough of her. I went on a school trip to Amsterdam with her and she brought her husband, who was an artist. She changed my life.” — Juliet Blake , TED TV (who executive produced TED Talks Education)

“Mrs. Mendelson, my 8th-grade English teacher. This was my first year living in the U.S. I think she set the stage for future learning and she’s the main reason I have such good English right now, both written and spoken. So, thank you, Mrs. Mendelson.”  — Ruben Marcos, intern

“I still recall how awesome my 6th-grade teacher, Mr. Fawess, was. Middle school in general is basically Hades. I was extremely small, super nerdy, and had a unibrow, asthma and glasses — plus I left school once a week to take classes at the local high school. I got picked on a lot. Mr. Fawess came up with all these ways to take my mind off that — he talked to me about bullying and how to let things roll off your shoulder and gave me books I could read outside of class. He got me thinking about college early and what kinds of subjects I was most interested in. I consider myself lucky to have had such an inspiring teacher. If only he had discouraged me from dressing up as the skunk in our annual school play.” — Amanda Ellis , TEDx Projects Coordinator

“Robert Baldwin’s class ‘Essay and Inquiry.’ Every day: Walk into class. Sit down. Look at the handout on every desk. Read it. Start writing. Class ends — stop writing. Every day. Except Wednesday, when we’d put the desks in a circle and everyone would read something they’d written. The prompts were everything from simple questions like, “What’s your favorite memory of trees?” to readings from Rachel Carson or W.B. Yeats or Orson Welles. It was a whirlwind of ideas, and the constant writing forced us to wrestle with them, and (tritely but correctly) ourselves. It was like a boot camp in thinking. People I know who took, and loved, that class went on to some of the most amazing careers. Every time we get together, we gush about the quiet, unassuming, force of nature that was Mr. Baldwin. He would have hated that last sentence, because the metaphor is strained. But he also taught us to ignore authority, so I’m writing it anyway.” — Ben Lillie , Writer/Editor

“Mrs. Lewis, my 5th-grade teacher, read to us every week. She made us put our heads on the desk and close our eyes and then read wonderful stories to us: The Golden Pine Cone , The Diamond Feather .. . It made our imaginations come alive.” — Janet McCartney , Director of Events

“My junior high school science teacher, Dr. Ernie Roy, with his outsized laugh and booming voice, was one of my very favorite teachers. He demonstrated to us how important we were to him by making what were obviously personal sacrifices on our behalf: when the lab needed equipment, we knew he had purchased some of it on his own; when we couldn’t get a bus for a field trip, he took a few of us in his own car (something which could have gotten him into quite a bit of trouble); and when a big science fair deadline loomed large, he opened the lab every weekend to help us with our experiments. At a point in my life when I didn’t have a lot of guidance or positive role models, he taught me a lot more than science; he taught me, by example, the power of sacrifice, discipline and self-respect.” — Michael McWatters , UX Architect

“Dr. Heller, my 10th-grade social studies teacher, taught me that passion is the key to learning. I had never met anyone from kindergarten to 10th grade that matched his raw passion for the  meaning  behind historical events, and it was so contagious.” — Deron Triff , Director of Distribution

“Rene Arcilla, a professor of Educational Philosophy at NYU, changed the way I think.  Prior to that class, I hadn’t truly been challenged about what *I* actually thought — much of my educational life was about regurgitating answers. Rene was the first teacher who asked me questions that he/we didn’t know the answers to. Realizing that I had to actually provide the answers from within myself, and not look to an outside source, was very difficult at first. It was a muscle I had to build. I owe a lot of who I am today — and even this job — to the introspective, critical and philosophical thinking I learned from Rene’s classes.” — Susan Zimmerman , Executive Assistant to the Curator

“Mr. Downey — 7th- and 8th-grade Humanities. Still the hardest class I’ve ever taken!  I’d credit Mr. Downey with helping me think more expansively about the world. Right before 8th-grade graduation, he showed us Dead Poets Society , and on the final day of class we all agreed to stand on our desks and recite ‘O Captain, my captain.’  It was all very dramatic and I think there were tears.” — Jennifer Gilhooley, Partnership Development

“I took my first painting class my sophomore year of high school and fell in love with it. My teacher, Ms. Bowen, told me I could use the art studio whenever I wanted to, and gave me access to all kinds of new paints and canvasses. I spent almost every lunch period there for a few years, and regularly stayed in the studio after school ended. One day, Ms. Bowen told me that a parent of a student I had painted expressed interest in buying the painting of her daughter. After that first sale, I painted portraits of kids in my school on a commission basis, and continued to do so for the remainder of my high school experience. Thanks to Ms. Bowen’s mentorship, I felt empowered to try to make money from something I was passionate about and loved to do.  Here  is one of the paintings.” — Cloe Shasha , TED Projects Coordinator

“I had a chemistry teacher, Mr. Sampson, who used to meet me at school an hour before it started to tutor me when the material wasn’t clicking. That was the first class I had ever really struggled with, and he made this investment to help me get through the material — but more importantly learn that I could teach myself anything.”  —Stephanie Kent, Special Projects

“On the first day of my Elementary Italian Immersion class, I asked to be excused to use the restroom in English. Professor Agostini kept speaking rapidly in Italian as I squirmed in my seat. Since she seemed unclear about my request, I asked her again to no avail. Finally, I flipped through my brand-new Italian-English dictionary and discovered the words, ‘ Posso usare il bagno per favore .’ Suddenly, she flashed me a smile, handed me the key, told me where to go in  Italian , and pointed to my dictionary so I could learn how to follow her directions. Even though I only studied with her for one semester, I will never forget that I emerged from her class knowing intermediate-level Italian.” — Jamia Wilson, TED Prize Storyteller

“My history teacher in high school, Mr. Cook, challenged us to think hard about what happened in the past and directly related it to what was happening around us. He gave us ways to try and predict what could happen in the future. He was the first person to make me take ownership of what it meant to be a citizen and the social responsibility that came with that. Because he taught ‘World History’ rather than a regionally specific class, we learned extensively about other countries, and I am convinced he is the reason that I went abroad to Ghana in college and I am now still an avid traveler today.” — Samantha Kelly, Fellows Group

“The professor who taught me Intro to Women and Gender Studies my sophomore year of college completely changed my framework for thinking about human relationships within a hierarchy. She brought coffee and tea to class for us every morning to congratulate us for being so dedicated to learning as to choose an 8:30 a.m. class. When I emailed her to say I’d be out sick, she sent me a get-well e-card. And when, in a fit of undergraduate irresponsibility, I simply failed to do an assignment, she wasn’t the least bit mad — instead, I received a phone call from her a week after the end of the semester informing me that, because I’d done such good work, she couldn’t bear to give me the B+ I numerically deserved. It was incredible to see how fully she lived the subject she taught; the philosophy of compassion and equality.” — Morton Bast , Editorial Assistant

“My high school photography teacher, Susan Now. I’m convinced that the support I got from Susan got me through high school. Two years later, when I was freaked out about transferring colleges, I, without hesitation, called her for advice. She made me feel comfortable and challenged me to speak up and be confident with expressing myself as a student. So valuable!” — Ella Saunders-Crivello, Partnerships Coordinator

“Cliff Simon, one of my college professors, taught me that wisdom is the greatest pursuit, our skills and passions are transferable, and that fear will only ever always hold us back.  To this day, he’s a great mentor.  We’re now great friends, and I even officiated his wedding ceremony.” — Jordan Reeves, TED-Ed Community Manager

“My 10th-grade biology teacher spoke and interacted with me like I was a grown-up individual and not one of a batch of ‘kids.’ He made us all fascinated with the subjects he taught because he spoke to us not at us. I always worked hard to match that capacity that he saw in me. He was only in his 50s when, a few years after I graduated, he died suddenly of a heart attack. Lots of sad former students.” — Ladan Wise , Product Development Manager

“Stephen O’Leary, my professor and mentor at the University of Southern California, showed me that the quality of my thinking could be directly traced to the quality of the authors I referenced in my bibliography. This realization motivated me to both seek and challenge everything I have read ever since. This habit likely played a part in me finding myself so passionate about being a part of TED.” — Sarah Shewey , TEDActive Program Producer

“My high school art teacher was equal parts smart and silly, and always insightful. Mr. Miller showed a bunch of restless seniors that art class wasn’t just about memorizing which painters influenced which periods. Instead, he taught us that art was — at its core — an exciting way to touch both the head and the heart. Mr. Miller took our  class to the Met in New York one warm spring afternoon, a trip I’ll never forget. Great art, he told us, was about great ideas, and not simply the pleasing arrangement of color, shape and form. Thank you, Russ Miller.” — Jim Daly, TED Books 

“Mrs. Presley, my 1st-grade teacher, advanced my reading skills to full-on chapter book independence … and for that I’ll be forever grateful! But the most valuable gift she gave me was self-esteem. At my school, we’d bring a brown bag lunch with our name written on the bag. I always wanted a middle name like the other kids, and this daily ritual made me feel the lack. I must have let my mom know, because she started to write middle names on my bag. At first it started: ‘Marla Ruby Mitchnick.’ Then ‘Marla Ruby Diamond Mitchnick,’ and then ‘Marla Ruby Diamond Violet Mitchnick,’ and so on. Mrs. Presley never skipped a single syllable — she just read it straight through, and I felt like a beloved and fortunate person with a beautiful name, surrounded by wonderful friends.” — Marla Mitchnick , Film + Video Editor

“I signed up for Journalism 1 in high school having no idea what I was getting myself into. Marcie Pachino ran a rigorous course on the joys of telling other people’s stories and on the extreme responsibility that comes with reporting news that might otherwise go unheard. She was kind and inspiring, but wouldn’t hesitate to give you an edit of an article that simply read ‘Ugh’ in big red letters. The key: you always knew she was right. I went on to become a journalist professionally and, in all my years of writing, I’ve never encountered a more demanding editor.” — Kate Torgovnick, Writer (the author of this post)

“Professor Stephen Commins completely changed my  learning experience at UCLA. He pushed the boundaries of what I thought I could accomplish as an undergrad, and having him as my research professor improved my quality of education tenfold. I’ll never forget in my last lecture with him, he left our class with this piece of advice: to work on poverty domestically before attempting to help those abroad, because you aren’t truly a development professional until you have done both.” — Chiara Baldanza, Coordinator

“My high school English teacher Veronica Stephenson went above and beyond to allow me the opportunity to dive into theater and acting in a very underfunded arts community. She saw passion in me, and engaged it by spending a lot of her own time and effort to help me pursue something I loved. I learned so much from her and got more personalized experience than I probably would have from a more arts-focused curriculum due solely to her faith in me.” —Emilie Soffe, Office Coordinator

Now it’s your turn. Who is the teacher who most inspired you? Please share in your comments.

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Classroom Management , Education Trends , Productivity Strategies , Sponsors & Supporters , Truth for Teachers Collective   |   Mar 20, 2022

3 practices to give you more one-on-one time with students

By Angela Watson

Founder and Writer

Finally — a sustainable model for self-paced learning and mastery-based grading!

If you feel like you never have enough time to truly differentiate or personalize learning, try the approach by the Modern Classrooms Project approach.

I’m interviewing co-founder Kareem Farah about three strategies that you can experiment with integrating into your classroom to allow kids to work at their own pace, and free you up to work with students individually and in small groups.

Kareem is a former high school math teacher in Washington, D.C, who started using what’s become the Modern Classroom model (blended, self-paced, mastery-based) because he was really struggling to meet his students’ needs, and was feeling burnt out as a result.  Kareem feels certain that if he had not started teaching in this way, he would have quit after a year or two.

Instead, he continued teaching, happily and successfully, for several more years, and was even named DC Public Schools’ most innovative educator. Kareem now leads MCP full-time in order to support more educators in teaching through the Modern Classrooms Project.

The Modern Classrooms Project is a nonprofit that empowers educators to build classrooms that respond to every student’s needs. They lead a movement of educators in fostering human connection, authentic learning, and social-emotional growth.

The Modern Classrooms Project has empowered over 35,000 educators worldwide through their free online course , and the Modern Classrooms group on Facebook of 9,000 innovative educators. They’ve partnered with more than 100 schools and districts nationwide , and have certified over 300 Distinguished Modern Classroom Educators .

Kareem and I are going to talk about three components of the MCP approach that make teachers more effective (and by extension, make teachers’ lives easier). Kareem has seen this approach work across grade levels and subject areas, and it really empowers educators to spend more one-on-one time with students.

My conversation with Kareem will help you figure out logistics and practical considerations, whether your school’s fully on board with student-centered, innovative teaching methodologies or you’re just getting started.

Listen to my conversation with Kareem of the Modern Classrooms Project using the  podcast player, or read the transcript below

Sponsored by modern classrooms project.

ANGELA: In your work with the Modern Classrooms Project, Kareem, you’re coming from the assumption that teachers know that the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning doesn’t work. And the way you initially described it to me was this way: “The kids who already know the content get bored, students who have learning gaps get lost, and students who are absent miss out altogether.”

So your goal is to give teachers actionable strategies and resources for trying a different approach. And I think this is so needed because differentiating and meeting every student’s needs is just incredibly time-consuming and it can be very overwhelming for teachers to manage. Has that been true in your experience?

KAREEM: Yeah, absolutely. I have said for years and anyone who’s ever sort of come in contact with our work has probably heard that I think that differentiation is the most overused and under-executed term in education. And I think that’s the case because most teachers are faced with a categorically unconquerable task in front of them, which is that they have 20, 30, sometimes 40 plus kids in front of them. They all have a diverse set of academic and social, emotional needs. And their goal is to meet their needs as effectively as possible.

And the reality is, it’s impossible to meet every student’s needs perfectly. That is a silly thing to think is possible given the constraints of teaching and learning.So I think it’s the most challenging and most important element of an educator’s life. And I don’t think that the one-size-fits-all or traditional approaches to instruction are actually built to support educators, and actually doing that effectively at scale was the biggest challenge I faced every single day.

And it was why at a certain point, about halfway through my teaching career, I was strongly considering leaving the profession because I felt like I was going into the job with this vision of my capacity to really build relationships with kids and support them, both academically and socially and emotionally. I was finding myself spending much more time trying to control the room than I was actually moving kids across a continuum of learning.

Yeah. I think that’s a really familiar problem in that it does kind of feel impossible at times to be able to differentiate for all kids. And so, I know that in your approach with the Modern Classrooms Project, you’ve identified three core components that you think help make this a little bit more manageable and also get us closer to that goal of meeting every student’s needs.

The three core components are blended instruction, self-paced structures, and mastery-based grading. We’re going to go through each of these three components in depth so that folks listening have some actionable steps that they can use right away in their classrooms.

Let’s begin with the blended instruction piece in which teachers record their own instructional videos to replace in-class lectures.

I know a lot of teachers experimented with this for a while during remote learning, so they’re familiar with the idea, but I think with the push to get back to normal, whatever that means in schools, these really valuable instructional videos may be underutilized. And it may be that teachers have stopped making them now and not really using that as a tool in their classrooms. What approach do you recommend here with blended instruction?

I think at its core, the single most precious resource in a classroom is the teacher’s time. It’s just a reality. You need to maximize the capacity for educators to be able to engage with students in small group and individualized instruction. That’s when any effective strategy, in my opinion, at scale, really comes to life as it relates to differentiation.

When you think about sort of the one-size-fits-all model, an educator spends a lot of time at the front of the room, talking at kids. And yeah, they might post some questions and kids kind of raise their hands and there’s a few checks for understanding, but it’s a lot of time that’s being spent pretty far away from kids in the grand scheme of things.

And I think the power of instructional videos is it actually pulls the teacher away from that, pulls the teacher away from putting on a performance, which is not only not a great use of time, but also incredibly exhausting and really not effective, by the way, for kids that are either experiencing trauma, not in class at all, because they’re absent or multiple grade levels behind or ahead so whatever you’re saying is not actually resonating with them or particularly engaging.

When you build those instructional videos, it actually removes the need to have to put on a performance, which I think is really powerful, because you replace all that time with time spent with kids, time spent getting to know kids, but time spent also remediating and reteaching and supporting students as they’re struggling to master content, the powerful kind of elements of the learning experience that are important, hitting roadblocks and you’re kind of supporting them as they get through those roadblocks.

That’s the power of infusing instructional videos into classrooms and simply put, in our model, teachers just don’t lecture — they replace all their lectures with instructional videos.

And I always stress when I share this part of the model that that doesn’t mean you don’t bring kids together. You bring kids together as a whole group for a variety of reasons. It could be a spiraled mini-lesson that you want to bring the kids together to chat about because you see common mistakes happening throughout the unit, or you might bring kids together because it’s a core collaborative experience such as a lab or a Socratic seminar. We love when teachers bring kids together, but you want to bring kids together for a purpose, not to deliver information to them and for them to then take those notes down.

The other reason why this is a critical part of the model is phase two — that self-pacing piece. The reason kids can’t work at their own pace in school today is because they are reliant on that live delivery of information. If every single day the teacher has to give that information live in a lecture format, well, kids just can’t be at different spots. It’s a key bottleneck to that experience, which I would argue again, it’s not a great use of teacher time and student time, but it’s also an equity question.

