TOP 5 REASONS Students DON'T Read Textbooks (and what to do about it...)

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Why, oh WHY, don't students read their textbooks? We, as teachers, know that the time spent reading textbooks solidifies the content of the course and has all kinds of beneficial applications. And yet, students don't seem to agree with our assessments. Whereas we teachers are romantics about our subjects, our students are practical. And if we're going to get students to read their textbooks, we have to approach them on their own terms.

[xenos]

Hey! I'm a student but this video is so accurate! I'd love to read the textbook but I'm very slow, will you ever make a video on how to read textbooks faster and more efficiently? ^^

[KhasAdun]

One thing my own professor has done that makes the time spent reading feel valuable is that they provide a reading guide, with a set of questions that I know will be helpful to know the answers to on the test. I get all the reading done and I actually know what I'm supposed to learn from it, because some chapters go on for so long that I've forgotten what I read at the beginning by the time I get to the end, but if I take guided notes and review them, I actually learn what I feel I am meant to learn. I'm currently condensed classes taking classes at Arizona State University, covering 13 weeks of material in about 6, so it's a lot of reading.

[scottishhistorian]

It's heartbreaking when I give the students videos/podcasts/texts and they STILL DONT DO That's why I am spending precious weeks now showing them HOW to read EFFECTVIELY in

[jackhoran]

As you did with the classroom reading example, I always give students focus question(s) for the reading, and tell them to look for the answers to those questions in the reading. The focus questions have to be thoughtful ones that lead them to understanding what the author wants to say, rather than just trivia. Then, we eat with those issues in class the next day (including with a quick quiz). At the start of the year, I go through an exercise that shows them that what is or is not important in a reading depends on the question that the author is trying to answer.

[leelandjohnson]

This subject gets even bigger in the ELA classroom. When covering a novel, I really do need the students to read at home. Yes, we read in class as well, but the more reading we do in class, the less time there is to do other things to help enhance the knowledge of the text. Again, my students will say they simply do not have enough time. I am starting to think that this is not always a legitimate excuse as many students in today's world are busy with the instant rewards that come with today's entertainment.
I digress. I have tried giving students options as far as listening to the audiobook. Many will not opt to do even that much. What I think it ultimately comes down to is time management. I think this is where I kind of understand. There is so much more calling at students today than there was before the turn of the century. Time management is something they need to be introduced to long before high school; if not, then I need to find a way to teach that to them. Any thoughts?

[noahkepner]

Modeling is important. They need to know how to decode a text!
How to take notes is also the first 2-3 things we do in my APUSH course. What's really important? What do you really need to know? I have them do essential questions for each chapter. Helps them focus.
For struggling readers a guided reading handout can be helpful too. This can be problematic though. They learn how to pick and peck through the Guided Reading questions/prompts and never really learn how to docode and read the text for themselves. "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day...teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime."
Good conversations to have! We teachers need to have these conversations!

[NiceGuyEddy]

I know that not all of my students do all the reading all the time; however, I think a lot of them do and I have pretty good pass rates. Essentially I give them assignments to go with the reading in addition to giving them pop reading check quizzes. I try to throw in some easy questions that you get if you read, along with some SBMC questions. With that being said, I want to do two things differently next year: 1) attempt to give them a little less reading by skipping some of the content (i hope this doesn't bite me) and 2) teach them how to read better in my class. Thank you for the video!

[russellmcmullen]

Great stuff, as usual. (Good luck on A Secular Age! It's on my list, heard great things.) I'm a first year WHAP teacher, and for what it's worth, I've had some success giving students guided reading notes for some structure as they go through the textbook, then holding them accountable with a weekly quiz that could be any day of the week (we meet every other day). I didn't start out this way (not that smart!), but just found it with trial and error in my APEH class I've been teaching for a few years. I think it basically works because it gives very clear incentives (weekly grade), but they're getting some 'modeling' of what it's like to read for what's important (like you suggested with your in-class reading example). They can turn in hand-written copies of their reading guides for a little extra credit on tests, for a little extra incentive (and to encourage hand-written work which cuts down on distraction, to your point).

