Nancie Atwell is a firm believer in a student’s power of choice in the classroom. She believes that choice is essential and that children should be able to choose what to read and what to write. Atwell’s belief stems from when she was a child. As a child, Nancie Atwell did not feel as if school was academically stimulating. She did not like her teachers and was not engaged in class. Instead, Nancie Atwell was often found with a book, reading during her class period (“10 interesting facts” 2015). Though she did not enjoy school, she loved to read. This love formed when she was bedridden with rheumatic fever as a child (“Nancie Atwell” 2015). Her love for reading allowed her to succeed in school, and contributed to her being granted a full scholarship
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Brooks, Brooks disputes Nancie Atwell’s beliefs that Atwell describes in her book, In the Middle. In Brooks’ opinion, Atwell’s approach is unrealistic to a modern day classroom. Brooks describes that she “teach(es) more than one hundred students…twenty percent of those students have significant learning disabilities, and many speak English as a Second Language” (2006, p.93). Brooks believes that the entirety of Atwell’s instructional design cannot be used in a typical learning environment due to a lack of time and the stress on testing. Also, due to various environmental issues, many of the students in Brooks’ class would not be able to complete the writing assignments that were due. Brooks was unable to encourage all of her students to stay engaged in the material, and she was unable to influence her students to love reading and writing (p.93). Brooks stated that some of her students who did engage in the material only wrote poetry for the entirety of the year. She could not encourage her students to explore different genres of literature, and her time-constraint made it difficult to successfully transition into new genres in a way that encourage further literature exploration (p.94). Brooks expressed that even though she followed Atwell’s advice, she could not engage all the students in her class. Brooks admires Atwell’s beliefs, however in her opinion the beliefs published in In the Middle do not fully explain how a teacher can apply Atwell’s theories within their own classroom. Brooks believes that while Atwell does make good suggestions such as reading aloud and predictability within a classroom, the entire theory is
Brooks, Brooks disputes Nancie Atwell’s beliefs that Atwell describes in her book, In the Middle. In Brooks’ opinion, Atwell’s approach is unrealistic to a modern day classroom. Brooks describes that she “teach(es) more than one hundred students…twenty percent of those students have significant learning disabilities, and many speak English as a Second Language” (2006, p.93). Brooks believes that the entirety of Atwell’s instructional design cannot be used in a typical learning environment due to a lack of time and the stress on testing. Also, due to various environmental issues, many of the students in Brooks’ class would not be able to complete the writing assignments that were due. Brooks was unable to encourage all of her students to stay engaged in the material, and she was unable to influence her students to love reading and writing (p.93). Brooks stated that some of her students who did engage in the material only wrote poetry for the entirety of the year. She could not encourage her students to explore different genres of literature, and her time-constraint made it difficult to successfully transition into new genres in a way that encourage further literature exploration (p.94). Brooks expressed that even though she followed Atwell’s advice, she could not engage all the students in her class. Brooks admires Atwell’s beliefs, however in her opinion the beliefs published in In the Middle do not fully explain how a teacher can apply Atwell’s theories within their own classroom. Brooks believes that while Atwell does make good suggestions such as reading aloud and predictability within a classroom, the entire theory is