Ultimately, we want to provide an avenue for kids to have unlimited access to content — anytime, anywhere — so that if they’re not in the headspace to digest information at the time that you’re delivering it, they can at another time. That’s phase one, which is the building of instructional videos.

The last thing I’ll say is we encourage educators to build their own instructional videos. We tried using externally created instructional videos. But when we did that, we realized that we forgot that the most important factor in learning is the teacher themselves outside of the student. You can’t replace an educator, you can’t replace an educator with a disembodied voice that doesn’t exist in the room. And we realized that had real damages when we tried to have kids watch someone else teach content to them.

Right. And I think I’ve also heard some parents complain. They feel like the education’s being outsourced. Like you’re not even teaching, you’re just showing this other video.

Totally, which is true by the way. And part of the reason why that is true is when I used external videos at scale, I actually started to lose my understanding of the way other folks were teaching the lessons. I remember trying to replace myself with instructional videos externally created, and a kid asked me at one point in the lesson, “Hey, can you explain how to do this? I’m struggling.” And I started to explain. And the kid was like, “Well, that’s not how the computer told me to do it.”

And in that moment, I felt that while I’m a pretty invested, caring teacher and I plan pretty detailed, it certainly was my mistake that I wasn’t aware of how the instructional video or that online resource was teaching it, but it also just showed me that when you start to replace your own kind of role in the classroom, you start to really become pretty distant from the learning experience, and that’s not the goal.

Two questions about this. The first is how long are these video lectures? And second of all, what does it look like when students are watching them? Because I’m envisioning a teacher listening to this and thinking, “If my administrator walks in the room and my students are watching a video of me teaching, they’re not going to like that.”

How should this time be structured to make sure that it’s really, really valuable for the kids?

I always say the biggest compliment I was ever given in my classroom was when the Edutopia film crew came into my classroom and the film director tapped me on the shoulder before filming started and said, “Are you sure this is a blended learning classroom?” And I looked back and I was like, “I’m pretty confident it is.” And she was like, “But only 20% of the kids are on computers.” And I just looked back and I said, “Thanks.”

And the reality is, I’m not saying kids can’t be on computers during classrooms. There are a variety of things that they could be on computers for, but with instructional videos, the research says they need to be nine minutes or ideally, under six. And certainly for younger students, even shorter chunks than that.

When you think about the scope of the overarching learning experience, that’s a very small chunk of it. And when you think about layering and self-paced learning, which is the next phase, there are kids doing a variety of things in the classroom, it’s truly controlled chaos.

So maybe only 20% of kids at any given time might be watching an instructional video. And if they are, they’re taking guided notes, they’re answering questions that are popping up through any of the programs out there that allow you to bake checks for understanding into the actual videos themselves. So even though the video watching experience is engaging, it’s a pretty small percentage of the time.

And that’s critical because you want kids to spend the majority of class working through actual content, struggling with content, wrestling with content, engaging with their peers, and with the educator to master that content. That’s a key component of it.

Okay. Just to be clear for everyone listening, we are not recommending that you just put on a 30-minute video of you lecturing and sit in the back of the classroom.

Absolutely not.

This is really figuring out what the most important content here that I need to deliver to students and delivering it really efficiently and effectively and then getting back to using that class time for collaboration, for remediation, and so on.

Absolutely.

The second component of the Modern Classrooms Project is the self-paced structures. And the idea is that teachers build systems and procedures that allow kids to learn at their own individual paces, while meeting all of the same essential learning objectives and deadlines.

They have those learning objectives and deadlines in common, but they’re doing it at their own pace. Can you tell us about some approaches to self-pace structures that really work well for kids and that you found are simpler for teachers to manage?

I always tell folks that blended learning is kind of the flashy component of the model — instructional videos, technology, and all that kind of stuff. But I actually think the really powerful learnings are happening once you get to self-paced structure and mastery-based grading, because that’s when you’re really transforming the classroom in a powerful way, and it’s also what you’ll find students isolate every single time as the most impactful.

And their favorite thing about the model, if you go into any of our thousands of modern classrooms out there at the moment, you’ll hear students say, “Oh my God, I love learning in this way because it’s self-paced.”

And the structures that are critical: the first is just making sure that we’re clear that this is self-pacing with guardrails. Part of the reason any teacher can do this literally anywhere, in any district, in any school, theoretically, is because this is self-pacing with unitive study, even shorter chunks than that. I was just at a school out in Dallas and they all self-paced one week at a time, which is fabulous. It’s clear guardrails.

The kids know what objective needs to be completed in a certain span of time. They have to execute. And then there’s a variety of sort of checkpoints where teachers really intervene and then they kind of move on to the next chunk of self-pacing together. So self-pacing and chunks are the first things that are really, really critical.

The second thing (covered in a lot of the research and we did a literature review at John’s Hopkins as well), that kind of supports the core components of our model, but it’s really important that when you walk into any self-paced learning environment, that the kids know exactly where they are in the larger scope of the learning experience and the teacher knows where every kid’s at.

I’ve always said, a controlled chaos environment is a teacher’s dream and a completely chaotic environment is a teacher’s nightmare. And in many ways, the systems and structures you put in place for you to know where the kids are at and for the kids to know where they’re at is the big key differentiator between those two styles of a classroom.

When I walk into a modern classroom that’s effective, you’re either going to see game boards or checklists. And those are what we call personal trackers — systems and structures — where kids are able to identify where they are in the larger scope of the unit, and move day by day through each activity, and mark where they’re going.

And then physical and public trackers are ways where you can walk into the classroom and see where you’re at in the larger scope of the learning experience. And they can be anonymous or not, but either way, they’re really powerful ways to ensure that everyone’s super clear about where they are in the moment and where they need to go.

And that includes, by the way, identifying for all the students every single day what lesson is on pace right now, what lessons you’re actually kind of behind in the pacing calendar, and what lessons are ahead of pace, pushing forward and getting through content fast-paced. So everyone’s just really, really comfortable and clear as to where they are and where they’re going.

Then the final piece, which is so integral, is our lesson classification model. The reality is, there are some skills in a unit that are integral and non-negotiable. There are some skills that we’d like every kid to master, but we know some kids aren’t going to get to them. And then there’re some skills that are extension lessons.

So when teachers go through our program, whether the free course or a virtual mentorship program, they’re actually going to plan a full unit in advance and they’re going to isolate: what are the must-do lessons, what are the should-do lessons, and what are the aspired to-do lessons? This creates a really healthy framework to send kids on different pathways, depending on how successfully they’re mastering content at the pace that you’ve kind of outlined.

I love that so much, because I feel like there’s so much, often just clutter in the curriculum and you feel like everything’s important, everything’s urgent, the kids have to master everything right now. But really dialing down and figuring out, “What are the key essential skills? What are the most important things that I need to make sure all my students are able to do?”

If you can identify that before you begin implementing the unit, I think it saves so much time. Have you found that too, that it just makes it so much easier for teachers to make sure they’re maximizing instructional time?

100%. I often hear folks, one of the many buzzwords in education is obviously personalized learning. And I always tell folks a lot of times personalized learning as it’s created is actually quite impersonal. I think that structure gives an avenue to true personalized learning, where teachers are making live decisions around what pathways kids need to go on based on what skills are most important to master.

And it just also honors the reality that you have a very diverse group of students in front of you, and you want to hold them to as high expectations as possible. But it’s also not realistic to say that every single kid is going to learn every single skill in one fixed timeframe. That just doesn’t really make all that much sense.

I think when teachers are told that’s the reality that they need to live up to, they kind of roll their eyes. They kind of walk out of the classroom and the professional development session or like, really? I have a pretty diverse set of learners in front of me. It’s not realistic for that to play out the way that you’ve described it.

So creating that structure creates comfort for teachers before they walk into the room to say, “Hey, I know what is non-negotiable for my students and what I need to just guarantee they all understand.” And then we build up from there, and I think that’s a really powerful way to prioritize time.

The example school that you just mentioned in Dallas, you said that they’re planning the self-paced structures are for a week at a time. Does that mean the kids basically get the assignments on Monday and then have everything complete by Friday, or what are some different ways that might look in a classroom?

Yeah, totally. They get every Monday something called their “quest”. That’s what they call it at the school, which is super cool because it’s a gaming school, which is even more fascinating. So there are quests and they have to complete their quest by Friday.

Now, if they don’t complete their quest by Friday and there are mastery checks in there and all that kind of stuff, well, they can always complete their quest on their own time. You’re not saying that that content’s done, which is another thing that really bothered me about sort of one-size-fits-all traditional instruction. It’s like, “Hey, you missed it yesterday. You didn’t get it. It’s over.” That sends such a weird message to kids about how learning works.

So, if you don’t get everything on your quest done, you have to spend class time next week on the next quest. But if you want to come in at lunch, before school, after school, or work at home, you can watch the instructional videos anytime, anywhere, and you can still master those skills and complete those quests.

So, it creates those clear guardrails and those clear structures, but learning’s never-ending. Kids can always go back to a quest they never finished, but you want to really create a space too where kids don’t start to diverge what they’re doing so far, that it makes it difficult for them to collaborate.

If some kids are on quest 1 and then other kids are on quest 10, which means they’re 10 weeks apart in the kind of curriculum, well then it makes it quite difficult for them to connect and collaborate. It also makes it difficult for you to bring the kids together and say, “Hey, we’re going to have a discussion about this.” That’s why we kind of create those guardrails. I think it’s healthy for kids.

Yeah. I like that week-long timeframe of a quest. Have you found that teachers like to leave their time very unstructured and just go with the flow and see what the kids need? Or do you find that when the kids are working on their quests, the teacher has a more specific schedule?

Like, “Okay, I’m going to pull this small group” or “I’m going to go work one-on-one with these kids on this schedule.” What does the teacher’s class time typically look like?

I think there’s an important amount of unstructured time you need to do the model effectively because I think one of the coolest things about the model is you’re responding to live indicators of mastery and then intervening. It’s more about how you structure your time spent in the classroom, but not over-structuring it to the point where you’re not grading live and then giving feedback live.

I actually modeled this for one of our partners in Connecticut the other day where I just kind of brought the adults in the room and I said, “Pretend you’re in my modern classroom.” And I think one of the core elements of it is we have, whether it’s the teacher station, we often call it the teacher nest, is where you’re largely doing all your small group and individualized instructions.

You actually have all these kinds of mastery checks coming in, where kids are demonstrating their mastery of the skills, and live right there, you’re pulling those out. You’re looking at them to see if the kids have mastered the skills and then you start clumping them together.

“Alright, these three kids didn’t master lesson three. Come on down to my teacher nest — we’re going to do a small group instruction.” And everyone on the outside is really just learning at their own pace. They’re working with each other, working with their peers and tackling content.

So it’s structured in that the teacher should be spending the vast majority of class time, literally grading live and giving feedback live. And when they’re not doing that, kind of roaming the room and checking in one-on-one with students. That part is structured.

But what you don’t want to do, which is I think a potential downfall of some of the station rotation models of say, “Well, at 15 minutes in, I’m going to pull these 4 kids. And then 20 minutes in, I’m going to pull these 5 kids.” Not every kid actually needs to be pulled down in those scenarios.

When you over plan those elements, sometimes you’re forcing kids to be in small group and individualized instruction that actually don’t need it, whereas you could spend that time with other students that really need it quite badly.

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I like what you’re saying there about spending a bit of class time looking at student work as it’s coming in and beginning the assessment process, because that’s obviously another major pain point for teachers — giving timely feedback, giving detailed feedback, and giving grades in a timely manner, particularly with mastery-based grading.

Let’s dive some more into that, as it’s the third and final component of the Modern Classrooms Project. We talked about the blended instruction where you are not lecturing live. All of your lectures are in short 6-9 minute videos. We talked about the self-paced structures in which students have these quest-like self-paced structures, so they have those guardrails to try to keep them on pace and make sure there’s lot of checkpoints along the way.

And the mastery-based grading I know is a third and really a very crucial part of your structure as well. I know many teachers like the idea in theory, but have found that it’s really difficult to manage and stay on top of. So, what are your recommendations here for this component?

First thing I’ll tell everyone is we see mastery-based grading, competency-based grading, standards-based grading, and proficiency-based grading all as synonyms to us. They all mean the same thing to us. And they’ve all been stuck in theory for what feels like 100 years.

Folks are just talking about it because intuitively it makes perfect sense. It’s what we all want. But then to see it in action never gets there. And I think that’s because most of the resources out there are not practical. They don’t provide a clear blueprint for how to make it come to life in the classroom. But then people also get really stuck in the sort of standard deconstruction world that they kind of forget what the overarching premise is.

All we’re saying here is kids have to understand one thing before they go to the next thing. And that’s as simple as we want people to digest it when they’re learning the modern classrooms model — you want kids to understand skill A before they go to scope B. And ultimately the reason why this is not that hard to pull off in our model is because you’ve got self-pacing.

The first thing I tell everyone is you can’t go to mastery-based grading, competency-based grading, proficiency-based grading if you don’t have self-pacing baked into your classroom environment. The two things just can’t work without each other. It just doesn’t make any sense.

You can’t say, “Hey, I’m going to hold kids to understanding skill A before going to skill B, but by the way, everyone has to go to skill B tomorrow.” Those two realities don’t make any sense. That’s the first thing. Don’t dive into part three of the model until you figure out part one and part two.

The second most important thing is just the art of the mastery check, which is this idea that you have a bite-size skill (not that different from an exit ticket) but we call it a mastery check because you’re not exiting the room. You’re demonstrating mastery on the lesson that you just completed. And that can be at the beginning of class, middle of class, end of the class, it’s whenever you’re ready to demonstrate mastery.

Those mastery checks really need to be bite-sized. They need to be pretty easy to grade live, which is why you can then deliver feedback really quickly. They need to really distill that skill and be connected to the skill you’re trying to measure. And ideally, there’s a clear avenue for how a student can be reassessed or be revising that mastery check.

In simple terms, in a math class, a kid takes a mastery check and they don’t get it right. Well, there are multiple forms. I always had three forms of the same skill mastery check. If a kid doesn’t get the first one right, calm down and say, “Hey, let’s chat about this,” and then I give him a different mastery check to work on.

And with some of the more humanities classes, they’re much more revisable, maybe the mastery check is constructing the thesis that you’re going to use at the end of this unit. And they get to revise that thesis statement until it’s up to the standard that you want to see.

Then the final piece is really making sure that you’ve constructed your learning environment to make sure that academic integrity is at the forefront around mastery checks. We love environments where kids are collaborating, but when it comes to mastery check time, that’s really the time for kids to say, “Hey, I can show you that I can do this without the support of others.”

A lot of our teachers use mastery check zones. It’s a part of the room reserved just for taking mastery checks. So when the time is right, the kid says, “Hey, I’m ready for mastery check number three,” and they grab it. It might be a colored sheet of paper. They go into that mastery check zone and they take it there. So everyone kind of knows and honors that space is quiet. You don’t bring resources in there. It’s time for you to demonstrate your ability to do this.

And my favorite thing, I was just talking to a teacher the other day about this in Minnesota. Instead of the bin saying mastery checks , it’s called prove it . They just make it clear to the kids that they’re just proving that they have this, like they understand and are super clear. It’s the coolest part of the model, but it’s actually quite simple once you’ve been able to get blended and self-paced structures off the ground and running.

A lot of times teachers spend so much time grading stuff and it never actually leads to any sort of personalized feedback and kids start to not pay attention to it. But if you say, “Hey, I got a lesson, I got 10 lessons in this unit, but I’m going to focus on this bite-size assessment at the end of each lesson — that’s where I’m going to drive most of my grading energy because I know it’s bite-size enough or I can grade it quickly and I can translate it to feedback.”

And it’s also isolating the most important skills in the lesson so that you can confidently say, “Hey, if a kid got these questions correct, they’re in good shape. And if they didn’t, I’ve got to intervene.” So it’s usually teacher graded, but it also reduces the amount of grading that needs to be done because you’ve done a really good job distilling the learning into those bite-sized assessments.

I know that one of the goals behind this three-prong model of blended instruction, self-paced structures, and mastery-based grading is making sure that teachers have more one-on-one time with students.

That really resonated with me when I was looking through the Modern Classrooms Project resources, because every single teacher that I talk to, wishes they had more time to get to know their kids as individuals.

And they’ll say things like, “If I just had more time, we could do this” or “If I had fewer students, then maybe I can make this happen.” They talk very wistfully about all the things that they would like to be able to provide their students and feel like they can’t.

I wonder if you have any advice for teachers who like what you’ve shared here so far and really are very intrigued by this model and want to maximize the way that these three structures can help them individualize instruction and have that time with individual kids.

What I tell folks first is just know that we’re a nonprofit that doesn’t force our instructional model on anyone. The beauty of that is we really tell folks, you can make this model your own . Whenever I present about this model alongside other educators, it’s one of the first things they isolate — know you can make the model your own.

What’s great about it is you can go in there and learn about the practices and then customize it: make it right for your learning environment because you know your kid’s best, you know the circumstances in your learning community best, you’re going to make it right and tweak it for your kids.