I will say, the reading guides took/are taking *a lot* of work to prepare and tweak. They're a mixture of key concepts, guiding questions, IDs, charts to help organize, compare, and synthesize information. Which leads me to a question about giving options like videos to get the content. I'm open to it, but I'm wondering how to hold them accountable and give them tangible grade incentives on a daily/weekly basis for the videos. I'd rather not go through every video and create a 'viewing guide' (laziness factor creeping in). Does that make sense?

[Victor-tldk]

I knew this professor that I grew up with. Unfortunately he died not too long ago (April 7th.) And he sent me some problems that the university gives to high school seniors (I was in... middle school at the time.) I solved two problems... He sent me back an email where he told me that I did the wrong thing by using the multiple choice answers to answer the problem! I think there is a big disconnect between teachers and students. Of course I used the multiple choice answers to answer the problem! What person wouldn't?!? He wanted me to learn from the problems he sent me.

But that would set me up for a less-than-ideal situation because instead being rewarded for what I knew I would be punished. I'd see students who knew less than me get better grades and I'd be punished for doing things the "virtuous way" (most of the time) because no one knew I was doing it that way. I have no problem with not being rewarded for doing good work, but I definitely don't want to feel punished for it!!! I wrote a draft to him that I never sent, and I can tell that I was really demotivated and annoyed by his response. At the age I couldn't/didn't understand why he wrote that. I started second guessing, it seems, whether I was right...

It's kind of like using a hammer to hit a rock. Each hit causes micro-cuts, but if the student (the one hitting the rock) were graded on the 20th hit when it is the 22nd when the rock would have broken he/she would get a D grade for maybe just chipping off some pieces. So no wonder students "cheat" and use a power tool. :-) Why be punished for good work!?!

[ronlugbill]

Students don't read textbooks because 1. Textbooks are boring. And 2. Many students don't have the reading ability, vocabulary, and background knowledge to understand it well.
So, I don't use textbooks. I use real books. People love stories. And they retain and learn what they read in a story.
Read aloud and silent reading. And discuss what you read. And maybe write about what you read.
And classic movies. Not the whole movie at once, but 20 minutes per day. And discuss and maybe write about it.
And I also teach and test on vocabulary. And essay questions on what we read and watched.
Kids love this and learn a lot. Reading scores go up. But admin hates it so you have to put on a show when you get observed.
I just don't use textbooks. The kids are right. They are boring. And for me, the goal is not memorizing some facts that will soon be forgotten. It is helping the kids understand and analyze life. To read and think deeply. To write well and to articulate their thoughts. And to enjoy the process. Education is not just preparation for life. Education is life.

[carrieemmerson]

Really helpful and thought-provoking, as usual. I agree that modeling good reading strategies is key, as is teaching students how to pull out the most important information and record it in a way that is useful to them (i.e. notes that aren't just a dump of information). I still haven't hit on the solution to the latter one, in particular. I like the Guided Notes idea. Any others?

[knw-seeker]

Thanks for telling the truth about the school system as well as the students mindset resulting off it

That it’s not about learning but about grades or passing the exams

[plerpplerp]

I hate textbooks, and I am a teacher. My reason is I don't need an author to tell me how to teach my subject.

[cynthiajfaulkner]

I really wish we were teaching them as littles that cramming is not effective learning. I give my college students some tests early on and then I ask: Are you getting the grade you want? How are you studying? Then we talk about effective studying based on science snd misconceptions about cramming. Then we go over how to make a 90-minute session more effective.

[kawardt]

The reason why I dont read is because the more I read the more confuse I am. Sometimes, I dont even remember what I read. I am a slow reader too :(

[guyhoyle]

Are the closed captions wrong on this video?

[kelseyswanepoel]

I'm trying to figure out why i cannot just read the prescribed texts. It's so easy but I just can't do it 😭

[mawedelafuente]

as interesting as a piece of dry shredded wheat. hilarious and amazing. thank you. very helpful.

[doctorothon]

i would rather listen to lectures for 16 hours than read textbooks for 4

[Burkery]

bro just proved progressive education 0:53