If you’re wondering if it’s going to accomplish the goal of allowing you to spend more one-on-one in small group time with kids, my favorite data point from our Johns Hopkins study when we asked control teachers: Are you able to work closely with each of your students during class? Only 19% of control teachers felt like they could do that and 86% of modern classroom educators felt like they could do that.

It’s obviously an enormous difference. It’s statistically significant and a very high P-value. So it really sends the message like, look, it’s a real thing, it’s possible to do.

The last thing I’d say is ease into it. You don’t need to sort of totally redesign your classroom by tomorrow. One of the things that we see quite consistently each year is the vast majority of our teachers really redesign their classrooms over the summer and do a reset at the beginning of the school year.

So ultimately, what we know at the Modern Classrooms Project, and I think every teacher knows and hopefully every admin knows is that teacher time is the most precious time and resource that exists in the classroom. Our model is really built around maximizing how you use that time and using it in small group and one-on-one settings. So just give it a try and know that you can make it your own as soon as you kind of start to access the content.

I know that you have a free course available at learn.modernclassrooms.org . I want to talk a little bit about that for listeners because I’m really impressed with it. It is not a freemium course. There’s no paywall, and it contains all of the teacher training content that the Modern Classrooms Project has ever developed. It’s all in there and it’s designed to help teachers learn and implement an innovative instructional approach that’s going to meet every student’s need.

It sort of gives you more ideas and support around these three components of the model that we talked about today. Can you tell us more about the free course and how it can help support teachers who are listening to this and who are really excited to dive deeper into what you shared?

Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s part of the core fabric of our organizational vision and mission. We’re founded by myself and my co-founder, Rob. We were just two teachers trying to figure out how to meet students’ needs effectively.

I tell folks that we were sitting at Qdoba years ago and he looked at me and asked me, “Hey, what do you think you’re going to do for the rest of your life?” And I said, “I think I’m going to be a teacher for the rest of my life.” And I said the same thing to him and he said the same thing back.

We never really had an intention of founding an organization, but we realized that we were sitting on an instructional model that people really wanted. The first thing we did when we created the organization was say, “Hey, we’re going to put everything we know about this instructional model out there for free. And we’re going to try to design an asynchronous, self-paced learning space for adults that’s completely free. And one thing we’re going to do in perpetuity of is to ensure that no matter what, when we create really powerful resources that we think teachers can use, we’re going to make it freely accessible.”

That’s what the free course is. A lot of times we estimate, especially when districts shared out at scale, it takes about 3-5 hours to go through, but ultimately you could spend 100 hours in that free course because there’s just so many different gems in there that you can kind of explore and use and tons of templates you can make copies of and all that good stuff.

So, I encourage anyone that’s curious about the model, the two best ways to understand it better, first to watch our Edutopia videos — our high school and our elementary one — and then to just go right into that free course.

And that’s at learn.modernclassrooms.org , correct?

That’s right.

And then you also have a virtual mentorship program for teachers who want extra support. Can you tell us about that?

Yes! Once the free course was created, we started to get both schools and districts and teachers individually saying, “Hey, I love the free course, but can we get a little more support? I want feedback on the things that I’m creating. I want to talk to a real person who does this effectively.”

So we thought again about how we could construct a PD environment that we would’ve liked when we were teachers. We determined the best way for teachers to learn, in our opinion, was to actually pair them with someone who’s really good at it, so they can get that personalized feedback and get those coaching calls they need. So we created a mentorship program that essentially takes the brilliant educators who do our model and credentials them into distinguished modern classroom educators and then mentors.

What happens is, if you are a sixth-grade English teacher and you enroll in our virtual mentorship program , you’re going to get paired with a fabulous educator who does our model beautifully, who’s going to be your mentor. And then we have a series of assignments you complete on a schedule — it’s asynchronous and self-paced, and every time you submit an assignment, your mentor’s going to review it and give you detailed feedback.

You can jump on coaching calls with them. You get enrolled in a Slack channel. It’s just a really personalized, asynchronous, virtual way to get feedback and support as you launch your own modern classroom.

Now, I will say there’s a ton of educators who enroll individually, but the vast majority of educators who we actually enroll in our virtual mentorship program end up coming through school and district partnerships . It’s still a totally opt-in exercise, but what schools and districts will do is basically purchase seats for cohorts of educators to kind of enroll in the program and learn the model alongside each other and our mentors.

That’s awesome. A good start then would be for teachers to go check out the free course at learn.modernclassrooms.org . Get a feel more for the model, for the type of resources there, and then approach administration or someone in the district about maybe partnering with you all for the virtual mentorship program.

That’s exactly right. And the most popular time will probably be enrolling between 2,000 and 3,000 teachers into our virtual mentorship program this summer. Our Virtual Summer Institute is the most popular time for folks to learn the model. It’s a really exciting time where folks can take a step back and think differently about instruction.

The pathway you described is exactly right, and in a lot of cases, you might just have one teacher who really wants to do it and just goes to their admin and says, “Hey, can you reimburse my seat in this?” And just so folks know, it’s $500 a seat in our virtual mentorship program. A lot of times, schools,  districts, and principals can cover that cost for educators.

That’s really exciting, Kareem. I think this model is something that is flexible enough to work in all different grade levels and subject areas. I can’t think of any curriculums I’ve seen that couldn’t work with this in terms of the skills and the content that kids need to learn.

I love that it’s not prescribed, that there’s so much flexibility. There’s so much room for the teacher’s personality to shine through and do the things they do best as well as really following the kids lead and being responsive to their needs. So I’m really excited about this, and I hope that everyone listening to this will check it out, go to that free online course and get more resources because I think this is a really sustainable path forward.

I talk a lot about finding a more sustainable approach to teaching learning, because I think not only are we burning out our teachers with the current model, but we’re also burning out kids. We’ve got to find a way that is going to work for both, to find that overlap between what’s best for kids and what’s best for teachers. And that’s what I hear in the Modern Classrooms Project. And it’s exciting to me — you’ve got me really fired up!

Good. I’m glad. I can promise you I’m equally fired up!

I know you are, and I’m so glad that you’ve pursued this, and I’m glad that you’re sharing this with Truth for Teachers listeners. I’m wondering if you can take us out with a takeaway truth, something that you want people to remember in the week ahead, something that you wish every teacher understood about what we talked about here today.

Absolutely! I think the most important thing I’d say is that every educator should know that they’re the expert in the room, and no matter what strategy, idea, tool, or instructional model that’s offered to them, they should be able to customize it, to make it their own, and trust their instincts.

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A simple approach to differentiation.

The Challenge

In a self-paced classroom, some students will inevitably learn faster than others. If you set (as we recommend) unit-end deadlines, this means that:

Faster learners may run out of things to learn.

Slower learners may not be able to cover everything.

Our Solution

Modern Classroom teachers address this reality by classifying lessons (or, alternatively, individual activities within a lesson) in three ways:

Must Do : Every student is required to complete these lessons. They cover the most important skills and content that are necessary for the end-of-unit assessments. Mastering these lessons is non-negotiable.

Should Do: While not essential to the learning goals of a unit, these lessons are nevertheless highly useful. They give students valuable opportunities to develop their skills or knowledge, and students who do complete these lessons will inevitably produce more refined work on final projects or assessments. However, when circumstances dictate, students can complete their end-of-unit assessments without mastering them. Common examples are review lessons, extra practice, or pre-assessments.

Aspire to Do: These assignments take the skills that students have learned in "Must Do" and "Should Do" lessons and apply them in the most sophisticated and interesting ways. Students who complete these lessons will surely produce the highest-quality work products. Every student should aspire to reach these lessons—but some simply may not. This situation is acceptable, but not ideal.

As with everything in our teacher-driven model, different Modern Classroom educators use different terms for these concepts. A few other examples:

Need-to-know / good-to-know / aim-to-know

Bachelor's / Master's / PhD

This is closely related to the concept of mild, medium, and spicy .

Two good approaches

Finally, teachers often ask: should this framework be applied to entire lessons, or to activities within lessons?

The answer is: either works!

Classifying entire lessons is easier to track, but provides slightly less differentiation.

Classifying individual lesson activities provides greater differentiation, but can be confusing for students.

We believe that each individual teacher knows what is best for their students -- and that both approaches are worth trying out.

Figure out what works best for YOUR students, and let us know!

• Prodigy Math
• Prodigy English

From our blog

• Is a Premium Membership Worth It?
• Promote a Growth Mindset
• Help Your Child Who's Struggling with Math
• Parent's Guide to Prodigy
• Assessments
• Math Curriculum Coverage
• English Curriculum Coverage
• Game Portal

The Ultimate Guide to Teaching Methods for Modern-Day Teachers

Written by Maria Kampen

Easily differentiate learning and engage your students with Prodigy Math Game.

• Teaching Strategies

Why teaching methods continue to evolve

18 modern teaching methods to explore, teaching methods for students with special needs.

Finding the right modern teaching method for your classroom can be tricky.

Every student, teacher and classroom is different — and that’s one of the wonderful things about the learning process! As you continue in your teaching practice, you’ll try new teaching methods and find out what works best for your students. 

We’ve uncovered some of the best modern teaching methods that are actually driving results in the classroom. Keep reading to find out how to use them to help students reach their full potential and build happy, effective classrooms.

Countless edtech innovations, a better understanding of student learning and new approaches to teaching strategies means your toolkit is so much bigger than a blackboard and chalk.

Today’s teachers face lots of challenges and have lots of opportunities:

• The shift to remote learning exposed inequality in classrooms, but also offered new ways for students to engage with interactive learning experiences.
• New edtech innovations connect classroom learning with real-world digital skills.
• Changing ideas about education and pedagogy have added new learning objectives like social-emotional learning, differentiation and personalized learning. 

Don’t be afraid to try new ways for students to learn and stay engaged. Keep reading to find out which teaching style works best for your classroom!

1. Direct Instruction

Best for: All ages, when combined with other teaching methods

Direct instruction is when you explicitly convey concepts and skills to students , rather than letting them learn on their own. 

While it might seem odd to start off a list of modern teaching methods with a technique that’s been the foundation of traditional classroom instruction for hundreds of years, direct instruction allows you to layer on more recent teaching strategies.

When combined with other teaching strategies, direct instruction is a useful tool for boosting student comprehension! Today, it can include anything from lectures and educational videos to tutorials and workshops. 

Students attend a classroom lecture about ecological diversity, then watch a video from a local conservation group about efforts to preserve local habitats. This direct instruction helps you explain the requirements of a service learning project they’re doing to clean up the park near their school. 

More on service learning in a bit!

2. Flipped classrooms

Best for: Late elementary and up, or any students who can work independently

Homework at home, lectures at school — that’s how it’s usually done. But in flipped classrooms, students absorb information on their own time, and use in-class time for hands-on learning and problem solving. 

Also known as blended learning, flipped classrooms embrace new edtech innovations and prioritize face-to-face learning activities in order to boost student engagement. 

It helps students move at their own pace and gives you more time to provide one-on-one support where needed. When combined with techniques like experiential learning or inquiry-based learning, flipped classrooms can give students valuable hands-on experience. 

Students read an article about a specific scientific procedure at home, then come to class and do a hands-on experiment. They write up their findings and give a presentation about their results. While they work, you observe student work to spot learning gaps you can address in future lessons. 

Learn more in our blended learning models guide.

3. Kinesthetic learning

Best for: All ages

Kinesthetic learning is a specific learning style also known as tactile learning. Kinesthetic learners absorb information best when it’s presented through hands-on demonstrations , active learning and manipulatives.

Kinesthetic learning is a great modern teaching method for all learners because it gives students more ways to explore concepts and get hands-on, real-life experiences in their learning environment that translate to better learning outcomes. 

Students learning how to do multiplication participate in a variety of station rotation activities, including:

• Answering multiplication questions in Prodigy Math Game   
• Working with base ten blocks and other math manipulatives
• Working in small groups with the teacher to address learning gaps 

4. Game-based learning

Best for: All ages, depending on the game

Game-based learning (GBL) is a modern teaching method that uses the power of games to define and support learning outcomes. Game-based learning actually uses games to teach, as opposed to gamification, which uses game elements like leaderboards and points to motivate learning. 

Educational games promote engagement, provide immediate rewards and feedback, and harness the power of healthy competition to keep kids excited to learn. 

Today’s students understand games, especially digital games, intimately. Edtech tools can help turn their love for video games into a love of learning, whether they’re at school or at home. 

Prodigy Math Game is a game-based learning platform designed to help students love practicing math skills. 

Plus, free teacher tools mean you can align Prodigy to whatever you’re teaching in the classroom in just a few easy steps. Set up a Plan for curriculum-aligned math practice on a new concept, or send students an Assigment to differentiate and assess learning progress. 

Students won’t know they’re being assessed or doing homework — it’s all part of the adventure! Sign up for your free teacher account today to get started. 

Learn more about GBL in our guide to game-based learning .

5. Student-centered learning

Above all, student-centered learning involves students in decisions about their learning . It connects student interest to the classroom and builds an assessment framework to help them understand why the material is important and how it fits into everyday life. 

For better or worse, the internet has opened up new ways for students to receive information and engage with the world. Student-centered learning helps:

• Give them the tools they need to engage with new topics
• Make connections between topics and boost problem-solving skills 
• Directly relate classroom lessons with what they’re experiencing outside of school

Interdisciplinary learning is a great way to tie student interests to your curriculum. Students can read a novel about a specific scientific discovery and submit a book report, or create a budget for marketing a made-up product in math class. Work with students to find out what they like, how they learn best and how the project will be assessed. 

6. Teacher-centered learning

Best for: Elementary and up — younger students may need more hands-on interaction to stay focused 

Teacher-centered learning is most similar to traditional classroom learning . Students learn mostly independently through lectures and receive clear instructions and rubrics from a central authority figure. 

Much like direct instruction, teacher-centered learning is useful to provide a foundation for other work. Most modern classrooms prioritize collaboration, group work and student exploration, for good reasons. But independent learning can reach different learning styles and give students a sense of personal accomplishment and accountability!

Teacher-centered learning can still be engaging and motivating for students. If you’re starting a new novel study or ELA unit, why not have students journal independently about what they think will happen in the story or what questions they have about the concept? They’ll practice their writing skills, and you can all come back at the end of the unit to see whose predictions were the most accurate.

7. Inquiry-based learning

Best for: Middle school and up

Inquiry-based learning is a teaching method that prioritizes student curiosity and independent analysis . Students work to find the answer to an open-ended question or problem, using evidence-based reasoning and problem-solving skills to reach a defendable conclusion. 

As a teacher, your role is to move students beyond mere curiosity and into critical thinking and understanding, encouraging them to ask questions and supporting them as they investigate. 

To help students develop analytical and critical thinking skills, have them write up a case study about a question they have. Students could:

• Analyze the demographics of their school or city
• Research the effectiveness of clean energy in their community
• Look at the factors that contributed to a notable historical event 

Learn more about the different types of inquiry-based learning and what it could look like in your classroom.

8. Personalized learning

Best for: Elementary and up

Personalized learning is an educational approach that tailors learning around individual students’ needs , interests and abilities. It helps you differentiate instruction for each student and help them achieve mastery.

Motivation, relatability, self-reflection and self-advocacy skills are all things that will help students succeed in the modern workforce, no matter their career. Personalized learning reaches students of all levels, helps them build these critical skills and focus their time with small group instruction. 

Short, regular formative assessments give students opportunities to show their knowledge and help you spot learning needs early. If you’re starting a new unit, pre-teach foundational concepts and use a quick journal entry to gauge understanding, then assess students throughout the unit with quick quizzes, presentations and assignments before a final test to ensure every student achieves mastery.

Check out seven more personalized learning strategies to use in your classroom. 

9. Project-based learning

Project-based learning is a student-centered teaching method to encourage learning through real-world questions or challenges. 

The questions should:

• Be open-ended 
• Encourage students to apply relevant skills or knowledge
• Allow students to take their own approaches to answering and building a product

You give students the issue, method of investigation and any supplementary materials, and they go off and work — with your support as needed. It looks a little different every time, but project-based learning helps students develop critical thinking and interdisciplinary skills with real-world experience they’ll use for the rest of their life. 

Project-based learning options are many and varied, but can include:

• Planning a school event
• Researching the history of a simple machine
• Designing a playground for their school using geometry skills

Get our ten best project-based learning ideas for boosting student outcomes.

10. Problem-based learning

Problem-based learning is like project-based learning, with one major difference: it gives students the problem at the start of a topic , before they’ve been taught some of the relevant concepts. 

Students receive an open-ended question and find their own information and resources. Your role as a teacher is to provide materials and guidance when needed, and explain the evaluation process. 

Problem-based learning helps build self-directed learners and is easy to personalize to the needs and learning styles of individual students. 

For an environmentally friendly problem-based learning project, start with a topic like classroom waste or ecology. Students can research and find solutions, and you can implement them together!

11. Collaborative learning

Collaborative learning is kind of like a bouquet of roses — while they might all have the same colours and shape on their own, together a bouquet is more than the sum of its parts. 

In collaborative learning, students are working on a common task and doing the same actions, but they’re working together to boost group performance and amplify learning. It’s a coordinated effort to find answers, research or create a final product every group member contributes to equally. 

Students are going to need to know how to work with peers at any age, and collaborative learning can help them start building valuable team-building skills. 

Use brainwriting as a collaborative learning activity that involves everyone. Introduce a discussion topic ahead of class. Have students brainstorm ahead of time and submit ideas anonymously or in-person. Everyone reads the submissions before class and uses them as a jumping-off point for class discussion. Even the shyest student may feel empowered to speak their mind!

12. Cooperative learning

If collaborative learning is a bouquet of roses, cooperative learning is a bunch of wildflowers — each one unique, but contributing to something beautiful. 

In cooperative learning projects, each student plays a different role in a structured group activity and makes unique contributions to the success of the group. Your role as teacher is to facilitate the groups and guide their research. 

Like collaborative learning, cooperative learning teaches students that every group member’s efforts are important to both individual and group success. This also encourages students to empower each other and be accountable for their work. 

Enhance learning with a jigsaw activity! Each student belongs to two groups: a home group and an expert group. Present students with a topic to research. Students will work with their expert group to learn about a specific sub-topic, then return to their home group and present their findings.

Learn more in our guide to cooperative learning . 

13. Thinking-based learning

In thinking-based learning, you explicitly teach students how to use critical and creative thinking skills in the context of everyday lessons. 

For thinking-based learning to be effective, educators should build it directly into the curriculum and all subjects — whether that’s understanding the why behind important math concepts or the biases in ELA study materials. 

Critical and creative thinking skills help students boost media literacy and understand all the information at their fingertips on a daily basis. A changing workforce means they’ll encounter new and unique challenges, and thinking-based learning can help them be successful. 

Challenge students to put their geometry and physics knowledge to the test and build solid structures with a variety of different materials. Afterwards, ask students to reflect on why some of their creations worked and why they didn’t, and what they would do differently next time.

14. Competency-based learning

No matter what teaching method you’re using, competency-based education makes sure every student masters given skills before moving on to the next topic, unit, or even grade. 

It moves the focus off memorization and onto deep understanding demonstrated through hands-on application. It goes hand-in-hand with personalized learning to promote equity in the classroom and help students become better learners throughout their whole lives. 

Formative assessments like pre-quizzes and small projects can help you keep track of student learning and mastery. In an ELA class, have students build a portfolio of writing they contribute to regularly. You’ll be able to see their progress and they’ll feel a sense of accomplishment as they grow their writing and comprehension skills!

Find out more about what competency-based education is and how your school can use it.

15. Discussion-based learning

In discussion-based learning, you facilitate the discussion while students talk through problems in small groups.

Discussion-based learning helps promote critical thinking and independent learning, two essential skills for existing in the modern world. Students will learn to:

• Find biases
• Weigh evidence
• Test conclusions

It’s a great way for you to model open-minded and respectful listening, and promotes engagement without relying on classroom technology. It can be tricky to get every student on board the first time, but persevere and you’ll start to see the benefits!

Have a discussion about a current news event or other lesson-related topic. Make materials and guide students through if they get stuck, but don’t dominate the conversation. Model respectful discussion skills and let students work through new ideas on their own. 

16. Play-based learning

Best for: Pre-K, Kindergarten

Play-based learning is exactly what it sounds like: student learning through child-led and open-ended play . It’s a great way to help little learners become curious about the world around them and develop critical social skills!

Play-based learning isn’t just gamified classwork — it should be self-chosen and relatively unstructured to help build:

• Imagination
• Abstract thinking skills
• Language skills for group play
• Awareness of the natural world

For play-based learning time, break up the classroom into stations with different activities and materials, and allow students to move between stations freely. Stations can include:

• Art supplies
• Sensory play
• Building blocks

Designate a certain amount of time into your lesson plans and let students’ imaginations run wild!

17. Service Learning

For a lesson as informative as it is impactful, try service learning. It combines academic goals with community service projects . Students get hands-on experience, a chance to make positive change and real-world examples of their curriculum come to life. 

While it’s more student-centered than traditional community service, service learning is still a valuable way for students to contribute positively to their communities and learn about the importance of being good citizens. 

There are lots of ways to do service learning, but one of our favorites is holding a book drive for a low-income school or younger grades. Students will get hands-on practice at organizing events, and they’ll learn about the importance of literacy.

Get more service learning ideas in The Teacher's Guide to Service Learning .

18. Social emotional learning

Social emotional learning is the process by which people, children and adults develop the knowledge, self-awareness and personal well-being to build emotional competencies in both academics and life. In particular, SEL can help your students:

• Develop a growth mindset
• Form positive relationships
• Deal with challenging situations

School is a major source of social connection, and researchers agree students with well-developed social emotional skills see improved academic and social outcomes. Recent COVID-related school closures mean students lost out on a lot of social interaction, so placing an added focus on SEL skills is more important than ever!

There are lots of ways to meaningfully incorporate SEL in your classroom, including activities like:

• Classroom yoga
• Daily student check-ins
• Meditation and brain breaks

For more SEL activities and resources, check out these 25 social emotional learning activities .

In the last few decades, education has begun to make more space for diverse learners — students with special needs, learning disabilities or even different learning styles. 

There’s still a long way to go when it comes to making our classrooms open and equitable, but many modern teaching methods are highly adaptable and address some of the issues diverse learners have in a traditional classroom. 

Ultimately, there’s no “best way” to teach, regardless of what kind of students you have in your class. There are, however, some general guidelines you can follow to make sure your instruction is as effective as possible:

• Explain things using multiple methods. Before you start a service learning project, for example, be sure to pre-teach important information with multiple methods of instruction, including media, role-playing situations, hands-on demonstrations and more.  
• Expect students to do their best, and don’t accept less. When you believe all your students are capable of great things, they will too. Don’t ignore or make a big deal of incorrect answers, but address them and work together to find the right solution. 
• Get to know your students . At the beginning of the year or unit, send around a Google form and ask questions about their learning styles or what they’re excited to work on. Parent teacher conferences are also a great time to discuss specific learning needs and what is or isn’t working. 
• Use modern teaching methodology designed to engage students. Gone are the days of memorization and silent classrooms. Don’t be afraid to try new things to find out what works best for you! Then ask for student feedback to learn more about which learning styles resonate best in your classroom.
• Use individual, paired and group activities equally. When students learn together, they understand different learning needs and build respect. Intentional strategies like cooperative and collaborative learning give each student responsibility and more ways to process content, while individual learning lets students set their own pace and goals. 

When you try new teaching methods and flex your approach, every student benefits! It keeps them engaged, shows them you care about their learning and gives them an appreciation for different learning strategies. 

Above all, keep trying new things, getting feedback from students and communicating wtih parents.

Teaching students in the modern age of learning

Education has come a long way in the past decades, whether it’s more effective teaching methods or new ways to harness students’ use of technology. 

When you constantly innovate and try new strategies, you give your students real-life experiences and help them develop a love of learning. So cheers to you, and keep going!

Prodigy Education is committed to being an industry leader in game-based learning.

Our adaptive math platform gives teachers free, flexible and easy-to-use tools that align student play with the classroom in just a few clicks. As students explore the Prodigy world, their success depends on correctly answering curriculum-aligned questions — and you get all the data on their learning progress. 

Sign up for your free teacher account today to get started!

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Ten Reasons Teachers Are Heroes

• Levity With Brevity – Part I
• The Best Educational Advice of 2020
• If There’s a Silver Lining
• The More the Merrier Levity with Brevity Part II
• Ten Success Stories in the Age of COVID-19
• 2021 Closing of School Where Do We Go from Here?
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• The Just ASK 2019 Opening of School Checklist
• The Best Management Program Is a Strong* Instructional Program
• A Few Tips from the Field – Ways to Enhance Teaching and Learning
• What’s a Principal to Do?
• Hot Topics: Words of Wisdom
• We Are The Champions!
• Meeting the Diverse Needs of Teachers
• Creating a Culture of Inquiry: A Focus on Data Teams
• The Best of 2018
• Making Rigor a Reality
• eVALU(E)ation & superVISION
• Teachers as Leaders
• Timely Tips for New Principals and Teachers
• Hiring Coachable High Performers
• Mentoring Memo
• PLC Resources

November 2020 Volume XVII Issue XI

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The word hero has been used to describe those individuals who are on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who fit the heroic description include doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), service providers and a myriad of other brave and intrepid people who have worked diligently to combat the challenges of this unconventional year. As times have passed, and as other workers have provided essential services, a new population has been added to the list of personnel who have moved boldly to the front lines by providing a necessary assistance to a category of individuals who require special care and attention: our nation’s children . Teachers are heroes because of their dedication and perseverance to make teaching and learning possible for all children. More specifically, there are definitive reasons why teachers have earned the moniker of hero. Their qualifications are detailed in ten descriptions below.

• Building strong caring relationships with and among their children;
• Modeling empathy and teaching their students empathic skills;
• Helping students to become more aware of their own emotions;
• Including discussion starters that incorporate concepts such as impulse control and stress management in their daily lies;
• Planning learning experiences that will build a positive classroom culture.

In her book Social Emotional Learning and the Brain author Marilee Sprenger has the following dedication on the opening page: “I dedicate this book to all the students who needed an adult in their life to help them cope, overcome, and succeed. We didn’t know better. We are trying to do better.” This is how a true hero thinks.

• Instead of “I expect you all to…” try “Your next challenge is…”
• Instead of “I want you to…” try “What’s a goal you have?
• Instead of “Here are three things you need to do…” try “Here are three things to try as you….”
• Instead of “I’ve created some choices for you…” try “You have several choices to consider.”

They further suggest that rather than emphasizing a “good grade” refer to it as “high-quality work.” Rather than offering a reward for completed work, a teacher can ask her students about their goals for a particular assignment. When teacher phrase their words more carefully, students will view them as providers of support rather than someone who has power over them.

Some teachers are limiting direct instruction time to 25-minute segments followed by short 15-minute breaks. They use the “chunking lessons” format to include an introduction, building background knowledge, formatively assessing where students are with the topic, and pausing for a break time. Some educators have found that it is important to cue students to stand up, move away from their computers, and do some form of physical activity.

Other teachers are implementing the flipped classroom strategy during which students engage in activities much more similar to traditional homework. This learner-centered model has students working independently, in small groups, or with a partner. Additionally, they are able to access their teacher for help if and when they may need it.

As several educators have written, “One of the biggest complaints about online school is the zombie-like after-effects of spending too much time on a screen.” True leaders in their field continually take steps to make sure they are giving the best service to their fellow man. Teachers are doing the same for their youngsters.

• Dipsticks – The instructor poses a general question about the previous day’s lesson and asks students to respond through thumbs up or down, holding up a post-it or a piece of paper, or giving themselves a rating of 1 to 5 as a self-assessment.
• Digital journals and one-pagers – The teacher has students complete an after-class reflective piece of writing. Next, they create a “journal dot” online document using Google Docs to measure how well the students are retaining information.
• Virtual exit tickets – Educators can keep a running Google Doc for each students by using open-ended prompts such as:
• What I found most interesting today was…
• Today was hard because…
• What’s something that’s still shaky?
• What’s something I (teacher) don’t realize?
• What takeaways will be important three years from now?
• How does this lesson related to something I learned before?
• How would you have done things differently today?

Fleming also recommends the use of digital apps such as Nearpod, Flipgrid, Padlet, and Seesaw as well as peer-to-peer evaluations.

• Words that are synonymous with heroes are models, protectors, saviors, guardians and champions. Teachers are all of these things and more. They continue to accommodate the needs of all children based on their on-going diagnoses of learner needs. A recent survey indicates that 80% of parents have a newfound respect for those in the teaching profession. Educators Erin Gohl and Kristen Thorson view the future this way: “Throughout this school year, we can be much more thoughtful and intentional about the distance learning experience. We can communicate with students and families about both short-term plans and long-term goals. We can provide engaging experiences and personalized pathways to learning for all students. We can create productive two-way channels with students and families for communications and support that can expand the reach and impact of the learning. And we can work to ensure that this year’s distance learning experience is rigorous, relevant, and has strong relationships at the core.”

Heroic teachers have big hearts. They often intuitively know and do the right thing. Robert John Meechan writes: “When you see something beautiful in a student, let them know. It may take a second to say, but for them it could last a lifetime.” See more Meechan quotes that celebrate the heroism of teachers at https://sites.google.com/site/bestrobertjohnmeehan/

Resources and References

Fisher, Douglas and Nancy Frey. “Three Lessons Learned About Distance Learning.” Teaching Channel , October 13, 2020. https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/distance-learning-lessons

Fleming, Nora. “7 Ways to Do Formative Assessments in Your Virtual Classroom.” Edutopia . October 1, 2020. https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-ways-do-formative-assessments-your-virtual-classroom

Gewertz, Catherine. “Teacher Tips: How to Reduce Screen Time When School Is Online.” Education Week , October 6, 2020. www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/10/05/teacher-tips-how-to-reduce-screen-time.html

Gohl, Erin and Kristen Thorson. “Strategies for Fostering a Productive Distance Learning Experience.” Getting Smart , October 3, 2020. www.gettingsmart.com/2020/10/strategies-for-fostering-a-productive-distance-learning-experience/

Hellerich, Kimberly. “Using Retakes to Nurture Growth Mindset.” Edutopia , October 5, 2020. www.edutopia.org/article/using-retakes-nurture-growth-mindset

Montay-Wilson, Marcella. “Unstoppable Learning: Making Room for Students’ Passions.” Teaching Channel , March 24, 2016. www.teachingchannel.com/blog/students-passions

Novak, Katie and Mike Anderson. “How To Choose Words That Motivate Students During Online Learning.” Edutopia , September 15, 2020. www.edutopia.org/article/how-choose-words

Sprenger, Marilee. “Social Emotional Learning and the Brain: Strategies to Help Your Students Thrive.” ASCD Express , September 2020. www.marileesprenger.com/social-emotional-learning-and-the-brain.html

Swan, Kathy, Andrew Danner, Megan Hawkins, S.G. Grant, and John Lee. “Zooming Inquiry: Online Teaching with the Pomodoro Technique.” Social Education , September 2020. www.socialstudies.org/sites/default/files/view-article-2020-08/se-840420229.pdf

Printable Version

Distance Learning Collection

The Just ASK Team has written new articles and updated some older ones as 2.0 versions to support our many colleagues who are tasked  during the 2020-2021 school year with creating positive and productive learning experiences from a distance and/or in hybrid environments that are ever evolving. We will continue to add to this collection and hope that you find it useful in your challenging work. Please feel free to share with colleagues near and far, and do be sure to check back often to access newly posted articles.

Distance Learning Collection Table of Contents

NEW! We Must Accelerate Rather Than Remediate In All Settings – Virtual, Hybrid, and In-Person  (Marcia Baldanza) Ten Tips for Enhancing Distance Learning (Paula Rutherford) Lessons We’ve Learned (Marcia Baldanza) Parents as Partners 2.0 (Bruce Oliver) Maximizing Distance Learning  (Marcia Baldanza) The Writer’s Notebook – A High Leverage Practice for Uncertain Times (Heather Clayton) Messages from the Children (Bruce Oliver) Empathy in the Time of Coronavirus (Marcia Baldanza) Tips for Promoting Student Engagement During Online Sessions (Heather Clayton) What Do We Do Now?  (The Just ASK Team) Tips for Recording and Using Instructional Videos (Heather Clayton) Stop… in the Name of Learning 2.0 – 18 Practices to Rethink (Bruce Oliver) Tools for Leading High Functioning Teams (Marcia Baldanza) Mentoring From Near and Afar (Paula Rutherford)  

To access an article, click on the title.

© 2020 Just ASK Publications & Professional Development Permission is granted for reprinting and distribution of this newsletter for non-commercial use only. Please include the following citation on all copies: Oliver, Bruce. “Ten Reasons Teachers Heroes.” Just for the ASKing! November 2020. Reproduced with permission of Just ASK Publications & Professional Development.

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Homework: A New Look at an Age-Old Practice

Homework for the modern age, linking home and school.

Premium Resource

Homework for Learning That Lasts

Most educators agree that there is value in homework assignments that allow students to practice using a new skill. The so-called "drill and kill" assignments are great when practice and repetition are necessary to develop some basic skills, such as simple computation or editing, says Gary Tubbs, Director of Academic Achievement for the Seattle (Wash.) Public Schools. "These exercises can't be dropped from the curriculum," he asserts, and if teachers don't want to use up a school day with such tasks, they can use homework "to make sure the drill doesn't get lost."

Tubbs remembers the "drill and kill" assignments from his school days—those that required him to solve all the odd problems from a long list of mathematical equations, for instance. "I didn't like those assignments very much," he concedes, "but still, I had an idea that I was stretching my brain." Such exercises, he thinks, "were good exercise for the mind."

The homework assignments Tubbs most enjoyed were those that were performance-based and required him to team up with a class member who lived in his neighborhood. "Working together, we'd determine how to turn fresh water into salt water that would sustain life" or "we'd put dirt and water in a box to do a hands-on exploration of irrigation." Such assignments, says Tubbs, "made learning fun."

Such homework assignments—those that required students to use natural materials—were the kind that Esperanza Zendejas enjoyed most.

Zendejas, superintendent of the Indianapolis Public Schools, grew up in a house that was 600 yards from a feedlot. "So the best assignments for me were science related, because I could go to the feedlot and find materials," she explains. She gave presentations about cattle, birds, and plants to the class. "My teachers gave me an opportunity to use what I did have and what others, perhaps, did not," says Zendejas. She remembers once bringing an intestine from a steer to class during a unit on the digestive system. "My assignment was to describe the different digestive systems of various animals," she explains.

The best assignments for Roberta Bowers, principal at George Buck Middle School in Indianapolis, were those that required something other than endless computation. "I hated those assignments," she recalls, adding that she didn't mind diagramming sentences, "so long as there wasn't too much of it."

One homework assignment that made a definite impression on Bowers was an exercise that represented "a rite of passage" for her and her classmates. "In our little town, the 8th graders knew that before they entered 9th grade, they would spend the summer putting together an insect collection," she explains. "We all knew from grade 1 that we would be required to do this."

Bowers has never forgotten what she learned that summer—"I can still recognize the differences between moths!"—and she's trying to institute a similar ritual for students at George Buck Middle School. Sixth graders, for example, know that, in 7th grade, they'll spend a few days at a camp. Seventh graders at George Buck know that, in 8th grade, they'll conduct an environmental study. "It's not completely worked out yet, but I know I want to give kids this sense of advancing to the next level of maturity," says Bowers. "And if the exercise is tied to a really meaningful unit of study—it can be powerful and very memorable."

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• EXPLORE Random Article

How to Approach an Unfair Teacher to Change Your Grade

Last Updated: May 30, 2022

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 11 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 17,190 times.

If you've received an unfair grade on an assignment from a teacher or professor, you're probably wondering if there's anything you can do to fix it. Luckily, you don't have to settle for an unfair grade—there are ways you can bring this up with your teacher and hopefully get a better grade that you deserve. In this article, we'll show you how to approach your instructor and ask them to change your grade.

Before Approaching

• When you do this, make sure you tell the reader to be non biased, because this will help you get the most honest opinion possible.

• If you can't find a reason for deserving a higher grade, then it might not be worth it to even approach the teacher.

When Approaching

• If they said no, ask them for tips for what you can do for assignments the future, especially if this information wasn't included when they graded the assignment.

Community Q&A

• If you can, try and provide concrete arguments in order to show the teacher that he/she graded unfairly. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• Understand that most teachers do not try to be unfair. Sometimes, a teacher might simply be in a bad mood when they're grading assignments. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you're allowed to redo the assignment, go above and beyond on it. Cite multiple sources if it's a research paper, study extremely hard if you're retaking a test, whatever it may be. This will show the teacher you were deserving and willing to work hard for a better grade. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Never let your meeting get to the point of shouting at the teacher. That is never the solution. Instead, take deep breaths, and calmly ask what you can do to improve. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you go to meet with your teacher and they say they're busy, don't demand to meet with them. Instead, calmly say, "Oh, I'm sorry! Can I set up a time to meet with you about something? It's important." Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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Assigned reading we actually enjoyed

Required reading school books don't have to be boring..

• BY Anne Bogel
• IN Book Lists , Books & Reading
• 146 Comments | Comment

Assigned reading gets a bad rap. Or perhaps I should say it gets an accurate rap: why do our best attempts to introduce children and teens to great literature often end with bored kids swearing off reading forever?

I have always loved reading, yet I have plenty of memories of trudging through tedious required reading that felt like it could be so much better. Is there a former student among us who hasn’t felt at one time that assigned reading in school was turning them off reading, instead of on to it?

My seventeen-year-old daughter stopped me in my tracks this summer with a comment on this topic. I was thinking aloud about writing this post, and she said, “You could talk about how I don’t like reading anymore.” When urged to elaborate, she spoke of how she once loved reading: she read, and read voraciously, because it brought her joy. But then, she entered high school—and was required to read texts she didn’t like and sometimes doubted were even good. But, of course, she had to read them anyway, because that’s how English class works.

Those experiences sapped reading of its joy for her. She said that after being forced to read dull books as duty, it became hard to pick up books for pleasure. Reading had lost its shine.

Her comments called to mind my own years as an adolescent reader. I loved assigned reading in grade school, but by the time I hit late middle school it had turned into a chore. I’ve thought a lot about what went wrong, exactly. Is it fair to say the less-than-enthusiastic modeling of some language arts teachers contributed? I imagine so. Did the impenetrability and glacial pace of some assigned texts blunt the joy of a good book? Undoubtedly. (I’m looking at you, Song of Roland .)

I’ve always loved to read, though I certainly had some rocky years as a reader—with assigned reading being the main culprit. But even in those bumpy times, every once in a while I’d read an assigned book that absorbed me. One that I was happy to dive into with a skilled teacher and (moderately) engaged class. One that made me read ahead so I could find out what happened next. One that reminded me why this reading thing was worth it.

In today’s book list I’m sharing assigned reads I’m grateful for: some books I read and loved as a high schooler, and some my daughters have read and loved. I hope you enjoy perusing the list, and even more so, I hope this reflection reminds you of some of the required reads that shaped you as a young reader. We’d love to hear about those reading experiences in the comments section.

7 assigned novels we actually enjoyed reading

Some links (including all Amazon links) are affiliate links. More details here .

Crime & Punishment

Never Let Me Go

The Great Gatsby

My Brilliant Friend (Neapolitan Novels Book 1)

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories

Tell us about assigned reading you actually enjoyed! What was the best book you were assigned to read in school? What early experiences with required reading shaped you as a reader? Please tell us all about them in comments!

P.S. 6 tips to help you tackle a classic novel , 10 comforting classics to read after you run out of Jane Austen novels , and 25 classics that are not remotely boring , plus our wonderful What Should I Read Next episode Required reading revisited.

P.P.S. This month Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club is discussing Breaking Bread with the Dead: A Reader’s Guide to a More Tranquil Mind , a short nonfiction work in which Alan Jacobs encourages readers to engage with the classics as a way of making meaning in the present. Its themes go along nicely with today’s post. I hope you’ll consider joining us to discuss!

146 comments

This is an interesting thing to think about. Your daughter is being raised by 2 people who love reading and will always encourage that love of reading, but she’s probably an outlier in that regard? Maybe that is a defeatist view, but given the stats on the # of adults who read, it seems less likely that a child’s parents are reading as adults. Much of the assigned reading I did in HS was not enjoyable. What stands out as the worst was Beowolf. Gosh I hated that book with a passion. I don’t think I got a single thing out of reading it honestly.

I’m having a hard time coming up with books I read in HS that I enjoyed, though… I grew up in a tiny town with a class of 28 people so there were no honors or AP classes or anything like that. Luckily I’ve always loved reading and my parents and grandparents encouraged that love of reading. So there was never any question of whether I would continue to read as an adult, but my English classes did not contribute to my love of reading at all… But in college, I enjoyed several of the books I read for my English classes. The one that stands out is My Antonia. I hope my children have a different experience in high school than I did!

Required high school reading that I loved includes: Great Expectations Jane Eyre Cry the Beloved Country The Song of the Lark A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Frankenstein

Books I could have done without are: Beowulf Middlemarch (I firmly believe this book should be taught in college, not high school.) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Alas Babylon was my best ‘required reading’ in highschool.

If it gives you any hope both my father and spouse were raised in households without readers as parents and yet read a great deal. Of course it helps to have reading role models, but it’s not like non-readers never raise readers.

My 11th grade teacher nearly killed us with Moby Dick. She was obsessed with that book and we spent 9 weeks dissecting the imagery. Absolute misery.

I didn’t read for fun during the school year and lost my way a bit when it came to books.

I, too, read Jane Eyre in my 20s and it changed my life — it got me back on track. I’m grateful!

My favorite book I *had* to read was Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier. I read it as a hs freshman. I’ve reread it a few times throughout my adulthood and I still love it. I didn’t really mind most of my required reading but I feel like once it has the word “required ” in front of it, kids have already decided to not like it.

My senior year we were given a list and allowed to pick. Rebecca was one of my picks and my favorite read from high school.

I didn’t love most of the assigned reading at school, in part because we spent way too long reading, discussing, and working on projects for the same book. Books I remember enjoying in school are 1984 by George Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, all of the Shakespeare plays we read (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar), A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (though it’s worth noting that, for some reason, they gave us an abridged version), and something to do with the King Arthur legend, but it’s so long ago that I can’t remember which it was. I didn’t like The Great Gatsby the first time I read it, but I really loved it the second and third times. My best memories of reading in school were the books that weren’t in the curriculum — books teachers read after lunch in elementary school, books I selected from the classroom library for book reports, books recommended to me by teachers and amazing librarians.

Exactly Amanda! We read Beowulf, Romeo and Juliet, and MacBeth Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years respectively. I was such a nerd and so interested in a deep dive of the old English and Shakespearean English. Sadly I was the only one. Then we ended up having to make a diorama of our favorite scene. I would have liked to have a written report about topics, not an art project! Despite their best attempts to turn me off books, I lived to continue loving to read!

My favorite books that were required were Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. That being said my college experience brought Willa Cather to my attention and I quickly fell in love with her writing.

A teacher assigned “My Antonia” by Catherine and I’ve been in love with it since.

I don’t remember if I HAD to read JANE EYRE but I do remember reading it as a young person. It is probably my favorite book – such a good story – it has everything. I DO remember having to read DOCTOR ZHIVAGO and GREAT EXPECTATIONS. No love lost there. 🙂

The movie Dr. Zhivago is glorious, but I was disappointed by the book. I thought if we spent one more minute on the darn train, I was going to scream!

East of Eden by John Steinbeck was my all-time favorite assigned read. It’s very long and was so overwhelming to me as a high school student, but I was immediately sucked into the epic family saga with biblical references. It remained my all-time favorite until I read My Brilliant Friend, also referenced above!

My high school sophomore English class was Brit Lit. I loved reading the Brontes and Jane Austen, and our memorable teacher made Macbeth memorable by doing a fantastic witchy voice. Let light perpetual shine upon you, Mrs. Hill

“Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt was assigned reading in a class I cannot even remember any longer. However, I will never forget that book or Frank’s autobiography. Five-star read, in my opinion!

I loved A Separate Peace by John Knowles, which we read my sophomore year of high school and remember buying my own copy of it, so I could mark favorite passages. I wish I still had it. I also loved Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, but years later realized we had read an abridged version in our Freshman English class. I later read the whole book and loved it even more. I was an English major in college and loved so much we were assigned. I graduated way back in 1970 and realized a few years later how few women writers were part of the assigned curriculum. I started making up for that in my 20’s and 30’s.

I enjoyed both of these books in HS but enjoyed them as an adult SO much more!!

Oooo yes, A Separate Peace! That was a good one!

I too read A Separate Peace in high school English class and loved it.

Being assigned To Kill a Mockingbird in high school really changed my perception of “required reading,” and I fell in love with it.

To Kill A Mockingbird was my favorite required reading too!

I didn’t actually read it until much later in life, BUT my high school did the play one year, and I was part of the stage crew. I got to know the story well!

I found reading for English class tedious in HS, but still managed to get through it and make time for reading books I liked, thankfully. Of the assigned reading, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court stands out, as does Brave New World and 1984. I generally enjoyed when we read plays as well, since we often spent class periods reading sections aloud as a class, making for an immersive experience in addition to the detailed analysis discussions. I also recall my own essay on Great Gatsby – my teacher gave me a B on it to spur me to rewrite it. He knew that I wouldn’t stand for the B (he welcomed rewrites for regrades), and he wanted me to take the thesis a little further.

I also distinctly remember reading “a good man is hard to find,” and then seeking out more of her stories to read on my own.

I think I’m unusual in that I liked a lot of the assigned reading in middle and high school. Favorites included: Watership Down, “where are you going and where have you been,” Oates, “the tell tale heart,” Poe, Animal Farm, Brave New World, lots of Shakespeare, Pride and Prejudice..:

I have been very impressed with the assigned reading at my child’s school – first they always get to pick one of three novels, second the choices have been incredibly diverse and interesting. Two of his favorites have been Front Desk and Song for a Whale.

I was not assigned a specific book that I HAD to read, except we had to read McBeth in 11th grade, oh my what an odd choice, I thought it was creepy and remember it really turning me off to Shakespeare until I got older and read some of the others. My favorite books would have to be CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London, I was just fascinated by that tale and the wild setting too. I loved A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN and MY ANTONIA and one called JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN that was popular then. My family members were not big readers and we had no public library close so I depended on the school library to get my books so in the summer when we had more time I didn’t have access to books. I enjoy reading now and always have after I had better access to so many books.

I was very fortunate to have two college English professors who truly changed my reading life! Thank goodness, since my first semester of freshman English was full of The Canon – and I will never recover from the torture of Paradise Lost… I’m dating myself, but my second-semester professor Dr. Clements was an entirely different experience, and far before her time – totally breaking away from the canon, she taught The Handmaid’s Tale in 1989, and I have been a lifelong Atwood fan ever since. Another professor was an advocate for diverse voices, and introduced me to Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, Rite Mae Brown, Chinua Achebe, etc. etc. etc. and inspired my abiding love for Virginia Woolf, Louise Erdrich, and Barbara Kingsolver. Dr. Ognibene was a TOUGH grader, and even though I could never manage more than a B+ in her classes, I still avidly sought them out, knowing it would be a challenging and enriching experience. I owe so much to these two women!

The only assigned books that I remember liking were Rebecca and Anna Karenina. I vividly remember hating both One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (we were also forced to watch the film) and Catch 22.

I was assigned Catch 22 as well! Junior year. What a weird choice to make teens read.

I CHOSE to read Catch-22 as an adult, feeling like it was something I should read. I was wrong. 😂

I can only think about a book I had to read in the eleventh grade that I hated, The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I will never read that book again.

Oh yes, I do remember reading that one as well. Couldn’t remember reading required novels in high school English (below), but I do remember reading this one now. Yikes. I was part fascinated, part revolted upon finishing it.

I enjoyed almost everything the year we studied English lit. The Mayor of Caster bridge underimpressed me, but Lord Jim, Macbeth, and Hamlet stand out. I don’t remember really loving anything from my year of American lit., though.

When I was in high school, we were assigned books and given extensive lists of questions to answer to prove we had read the assignment. In our answers, we had to copy long passages word for word from the book. There were no questions that allowed us to make connections or bring our experiences to the reading process. It was essentially hours of “copy work.” I went to a small school, so I had the same teacher from 7th through 12th grade for ELA.

And how could I leave out A Tale of Two Cities, which probably started my love of Dickens, although I am sure I was already familiar with A Christmas Carol.

I was assigned My Antonia by Willa Cather in my AP English class my junior year of high school and I loved it.

I’ve been a life-long reader, but yes, some of those assigned books were so tedious! In High School I did enjoy Shakespeare, The Great Gatsby, and Great Expectations. My absolute favorite and one that I re-read every few years was Brave New World. I read Jane Eyre my first year in college and fell in love, I also re-read that one often. The same class had me read Surfacing by Margaret Attwood and I’ve been a fan ever since! For some reason, I had to read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair three times between high school and college classes. I hated it every single time!

Thinking back to high school, which was a long time ago, I don’t remember hating any book, per se, but I definitely didn’t like science fiction/post-apocalyptic lit. It was just too weird for my romantic sensibilities. In Canada, we read Canadian lit, and I really liked the titles my teacher chose. He was great, and I enjoyed English class with Mr. Hulley, and had the pleasure of being in his class twice over the five years from grades 9 to 13. We read Jamaica Inn by DuMaurier, Huckleberry Finn, and Othello, which is my favourite play. My two favourites were The Nymph and the Lamp, by Thomas Raddall, and Who Has Seen The Wind by W. O. Mitchell. Great Canadian classics. It’s interesting to see what other people had to read. My favourite book from university was Volkswagon Blues, by Jacques Poulin (I read it in French, but it is available in English, as well.) It’s a road trip/Route 66/historic tourism kind of book to me. I love a good road trip story. Thanks for sharing your list!

You obviously are quite a bit younger than I am. I am Canadian as well but the only Canadian literature I can remember being assigned was Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town which I did actually enjoy. (Funny story: one of our younger male teachers had to ride herd on a class of teenage females while the boys had Phys. Ed. One day he decided to read My Financial Career to us. He laughed so uncontrollably he couldn’t finish the story.) We had all the usual Shakespeare plays to read and I did enjoy those. I also remember being quite fascinated by Great Expectations and I loved Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (although when I reread it as an adult I discovered it was a sanitized version). One book that I hated was Victory by Joseph Conrad. It took me years to read anything else by Conrad.

I read one selection from the New Canadian Library series every month. Last month it was The Nymph and the Lamp…it was excellent!!! I had never heard anything about it before, and now here you are! Funny how that is…

Lord Jim was terrible in 10th grade but The Great Gatsby in 12th grade made up for the misery….

Three books that blew my mind and completely expanded my reading pallet in high school – The Song of Solomon (might have been the only book I was assigned in HS that was written by a woman 😳) Go Tell it On the Mountain The Master and Margarita Luckily my mother insisted on Austen and the Brontes. I can’t even remember which books we read for English (British) Lit.

For my 11th grade American Lit class, the teacher assigned us a project for the entire year where we had to select an American author/writer and read several of their works and do various assignments or papers or whatever. As I recall, they had to have written several types of things (eg, novels, poems, short stories, etc). All of my classmates selected Hemingway or Faulkner or Fitzgerald. I went rogue (at least for that time, it was 1991) and selected Maya Angelou. And it was one of the best “assigned” reading assignments of my school career! 🙂

Oh, I love this. Go, you!

I just read The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac which discusses how young children fall in love with reading and then come to hate it as teenagers. Required reading in school is often the culprit.

I honestly don’t remember required reading in High School though I’m sure that we had it! I do remember freshman year in college when I read A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and LOVED IT.

I remember enjoying the following required reading in High School: Cold Sassy Tree, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Secret Life of Bees, All Creatures Great and Small, 1984, A Separate Peace, and all the Shakespeare.

I loathed Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers and Lord of the Flies. We were also assigned the Conte of Monte Cristo which I remember deciding was too long for my summer break! I also grew to dislike “The Old Man and the Sea” as I was assigned this multiple times, and I wanted to read something new/different!

Wow, you were given some GREAT books to read in school! I’m jealous! (Secret Life of Bees, All Creatures, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Count of Monte Cristo!!)

I’m a therapist and most of my teens that I see tell me that they cannot enjoy assigned reading books because they HAVE to read them:)

I loved: Handmaid’s Tale (cannot believe we were allowed to read this in a private, Catholic school) The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Snow Falling on Cedar

I didn’t care for The Great Gatsby (which kills most people I know, including my English teacher husband) or Grapes of Wrath

Just wanted to say that I agree on The Great Gatsby, I hated it then and I hate it now! But I did love Grapes of Wrath…

I despise The Great Gatsby. It was never assigned reading, but I read it in college after seeing the Robert Redford movie, which I had disliked. Since then I’ve read it again and seen the Leo DeCaprio version. I just plain hate the story.

Honestly, it’s been so long – I’m 63 – that I can’t remember most of my ‘assigned’ reading in high school. We didn’t have summer reading lists – I don’t think that is done around here in Western Canada, even now. I’ve never heard my nieces and nephews talk about summer reading lists.

The required reading in my three years of high school English (grades 10 through 12) was hit and miss for me. Essays, plays, short stories and the like. I don’t remember reading full novels, but perhaps we did. I enjoyed the Shakespeare that we read – Macbeth, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar. Probably because we were a theatre-going family. (I took a summer vacation to the Stratford (Ontario) festival about 10 years later. Would love to go again.) Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery made a big impression on my teenage self. Abhorred the required poetry! My love is like a red, red rose. Good grief. That teacher wrote a comment about my dislike of the required poems in my yearbook, so I must have made it clear 🙂

One of my h.s. English teachers had a classroom collection of paperback novels that we were encouraged to borrow and read. As a voracious fiction reader, this was like free candy for me. My introduction to The Good Earth and A Canticle for Leibowitz. Not required reading, but encouraged!

Oh, what a great topic, Anne! My two high schoolers just needed to read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah for “One school one book” at their HS. My 14 year old was not excited and slow to start, but just last night said “you know, I really didn’t think I was going to like this. I don’t like memoir/autobiography, and I figured it would be dry and preachy. But, he’s a great storyteller! I shouldn’t be surprised: he’s a comedian. But, he wove the history and his point through very clearly, along with bite-sized stories. I loved it.” Growing up, my family read all the time and shared books, particularly ones that had humor in unexpected places, or were surprising. So, I didn’t know to “dread” required reading, though I know my big brother did (I mean, there were so many other fun books to read….)

My high school English teachers were an independent bunch, so I distinctly remember reading Beloved by Toni Morrison (while we studied slavery in US History), and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood in the same class, which discussing politics and religion. She led some very thoughtful, multilayered discussions, and I loved both. My favorite “assigned book”, and still one of my all time favorite books, is A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris, read for a Native American Literature class in college. Our prof taught us about the various themes running through it, so I remember some of those that I might not otherwise have noticed. But, it’s a book that has stuck with me, that deep and complicated mother/daughter/grandmother relationship, and, again, a few humorous scenes that still make me laugh (in the midst of other scenes that just break my heart). My copy of A Yellow Raft in Blue Water has also had a new life over the past few years: I lent it to an elementary school teacher friend who had a full-leg break so was couch bound for months, and she then lent it to a friend who passed it along until it came back to me a year later. And, the same thing happened again in March 2020. So, you never know when a required reading will spark something unexpected!

Oh my goodness, thank you for reminding me of Toni Morrison – shame on me! My high school was not quite so progressive as yours, though was fortunate to be “assigned” several Morrison novels in college. Beloved, Song of Solomon, The Bluest Eye.. and the rest of her body of work on my own as a result. It’s been so long, maybe some rereads are in order!

I loved Grapes of Wrath in high school. When my sons were in high school, I made it a point to read whatever they were reading. Their high school’s AP program was amazing. My favorite was Maus. I drew the line with Moby Dick. My son, however, loved it!

I did the same with my daughter. She read a lot of books I was not familiar with. Candide was one of my favorites (but not hers).

The Hobbit in 6th grade followed by The Lord of the Rings that summer on my own. A Separate Peace in middle school. Great Expectations and Crime and Punishment in high school.

Assigned readings really do leave a lot to be desired and I think some of that is because they are also assigned teachings. Apart from that, I think that our school attempted to avoid controversial discussions by severely limiting contemporary literature, which had the effect of making what we read less relevant and engaging. I went to high school in the late 1990’s, and I think the only full-length work we read published after 1960 was The Color Purple. That probably has more to do with Alice Walker being from Georgia than anything else, though.

The readings I did enjoy in addition to The Color Purple: Shakespeare, Great Expectations, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, Canterbury Tales, Night.

I loved To Kill A Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and Pride and Prejudice, all of which we read freshman year of high school. I was a voracious reader before then, but most of my pre-9th grade reading was of the Sweet Valley High variety. I was surprised to discover that something written centuries earlier could still be so accessible and relatable. I think it depends so much on whether the teacher has a strategy for inspiring curiosity in their students. If they can catch kids by surprise, the kids will keep reading to see what happens next. But teachers who have assigned the same book for the past twenty years have to get pretty creative to maintain that spark within themselves and to be able to nurture it in their classrooms.

My favorite books that I read in high school were: A Separate Peace 1984 The Hobbit The Old Man and the Sea

I was in HS in the mid 80’s, in Alabama. So assigned reading was fairly standard fare. A Shakespearian play every year,and “classics”. Honestly I can’t think of any title I hated. Even enjoyed Moby Dick, Great Expectations, Silas Marner. My junior year was the best though, because our honors teacher pushed us to read contemporary fiction

I was fortunate to have great English teachers in high school, particularly my junior and senior years. I was enthralled and feel in love with Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s No one Writes to the Colonel, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, and This Way to the Gas Chamber, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski. I still have the books that I read as a teenager and return to them almost yearly.

I have always been a voracious reader. I was the kid the teacher told my parents to “make go outside a little more and read a little less.” So the “required” reading of high school was a shock to my system. Apparently my school decided there were enough English majors in the world, and they would do everything in their power to discourage it. And reading in general. We didn’t read “normal” classics like Bronte or Austen, and I still actually haven’t (I know, GASP!! The blasphemy!!) I remember reading and hating the Shakespeare’s (Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar: WITH a soliloquy we had to memorize and recite to the class, and Hamlet). WHY?? The Canterbury Tales and Beowulf (seriously, WHY??!?). There was also A Separate Peace, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Great Gatsby, none of which I enjoyed the least bit. We briefly touched on the Iliad. Or maybe it was the Odyssey? Whichever one was tedious and forgettable. And I will never forget, our big book in 10th grade was ROOTS. Really. That thing is a brick and we slogged our way through it, grumbling all the way. The only “required” reading I enjoyed was a book in 12th grade. We got to pick what we wanted to read the last semester. I picked a non-fiction book about The Body Farm in Tennessee and devoured it. Surprisingly enough, I read The Grapes of Wrath on my own in high school, and it remains to this day my favorite book. I can’t remember for the life of me what I had to read in college. I was most likely still too traumatized from high school (definitely *NOT* an English Major).

I have always been an avid reader, but admittedly I have not read many of the classics. I read some in high school, of course, but I’d like to re-read and finally get around to novels I have never read in the classic genre. However, I feel really intimidated by many and worry I won’t adjust to the language or understand it. I’d like to start with Jane Eyre. Does anyone have advice for reading these classics if I have not read many before?

Oh! This should be fun, Courtney. Since you’re going to start with Jane Eyre, do you want to stick with a little bit of mystery, so there will be something to hook you? There were some fabulous “classics” recommendation in the MMD introduction to mystery talk and slideshow. What about trying Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier next? (I read Rebecca after my mom recommended I read a classic spy novel called The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett). That’s another gothic style…. My only recommendation would be to have a dictionary and maybe Wikipedia nearby so that you can look up words or phrases that might be different. Other suggestion would be to search back through some of the WSIRN podcast episodes, for any classic books Anne recommends there, as they’d be recommended in context of other books. Enjoy! Let us know how it goes.

I absolutely hated Crime and Punishment! The only assigned book that I liked in senior year was A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster. I went on to read other titles of his as a young adult.

Such a great topic to talk about! It fascinates me how required reading is so different from country to country. I grew up in Canada and attended high school in the 90’s. One book that I read in English class (probably grade 11 or 12) was Robertson Davies’ Fifth Business. I can’t remember much about the plot, just recall that I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed the book. One of these days I plan to revisit all of my high school books to see if I feel differently about them as a 40 year old. I especially want to give Margaret Laurence’s A Bird in the House another try.

I can’t remember any of my required reading except for Ghost of Sleepy Hollow . I couldn’t get through most books and read the first and last chapter and back cover. I winged my book reports and astonishingly always got a good grade. As a late teenager readers Digest books got me interested in reading and after then reading the Bible my love for reading grew and never ended. Henry James and Steinbeck were my favorite authors. Portrait of a Lady and East of Eden blew me away.

In high school/ junior high school I loved A Separate Peace, and I hated both Lord Jim (Conrad) and The Age of Innocence (Wharton), even if it did win a Pulitzer Prize.

Lest you think I did not like good literature, I enjoyed the Shakespeare plays and my favorite book was Les Miserables.

I was fortunate to have loved many of my assigned reading books. Particular favorites that stand out were The Hobbit, Frankenstein, The Scarlet Letter, 1984, A Tale of Two Cities, and Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories. The favorite favorite thoguh, would have to be Jane Eyre. I devoured it in a few days as a summer reading assignment prior to 10th grade. Unfortunately that summer reading assignment also included The Catcher in the Rye, my most loathed book of all time. Seriously, it’s the worst.

I love reading all of these comments! I have a lot of memories of deeply tedious reads for middle and high school English, but my senior year literature teacher was incredible. I loved so many books we read that year, but the three that really stick out all these years later are the interpreter of maladies, one hundred years of solitude, and grapes of wrath!

I graduated from high school in 1971, so many of the books mentioned weren’t even written yet! Of course there were classics like A Tale of Two Cities, The Great Gatsby, 1984 (which was in the future!), Brave New World, Animal Farm, Steppenwolf, The Picture of Dorian Gray, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Pony, Tess of the Durberfields and others. Some I enjoyed, some I got through. I finally finished Moby Dick a few years ago. I loved reading enough to read Far From the Madding Crowd on my own But one book that stands out was Banners at Shenandoah by Bruce Catton. I loved that book as an eighth-grader!

I have such an unpopular opinion. I absolutely hated the required reading choices (or lack of choices) we had in highschool. It totally turned off me and so many others from reading for so long. And sadly, I don’t like even Jane Austen books (sorry!). Luckily I had some friends turn me on to authors like Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner who started me reading again, then found MMD with amazing books like One in a Million Boy and This Is How it Always Is and my love of reading returned. I say, don’t require classics. Give kids choices and the chance to find something they love.

I liked Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and MacBeth, different years).

I didn’t like The Great Gatsby but loved Wuthering Heights. Revisiting those as an adult I found my preferences switched. (It was super fun to have my teenage daughter explain all the symbolism.)

I finally read Jane Eyre after discovering Jasper Fforde. I did like it but even moreso after reading The Eyre Affair.

I loved The Picture of Dorian Gray!! I was obsessed in high school.

I seriously can’t think of one assigned book I enjoyed. That is sad. Also, I think I had to read A Tale of Two Cities and The Scarlet Letter multiple times! I can still hear my teenage self complaining!

I remember reading Jane Eyre in high school.

My daughter is a junior right now and her teacher lets them have free reading for 30 minutes every Monday. She and her friends were so excited because they get a chance to just read for fun. And this mom was thrilled as well!

I went to high school in the sixties–yes those sixties. Our school system had a very strong English (now would be ELA) department. We were well grounded by requirements in all the classics from Beowulf and Canterbury Tales to Shakespeare and on through to 20th c. books like Ethan Frome, Grapes of Wrath, A Farewell to Arms, Cry, The Beloved Country and Invisible Man. Being a compliant student with high expectations at home, I dutifully read it all. Some I liked, others not so much. But one thing I am forever grateful for is that these readings are part of my history. No one can take that experience away from me and I remember parts of all of them. The best thing about reading them in HS is that I don’t have to read them again!! I am not a re-reader particularly at my age (so little time, so many books) but I did revisit a few over the years and was not disappointed. As a free lance reader now in my 70’s I read what I want to read and have no driving desire to have a bucket list of classics unread. I love my reading life!

I enjoyed very little of the assigned reading in middle school or high school. It seems to me that selected readings are too often depressing, ponderous stories. Books I remember with particular loathing include: * Catcher in the Rye * The Witch of Blackbird Pond * Alive (who gives an eighth grader assigned reading featuring a plane crash and cannibalism?) * Lord of the Flies (ugh) * Heart of Darkness * The Outsiders On a happier note, I enjoyed The Odyssey, Shakespeare selections (MacBeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet), Pride and Prejudice, and Gone With the Wind. I saw the same pattern with my daughter’s required reading in high school. In middle school she was an avid reader but by the end of high school, she was so turned off from reading due to the steady diet of depressing books and dystopian fiction required by her high school. She finished high school 7 years ago and is just now picking up books “for fun” again. It’s sad…

I loved Tess if the D’Urbervilles! Hated Madame Bovary. Wish I would have been assigned Passing. My daughter was assigned The Yellow Wallpaper, which I loved. I also liked reading Dr Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, which she was assigned. My son was assigned The Outsiders in jr high and loved it

The book I had to read in HS that I absolutely detested and was so confused by was The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. I mean, what is going on in that book? I didn’t understand a thing so the day that I had to write my essay, I was honest with my teacher about this and I don’t remember what happened but I wasn’t penalized for it. During my college years, I didn’t read at all. There was too much going on and too much required reading. I read Rebecca in 2019 and Jane Eyre last year and I absolutely loved them both. It tickles me that the older books really are quite funny. I loved Jane’s spunk and I loved the darkness of Rebecca.

It was such a long time ago, but I actually remember liking many, if not most of the required reading in jr high and high school, including the much maligned Silas Marner and The Scarlet Letter! The Good Earth, Cry the Beloved Country, Gulliver’s Travels, Spoon River Anthology, Our Town….

What a fun topic! Granted, I’m a book nerd, but I know that I enjoyed most of the required reading. In fact, the one that stands out the strongest is Pride and Prejudice. It was the first book of its kind I had ever read and I was wholly entranced by her humor and the romance. I still – vividly – nearly 40 years later – remember thinking “I can’t wait until I have a child so that I can experience their reading this book for the first time.” I quickly devoured the entire Austen catalog and she remains one of my favorite authors. I also really enjoyed Crime & Punishment. This led to my trying to tackle The Brothers Karamozov, but that one didn’t capture me in the same way. Jude the Obscure was another (surprising) enjoyable read. I attempted to follow it with Far From the Madding Crowd, but abandoned that one near the beginning, after reading more than three pages describing the desolation of the landscape. Shockingly, To Kill a Mockingbird was never a required high school read and I was in my late twenties before I read it for the first time. I’ve since reread it a handful of times, always marveling at the fact that I could have lived so much of my life without having read it. I think one of the great things about “required” reading is that it introduces us to books that we might otherwise never read. It wasn’t required reading, but someone gave me The Hobbit as a high school graduation gift. I had never read a fantasy book before and was sure that I wouldn’t enjoy it, but we had far fewer options for entertainment back then and I found myself cracking it open during that summer before heading off to college. I absolutely loved it! The rest of that summer was spent working my way through the three Lord of the Rings books (and loving those). That was a lifelong lesson for me to never turn my nose up at a book or genre, sometimes the greatest enjoyment or lessons can be found in the places you least expect.

Assigned readings that I really enjoyed and would not have read otherwise: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens and Grendel by John Gardner. After hearing Charles Dickens bashed by most of my English professors, I was surprised to find engaging prose. It’s a long book, but there’s a host of interesting characters and the language isn’t as heavy as I expected. Grendel is another book I would never have read on my own. I’m still not quite sure what to make of it, but the writing was gritty and immediate in a way that I’ve not seen other authors do. It’s another book that I reflect back on and am glad that I read.

This was fun to think about and I realized I read a ton more I loved in a catholic junior high than in public HS (To Kill a Mockingbird, Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, Tom’s Midnight Garden, Romeo and Juliet and Great Expectations, The Odyssey). I remember loving The Scarlet Letter, Siddhartha, Grapes of Wrath, and MacBeth in HS but suffering through Huck Finn and Canterbury Tales.

This really hit home for me – I remember telling my English teachers how disecting books for class was killing my love of reading rather than enhancing it. I had to read The Great Gatsby TWICE – once my junior year and then again my senior year. My senior year teacher even knew we’d already read it, but still assigned it anyway – I got nothing new from it! But he also assigned One Hundred Years of Solitude and The Handmaids Tail – both of which I loved. I was still an avid reader outside of assigned reading, but was really grateful to finally be done with high school and so no longer had summer reading!

I remember reading Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and still think about The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

I had a tenured and wise English teacher my Senior year of high school who assigned Angela’s Ashes. I was one of two that had already read the book. I was relieved to have something written in the last fifty years. As great as “great American novels” are, English teachers have the opportunity to turn students on to reading by selecting out-of-box books.

Probably my favorite required reading from high school was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (Shakespeare). I remember being incredibly disappointed in “Romeo & Juliet,” but I was a freshman (age 14) and hadn’t understood it was a tragedy (or the value of reading tragedies). My next favorite was To Kill a Mockingbird, and I loved it even more when I reread it as an adult. I absolutely hated Lord of the Flies. I didn’t appreciate Frankenstein or Huckleberry Finn until I had to read each of them 3 more times in college!

I believe I can count on one hand the assigned reading I actually liked (despite being an avid reader): – The Outsiders – Children of the River – Ordinary People – A Separate Peace (although I probably wouldn’t have remembered that until the comments) – The Westing Game – Where the Red Fern Grows (it was read to my 3rd grade class, so I’ll count it) I am somewhat convinced that high school English tried to suck the will to read out of me. I think half my liked list was middle school reading. I had a high school English teacher that was obsessed with symbolism, particularly in The Scarlet Letter (did not like). I also did not like The Great Gatsby, and I hated Lord of the Flies and The Catcher in the Rye. I wasn’t over the moon about To Kill a Mockingbird back then, but I re-read it recently and enjoyed it.

My favorite required reading in High School were always plays. I remember reading and loving The Importance of Being Earnest with a class right before summer break. I’ve actually been thinking about this book a lot while reading Sense & Sensibility. The next year we read Hedda Gabler, and I loved that as well. My love for these dramas alone is probably what led me to be an English major in college, but I was probably worse of a required reader as a college English major. The sheer volume of reading was overwhelming. I took one drama class and again, loved those plays the most! I loved my Shakespeare class as well. I went to college near Blackfriars in Staunton, VA, so my reading life came full circle when I got to watch their production of The Importance of Being Earnest one spring. I’m happy to report I’m a redeemed English major these days fully participating in this community through book club!

I was so lucky to have great literature teachers who assigned thoughtful and interesting works to read… – The Great Gatsby (of course) – To Kill a Mockingbird (of course) – The Sun Also Rises – Catch-22 – The Awakening – Heart of Darkness – lots of Shakespeare – Dublin

And then there’s the crap like The Scarlett Letter, A Tale of Two Cities, etc. that I would love to banish from my memory. That’s what makes kids turn away from reading – the drivel that teachers assign because “it’s always been done.” Enough already!

Oh! And “As I Lay Dying”… LOVED it! (I clearly have a thing for 20th century American literature).

I definitely didn’t read much that I loved it high school and to be honest I barely remember anything about a good chunk of them. (I’m looking at you D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf!) The ones I do remember loving were To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, The Crucible, and my beloved Their Eyes Were Watching God – my all time favorite school-assigned book. I would have read Mockingbird on my own but I probably would not have picked up Hurston’s book if it weren’t for a junior year teacher willing to move out of the 19th century.

“The Octopus” by Frank Norris just about killed my love of reading in High School. Did ANYONE else have to do that one?

I first read Jane Eyre in Senior English class, and, like your daughter, it remains the gold standard for me. However, I did not enjoy The Good Earth in Junior English, where I think I earned a C on my term paper. A few years ago, I re read it with my book club, and Lordy, how a few decades can change one’s perspective! I loved it, and felt intensely the family dynamic with the father’s perspective when musing about his selfish children. I did not love Jane Austen in high school, either…too slow moving and Darcy and Elizabeth never even kiss! Again, as an adult, I grew to appreciate the wit and character-driven beauty of her novels. I did love dystopian novels in college such as 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World. I regret not reading much Dickens, which I need to remedy. There was a PBS series on Great Expectations, a book I was never assigned so didn’t read, which was fabulous…what a story!

I had a similar experience with certain authors I’d had to read during my academic career. H. G. Welles, Stevenson, and E. M. Forster all come to mind. But then, when reading them again with my own teenagers while homeschooling, I discovered a new appreciation for their talent and their stories. Funny what a couple of decades will do!

And I must encourage you to read Dickens. All the Dickens you can get your hands on. Please. His stories are not to be missed. His contribution to the literary world is still being felt today.

“The Octopus” by Frank Norris just about killed my love of reading in High School. Did ANYONE else have to do that one? But I think “To Kill a Mockingbird” saved me.

Fahrenheit 451 opened me up to science fiction. I had thought it was all about aliens and weird things. But I had the pleasure of taking a class called Literature of Change and all the sci-fi had deep seeded social commentary. It was politically charged and felt forbidden. I was hooked. And I changed my reading life in a big way!

I really struggle to understand how anyone thinks My Brilliant Friend is a worthwhile read. I agree with your picks 99% of the time, that’s why it surprises me to see this on your list. I thought it was downright awful, cliche, and I just didn’t care about any of the characters. So many that I know say they loved this book. I just don’t get it.

While some of the required reading in H. S. was “thought-provoking” and I’m glad I did read some of them, I didn’t actually LIKE any of them, and some I hated. What I can remember is Canterbury Tales, Gulliver’s Travels, 1984, Brave New World, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, various of Shakespeare, Moby Dick, Wuthering Heights, and poetry, which I REALLY hated. Only one title stands out: The short story, The Lottery. Will never forget that! But at the same time in high school, ON MY OWN, I was reading and LOVING Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, Vanity Fair, The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, Little Women, Dickens, Dr. Zhivago, War and Peace, Cyrano de Bergerac, Giants in the Earth, Rebecca, The Good Earth, and plays like Arms and the Man, and The Importance of Being Earnest. So high school didn’t quash my love of classics, they just picked all the wrong ones! Honestly, are they TRYING to ruin it for kids??

As an English teacher and English major, I recognize my significant bias on this topic. I will say that I didn’t love everything I was assigned to read (seconding the Song of Roland and chucking in Moby Dick for good measure), but I have also read voraciously outside of assigned reading my entire life. My husband still doesn’t understand why there are multiple books in progress at all times. My elder daughter is the same way. While not every book she reads earns a place on her “for keeps” shelf (we are library goers who buy books we want to reread), she doesn’t complain about assigned reading anymore than she complains about statistics homework.

Enter younger daughter… She’s my athlete, my constant mover, and my reluctant reader. She has zero problem telling me she hates a book, especially if it is one she has to read for school. It takes time and effort to find books she is willing to dedicate her free time to, and it is no wonder that the books selected for class don’t make the grade for her.

For those of you who find your kids to be reluctant readers, I’ll give you the advice I give to parents of my students. Try reading with them. You can take this two ways, but either are effective. Either read the book with them (out loud, on audiobook, silently but together) and discuss (I promise The Outsiders is still just as heart-wrenching), or find your own book, sit by them, and model reading. Not a big reader? Fake it till you make it! This is your kid. Reading is a skill they will use for the rest of their lives, and it is way easier to learn and improve in school rather than out!

I cannot think of a single book I remember enjoying in school, but many I did not! I felt the pace for reading was too fast or too slow and I often felt like we were looking for significance and symbolism that was not the author’s intention. I did not enjoy Jane Eyre in high school and I distinctly remember a long discussion about the why Bronte chose red curtains in one scene. Maybe she liked red? Why did it have to be significant? I read the book in my twenties at the encouragement of a friend and it is now one of my favorites. So far my oldest is enjoying his required reading (3rd grade) and I hope it may continue!

Nearly half of the books on the banned books list were required reading for me. I’m astonished at some of these banned books: Alice in Wonderland; To Kill a Mockingbird; 1984; The Outsiders; The Catcher in the Rye; Fahrenheit 451; Charlotte’s Web; Brave New World; Lord of the Flies; etc. It’s a crying shame that we’re dealing with this in the 21st Century. My state – OK -forced a teacher to retire for giving out a QR code to a library to her students. They claimed she was exposing them to pornography. We should be encouraging reading – not make it a crime!!!

I see these lists and realize what a different experience I had than many people. We read Shakespeare almost every year in HS (Othello, Romeo and Juliet for sure), A Tale of Two Cities, The Great Gatsby but also read a lot of Latin American books (House of Spirits, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Like Water for Chocolate) as well as Things Fall Apart, Ceremony, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Beloved. I think the problem is that high school is not necessarily the time to read some of those books. I always finished my required reading and can’t say that I despised it, but they weren’t my favorites (at the time) either. One required reading that was one that I enjoyed at the time and still do today is The Giver – which was required reading in MS.

I read “Wuthering Heights” and “The Sound and the Fury” in high school. Loved “Wuthering Heights” and hated the Faulkner. As an adult, our book club read “The Sound and the Fury” and I was entranced. Obviously much better with some years under your belt. Interestingly, a recent adult literature class tackled “Wuthering Heights” and to my surprise, I found it cruel and depressing. Most of my classmates agreed. The professor asked for our reaction to the book and one wag summed it up: “Why?”.

I discovered Ray Bradbury in high school. We also were required to read Night by Elie Wiesel which was heartbreaking but such a great book.

My least favorite was The Grapes of Wrath or the Scarlet Letter. I’d really like to revisit Grapes of Wrath. I think so much depends on the teacher with some of these reads in k-12.

Ohh I forgot about Night! I enjoyed that one on school.

School was so long ago. I remember loving Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Jungle, Jane Eyre, Emma, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Night, Inherit the Wind, Wuthering Heights. I don’t remember the ones I didn’t like except for The Old Man and the Sea. I had to read that one twice; once for High School and once for college. I hated it both times.

Perhaps OT, but I never remember literature class being about instilling a love of reading. It was about analyzing characters and plots. So finding books that teens would love was never central to the class, if that makes sense.

The only required reading I never made it through was The Last of the Mohicans. Soooo dull.

I just had a discussion about this with my 16 year old daughter. She was assigned “All the Light We Cannot See” for summer homework and loved it. I told her that I didn’t enjoy almost any high school assigned reading, but this one has been on my TBR. “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “The Miracle Worker” are the only ones I can think of that I enjoyed and I think both were junior high reads.

Most detested, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. Over everyone’s head. Most beloved, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I kept my copy till this day, very tattered but very loved.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” was required reading that I have read over and over. It was also assigned reading for my son (same high school) and it is one of his favorite assigned reading as well.

My senior year, our lit teacher was OBSESSED with Canterbury Tales…we read each and every one, saw a theatrical video, and then it go detailed!! lol! We were supposed to do 2 Shakespeare plays as part of the prescribed curriculum, but were to read each independently…MacBeth and Hamlet. Out of 100 questions on the final exam, there were 2 from each Shakespeare play, one from our brief encounter with Beowulf, and 94 from Canterbury Tales…I’m still bitter almost 45 years later!

I grew up on a farm in an Appalachian “holler”. We only got three tv stations. I was the only girl my age within 3 miles until I was in high school.

All that meant that I had LOTS of time to read and my mother made sure I had lots of books to spend time reading. By the time I got to Grade 7, I had read everything on the school’s “required reading” list for that grade.

So the next day, my teacher handed me four books as substitutes for the first four titles of the year. They weren’t in my book journal of books I’d read (yes, I’ve been keeping a book book THAT long.) They were:

*Pride and Prejudice *The Hobbit *The Diary of Anne Frank *And Then There Were None

When I’d read those, she brought me more. And still more. She opened my world to so many authors and titles I’d never read before because they were considered “too old” or just not available in the children’s section of the public library for me to check out.

To this day, I am an avid Agatha Christie fan, especially Poirot. I re-read at least one or two Jane Austen titles every year. I did my university senior English project on Tolkien. (And re-read LOTR every year, too.) And I was inspired to the lifelong habit of journal keeping by Anne’s diary.

Those four required reading titles changed my literary life forever.

It’s funny, though, I can’t remember many of the other titles she substituted for me throughout the rest of the year. I remember Watership Down and The Good Earth because it turned out they were required reading in a later grade. Those first four, though, changed my life.

I moved to the US when I was 14yr old. I had almost completed my second year of high school and since it was October, had to start all over again. English was taught differently and we were never assigned novels to read as far as I can recall and so I fell in love with reading assigned novels in English in America. It was so new to have discussions about these novels in such a way that made me really pay attention to the language. Some of the favorites I recall were : In Cold Blood Ethan Frome A Separate Peace Johnny Got His Gun True Grit Goodbye Columbus English class still holds some of my favorite memories of high school in America.

The only assigned reading I remember actually enjoying (I didn’t like to read growing up) was And Then There We’re None by Agatha Christie. I’m starting into more of her books just recently actually! I loved the film adaptation of Death on the Nile and that along with never forgetting being humbled by And Then There Were None (humbled because I thought I was too good for assigned reading I suppose), I’m trying her stuff out!

The only book of the 7 listed above that I was assigned in high school was Crime and Punishment. I did not like it; I found it boring. However, it did not turn me off reading the books that I really enjoyed. My freshman English class had to read “Great Expectations” and my senior class had to read “Hard Times” both by Charles Dickens. Both books I found so tedious that they turned me off of reading any other Dickens book. However, I have enjoyed watching Dickens novels brought to life in movies. My freshman English teacher read to our class the short story “The Open Window” by Saki (H. H. Munro). I loved the story so much that I sought out other stories by him, and eventually found and purchased “The Complete Works of Saki.” Some more of my favorite stories by him: “The Boar Pig,” “The Storyteller,” “Tobermory” and “The Schartz-Metterklume Method,” all of which, with his biting wit, skewer the pre-World War I British upper class.

I have always been excited to see required reading assignments from school to book clubs. While I have detested as many as I truly enjoyed the practice of required reading introduced me to books I would not pursue on my own initiative. I am and always was an accomplished skip reader when books lose my interest.

My final year English novel, like many Australian teenagers, was ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ ; it’s still one of my favourite books! I remember struggling through ‘Madame Bovary’ that same year; didn’t love that one! 🇦🇺

Rebecca I too struggled with Madame Bovary!!

Such a timely post! I was having a similar conversation with my 21, 18, and 16-year-old boys. The oldest and youngest were also voracious readers in their youth, and even my middle child found his non-fiction biography niche and graphic novels to enjoy, but then came high school. Unanimously, they all have said how much the assigned reading killed any joy they had for reading, with very few notable exceptions e.g. East of Eden, The Kite Runner, and Kindred. My oldest has slowly come back around to enjoying reading while at university and especially the format of audiobooks, so keeping my fingers crossed that this is a temporary phase. I loved so many books in high school – The Great Gatsby, As I Lay Dying, The Scarlet Letter to name a few. My favorite book and the one that made me fall in love with the classics was Tess of the D’Urbervilles. I wrote my final paper for AP English on Tess. This book has stayed with me forever and even on a re-read recently, I still love it just as much.

Most of my High School reading focused on American writers. We studied a bit of Shakespeare, but otherwise, this is what I remember: I read To Kill A Mockingbird in High School and remember NOT GETTING IT. And honestly, I still wonder if it is a good book for High Schoolers? Maybe it is today, as kids are a lot more aware of the themes and ideas in that book, but when I picked it up and re-read it again as an adult, it was like reading a brand new book. I think I must have been very sheltered in my white, middle-upper class community…

I also read Beowulf and then Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill. We also read A Streetcar Named Desire. And then something by James Joyce, but all I remember about him was learning about “stream of consciousness” writing!

But as I see what some other people have said they had to read in High School, I think there was a lot I missed. I didn’t complete my college degree in four years either (took me 20, but that’s another story), so never had the chance to take an English Lit class etc, but have read some of those classics in my adulthood. It’s never too late!

My Junior AP English class was taught by a total spitfire of a woman. We all loved her or were a little scared of her. The best thing she ever did was assign Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver, thus making me a devout Kingsolver fan for life. Big thanks to Ms. Riley for that assignment.

While I had my share of assigned reading that weren’t my favorite, I’m thankful that never stopped my love for reading. Perhaps it’s because I was homeschooled?

Yes to Flannery O’Connor. Reading her short stories in 11the grade AP English was transformative for me. I also loved William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair; Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina; Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (unabridged); George Orwell’s Animal Farm; and the BEST Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. I went through high school in the 1970s and our diversity of reading was not ideal. It makes me happy to know that kids today are exposed to so much more.

I’m a boomer kid educated by (mostly) sweet nuns in the Midwest. The luckiest got to participate in two years of the Junior Great Books Program. If you are not familiar, the program provides excerpts from the world’s classics for middle school kids. The poor volunteers who led the discussions really had no idea what they were doing, but it was a great way to get out of class and get exposed to some works we would not have encountered until college or maybe never. Some went way past our heads(yes Song of Roland) but I discovered Boccaccio’s storytelling in the Decameron and the wit of Moliere and Benjamin Franklin. It was uneven experience but not that bad. My college required reading was for an elective of Eastern Civilization, and that was a real eye-opener. I am still a big fan of both classic and contemporary Asian (Japan, India, China) literature.

I remember in 11th grade, I think maybe for AP Literature, we read Fight Club. And then we got to watch the (edited) movie in class. My school district wasn’t particularly religious or conservative so we had some pretty good reading choices, but 20 years later, Fight Club stands out.

What interesting comments. I liked my H.S. reading. The one that fascinated me most was Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke. It was also the first time I was aware of parents objecting to a book in school. My school was very small, there were eight kids in my class, so we were all aware of what was happening. My teacher stuck with his selection but did let the one student read something else. We also read Rendezvous With Rama, 1984, Lord of the Flies, A Separate Peace and The Caine Mutiny. It did get me reading science fiction.

It wasn’t a popular opinion at the time, but I enjoyed Catch-22. I also loved the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which was an existentialist spin off of Hamlet.

Even if they got to choose a book, teachers make them stop and annotate. How can you enjoy reading anything if you are only worried about getting sources for your term paper? I ask their English teachers every semester why they do this and have yet to hear a good reason.

Great comments! It got me thinking about my high school English experience, and what led to me getting a college degree in English. I think that in high school, it’s the teacher, not the books! Because I had wonderful teachers, I got a glimpse into the world of reading that has guided my life ever since. Now I have grandkids in high school and I’m intrigued by their reading lists and their comments about their reading. I would still say that in high school, Shakespeare should be watched, not read. They’re plays after all. Some high school loves for me included The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, Siddhartha, A Tale of Two Cities, The Grapes of Wrath. Others that I think I enjoyed more because I read them in college were Jane Austen, George Elliott, Emily Dickinson, Charles Dickens, Hemingway. I also think early classics like Beowulf, the Illiad and the Odyssey, while they can be touched on in high school, turn off too many teenagers to reading and should be saved in depth for a liberal arts degree in college. I still struggle with Faulkner! I would like to honor my favorite English teachers who changed my life – Mrs. Neiman my AP English teacher, William Mulder, Geoffrey Aggeler, Roberta Steensma, Norman Council (the Fairy Queene!) I can still hear him reading it to us in that VOICE. Thanks, Anne, for the trip down memory lane!

I’m a reader, married to a reader, raising a reluctant reader. Capable, just doesn’t like to do it. I’ve been slamming my head against the concept of high school reading lists (he’s a homeschooled 8th/9th grader now, we’re flexible there…). I love to read, yet as much as I loved to read in public high school I ended up bluffing my way through most of my literature classes because I couldn’t make myself get past the first few pages (Heart of Darkness takes the prize, I couldn’t get past the second paragraph). So… I’ve been busy paring back my expectations to what I think is actually likely to happen.

Great post and comments! I only see two mentions of Catcher In The Rye and they’re both “loathed” – it’s the only book I’ve kept from high school (graduated ‘95) and for the longest time I always defaulted to it when asked “my favorite book.” However I have literally NO recollection of the story or the characters (other than the name Holden Caufield) AT ALL… and wonder if it’s aged well or if I’d feel the same? I have been called to re-read it now…and I’ve never re-read any book! I am so curious!

I first read Catcher in my first-year university English class, back in 1977. Reread it about five years ago when my book club at the time chose it. I liked it well enough the first time, but even better the second time. And we had a good book club discussion about the book. Male teenager perspective, trauma and family dynamics, etc. I’ll probably reread it again soon, and then go back to reread some of Salinger’s other books.

I read fairly quickly and in volume, so high school reading didn’t turn me off, it just ate into my time for my own selections. These comments highlight that different readers have very different reactions to books, so when a whole class reads the same book is going to get some different opinions particularly if most are reluctant readers. Personally, I think teachers should encourage students to talk about what they hate about a book, if they hate it; I’ve always found it useful for identifying books and things I will like. Also it’s helpful to recognize that I can dislike a book even while acknowledging that it is well written and doing exactly what the author set out to do.

The one book I recall loving was A Tale of Two Cities.

Some that were okay were the Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, A Separate Peace, The Winter of Our Discontent, The Lords of Discipline, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Aeneid (technically translated for Latin class).

Ones that I absolutely hated: Ethan Frome (I still rant about this one), Jude the Obscure (a favorite of my 12th grade teacher so we spent a lot of time on it).

Ones I didn’t like at the time but might understand better now: Gulliver’s Travels (I know now that it is a satire) and the Handmaid’s Tale (I was underwhelmed at the time but think it might hit different these days).

So much to say! And based on the comments, so do a lot of fellow readers! When I was in middle school through college, I would always tell people that school got in the way of reading. During the school year I would read what was assigned and then fall/winter/spring break and all summer I would devour the books that I wanted to read.

The list of assigned reading in high school I did not enjoy is longer than the titles that I did enjoy. I remember them because I did not like them. Most I found unrelatable, dry, and boring with equally as boring assignments essays to accompany them. Crime and Punishment was crime and punishment in 11th grade AP English. It was boring, it was long, and the answer was always the symbolism of 3s and 7s in the book. A Separate Peace, The Scarlet Letter, My Antonia were just words on pages. There were others that were okay. I did like The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Little Prince (which we read in French in French class).

Adults may find hilarious a YA novel about assigned summer reading, THE UNBEARABLE BOOK CLUB FOR UNSINKABLE GIRLS by Juli Schumacher. Entertaining story might actually get readers to try some of the books discussed by characters–who are contemporary versions of three Jane Austen heroines and maybe one author of classic novel, something that may not be obvious to even Austen fans.

In Schumacher’s re-imagining, pump room in Bath, England is transformed into public swimming pool in Delaware. Fans of NORTHANGER ABBEY may realize why girls’ instructor is named Ms. Radcliffe.

Some earlier comments on topic of assigned reading (by Danica, Suz Stewart, Susan Baum, etc) touch on fact that many young students just don’t have the emotional or intellectual maturity or life experience (or vocabulary) to understand literary works written for much older adults. Also, traditional aim of literature classes has been preparation for college studies, NOT primarily to get students to enjoy reading. Typically in the past, those who didn’t already have aptitude for such courses would have already been diverted to other paths for their lives, rather than waste time and money on educational attempts they weren’t interested in.

Favorite novels about book lovers include autobiographical HALF MAGIC by Edward Eager, BETSY-TACY series by Maud Hart Lovelace (“Betsy In Spite of Herself” includes assigned reading of IVANHOE she already loved) and Melendy family and Gone-away Lake books by Elizabeth Enright, all of which may show love of reading is partly fostered by adults such as librarians, writers, book sellers, and partly inherited, or encouraged by environment.

Also recommended: Thomas C. Foster’s books HOW TO READ LITERATURE LIKE A PROFESSOR and READING THE SILVER SCREEN which applies similar skills to interpret and increase enjoyment of visual arts.

I wonder if microsecond mentality fostered by social media is unable to appreciate extended metaphors and themes developed throughout a lengthy story, as is done in literary fiction. Yet even before cyber citizens were born, teachers and others concerned with literacy used to lament that in many homes, the only book was a phone book…

In the eighth grade we were assigned to read David Copperfield. Every Friday afternoon we would discuss the parts we were up to. We also had to draw how we pictured the characters. This was one English class I enjoyed. Marilyn

All of you who read classics in school have much to be thankful for. I went to high school in the 70s when classics were considered boring. We read “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” which, if you aren’t familiar with it, is because it wasn’t worth knowing. I picked up classics on my own, reading “Robinson Crusoe” on trains in Europe. When I saw the 1980s BBC production of “Pride & Prejudice,” I couldn’t wait to buy the book. Libraries didn’t have many classics! Now I teach English and hope my enthusiasm communicates to my students.

I was homeschooled, and didn’t read a lot of the typical required reading books, but I did have to read Moby Dick and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I found Moby Dick interesting enough (I would like to re-read it and see what I think of it now), but 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea bored me to death.

In college, I minored in English, and some of my favorite required reading for those classes were: Go Tell it On the Mountain by James Baldwin Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Much Ado About Nothing and The Tempest by William Shakespeare

There were others I enjoyed as well, but they’re not coming to mind at the moment. Next on my classics list needs to be some Jane Austen I think, I’m sure I’ll enjoy her once I get into it.

I think I was lucky with my English teachers. There were books that weren’t for me: Animal Farm and Huckleberry Finn to name two, but there were a lot that I liked and loved. We read To Kill a Mockingbird, The Hobbit, The Hiding Place, and they made Shakespeare great. All my teachers also loved poetry and opened my eyes to the genre.

I loved Macbeth, Lord of the Flies, and Animal Farm. I would also read assigned reading that my older sister read in school, which exposed me to books that were never assigned to me. She gave me the scoop for which ones she actually liked and I would follow her guidance.

I truly appreciate your content. It creates lots of value for me

I wasn’t assigned any of these books. I loved The Lord of the Flies, The Crucible, and 1984 thanks to an awesome sophomore English teacher!

We didn’t have required reading in high school. Great education, huh? LOL I don’t understand the fascination with Jane Eyre. I hated that book.

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People Are Sharing The Most Ridiculous Assignment A Teacher Has Ever Given Them, And I’m Concerned

"It was so out of touch for her to do something like that — grade our trauma and have us share it without the option of bowing out."

BuzzFeed Staff

Teachers are low-key heroes. They teach us how to navigate the world and oftentimes leave a lasting impact on us.

But even the best teachers have ~questionable~ assignment ideas every once in a while., and then, of course, there are those teachers (who probably shouldn't be teachers in the first place) who give their students just straight-up problematic or ignorant assignments., recently, i asked the buzzfeed community to tell me the weirdest, most pointless, or most ridiculous assignment a teacher has ever given them. and they did not disappoint., here are some of the best responses:, 1. "when i was in seventh grade and learning about photosynthesis, my science teacher had us pick a partner, find a backing track, and put all the relevant terms into a science rap. each group had to get up in front of the class and sing their photosynthesis rap. my group's rap was extremely embarrassing. we had a beatboxer in the background and everything. 😳😬🤣🤣", 2. "in my high school ap us history class, we had to make manifest destiny board games. manifest destiny is the idea that white christian settlers were destined to take over land from indigenous folks through westward expansion. so, pointless and racist.", 3. "my eighth-grade history teacher broke us up into groups, and we had to choreograph an interpretive dance to the words of the preamble to the constitution. then, we had to perform the dance while singing the words to the preamble in front of the class. it was weird as hell.".

4. "The school I went to was one for students who needed extra help due to circumstances that heavily impacted their lives. Most of our backgrounds were not openly discussed, and the school was an escape and comfort knowing we were around people who understood what struggle was. My senior year, we got a new English/lit teacher. Her writing project was for us to write our life stories. She said she wanted us to include true stories with the key moments that impacted us. After she graded them, we had to read them to the rest of the whole school.

— anastasiaallison0709

5. "I took an advanced Spanish 2 class in college. The professor never really planned lessons. One day, we had to play a game where we had to chase each other around, blindfolded. I forget the objective, but we weren’t even talking in Spanish!

"We also did other pointless activities like coloring and karaoke, and if you didn’t sing, you got zero participation points. What a waste of $7,000."

— yesbutalsonoway

6. "At some point in elementary school, like third or fourth grade, I had an assignment to fake invest and track stocks. If I remember correctly, we just abandoned the assignment because no one understood what was happening. But I remember having to look through the newspaper for yesterday's closing numbers despite the internet very much existing."

— anonymous093

7. "My eighth-grade English teacher made us write an essay on how we would defend her if we heard another student refer to her as 'Silly Lilly' (the teacher's first name was Lillian).

"What a narcissist with a need to have her ego fed! The truth was that most students called her far worse than 'Silly Lilly' behind her back."

8. "In health class, we had to partner up and take turns being blindfolded and fed. It was very hot chicken noodle soup, so we burned our mouths."

— savorytree93

9. "In science class, we were given homework that was 'make a Punnett square for a trait about yourself.' I was adopted at birth. When I told the teacher this, she made me do it anyway."

— colleend9

10. "My third-through-fifth grade art teacher once made us work on a drawing for, like, a month to demonstrate how, if we work on a project for too long, we will eventually come to hate it. It worked."

— msfranzke

11. "We had a teacher in high school who was an avid fly fisherman. He tied his own flies, so we were told we would be given extra credit if we brought in the feathers or fur of specific birds or animals for his fly tying.

"Basically, we would find road kill and grab some fur or feathers off of it and bring it in to him. Additional credit if we could bring in exactly what he needed (i.e. red pheasant feathers, etc.)."

12. "For Black History Month, my (white) fourth-grade teacher had us decorate russet potatoes to look like prominent Black Americans. I got Louis Armstrong. At the time, it seemed respectful, but looking back, it was pretty weird and arguably racist. I think their heart was in the right place, but I don’t think a teacher would assign something like that now.

"On a side note: One kid froze their potato, which proceeded to melt, and our room smelled like french fries for a week. Fun times."

13. "In eighth grade, there was a huge apartment building under construction in my town that collapsed because management told the construction workers to continue building when the concrete foundation was not yet sufficiently strong. Several people died. My English teacher asked us to write a letter to the management of that company telling them they were horrible people and it was their fault those people were killed. I had no desire to do this, nor did my classmates who saw it as a tragedy for which everyone involved was likely already suffering."

14. "in college, my sociology professor gave us an assignment that required us to go to a store that had wheelchairs/scooters for people who are either physically disabled or with limited mobility, take one, shop in it, and record our experience in an essay. i guess i get where the general idea came from, but i didn't feel comfortable taking something that another person needed in order to get a grade.", 15. "in community college, i had a teacher make us write our own 50-question test for a unit. she didn’t make us swap them with other students — we answered our own made-up tests. of course, i got a perfect score because i came up with the questions . she asked me if i cheated. 😳".

— jessicaerins

16. "In seventh grade, we studied the Holocaust. Our language arts teacher designed an assignment called the 'L of Lutzke' (her name) where we had to wear an arm band for a whole week that allowed teachers and students to treat us like outcasts and pick on us.

"One kid had to run laps backwards around the cafeteria until he was told to stop, which was one of the more tame things that happened. You also weren't allowed to hide the band or you'd be punished even more harshly."

— chelseamcdonald

17. "In high school English, we read Death on the Ice , a book about 100+ men who were trapped on a sheet of floating ice for several days. We had a test on the book, and my teacher gave hot chocolate and cookies to every student who got over a 90%, water and cookies to anyone who got between a 70-89%, water and hard bread to anyone who got between 50-69%, and if you failed, you had to mop the floor (one person failed).

"It was like a very unfair party, and everyone could tell what grade you got. Oh, and if you got below a 70%, you also had to walk around the school with no coat as if you were a character in the book. This was February in Canada…"

— lkennedy709

18. "My college psych professor, a man in his 50s, made our class write several prompted responses and a short paper on the impact of Iggy Azalea’s album The New Classic . I still for the life of me couldn’t tell you why."

19. "When I was in grade four and we were learning about the stamp act, our teachers started charging us five cents for every piece of paper we used. And we couldn’t bring our own. It took about a week before they finally told us that they wanted us to experience what the colonists experienced when Britain taxed them."

20. "at my small catholic middle school, i had an english teacher who used to teach college students. once a week, for 45 minutes, we had to copy, by hand, word-for-word, chapters out of a 40-year-old college textbook.", 21. "in middle school, our gym teacher required every student to come up with their own gymnastics routine — set to music — and perform it in front of the entire class. it was humiliating for us less athletic/coordinated kids. the teacher didn’t actually offer any help or advice either, so the only thing we learned was how bad we were at creating and performing gymnastics routines..

"It was winter, so we had to practice inside, and many of us didn’t even have a large enough space to practice. Try perfecting a cartwheel in a tiny living room on a 5x7 area rug!"

22. "My school thought it would unite all the grades if we wrote a poem together. We all got the same prompt and had to write one sentence in response. The prompt was 'What do you fear most?' The English teachers collected the responses and hung them all over the school. It was meant to be empowering, but it was so depressing!

"You’d be walking down the hall reading things like 'I fear failure' and 'I’m scared none of my friends like me.' There were also people who wrote things like 'I’m scared of chicken nuggets.' I still don’t understand what they were trying to achieve with that."

— dalittle20

23. "When I was in the ninth grade attending private Christian school, we were introduced to term papers. These were intimidating enough, but then, the teacher gave us the assignment: 'Talk about the three kinds of love: brotherly love, Godly love, and romantic love.' This was in 2005, by the way, and the internet wan't as filtered as it is today, so lots of us accidentally found gay porn.

"After we mentioned this to our teacher, she told us it would be the first and ONLY time she ever assigned that as a term paper."

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Do you remember any weird or ridiculous assignments your teacher made you do? Let us know in the comments!

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