Ditching the Classics

I know. Just breathe. Some jackass says, "Ditch the classics," and you stop listening. I've been there. I've felt personally attacked, too. I've thought, "Screw you! The classics are classics for a reason and they have a place in the high school English classroom!"  But, I'm here to share the bittersweet news: letting go of teaching only my favorite canonical texts changed my classroom for the better.

Don't get me wrong; I love the classics. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is my all-time favorite book and not teaching it hurts my soul. But my kids hate reading about the likes of Huck and Tom.  I showed my passion for it. I connected the themes to their 21st Century lives. I did everything they tell you to do. BUT IT DIDN"T WORK, and that devastated me. I kept trying, blaming the kids for being uncultured, apathetic, and lazy. I was a literature snob and I expected my 14-18 year old students to be just like me. When I finally decided to try something new, I never looked back.

I started small. I pitched The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to my principal, and she bought it. (Sidebar: My principal is amazing and the most supportive administrator you could possibly find.) I was teaching English III, and I hated reading Colonial literature as much as my students, so I was more than willing to let go of those foundational American texts. However, I do believe those texts to be of importance. I began the unit by having students read carefully abridged excerpts of Mary Rowlandson, William Bradford, and Cabeza de Vaca. Through this, I began introducing modern issues associated with Native Americans. The Dakota Access Pipeline when I first did this, so I developed an argumentative mini-unit around the debate. By the time we had read what we needed of the classics and students had an understanding of modern issues between the U.S. government and Native Americans, we began reading Sherman's Alexei's masterpiece. It was the best decision I'd ever made in the classroom.

Students were ACTUALLY READING FOR HOMEWORK! They loved the book! They were still developing the skills mandated by the Common Core, but something more important was happening. They were becoming more empathetic. They were thinking of ways to help alleviate racial tension in our school. They were having deep, meaningful conversations on a daily basis. They were becoming better people. And isn't this why we teach? I learned more about my students in that unit than I did the rest of the year. I was so inspired that I began ditching more and more of the classic texts that I love in lieu of modern literature. It was hard and it was time consuming, but it was so worth it.  

Now, I teach modern literature in three out of four units in English III, and I now teach Looking for Alaska, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Crank with my transitional seniors (seniors who failed to meet the benchmark on the ACT). I still teach The Absolutely True Diary during Colonialism. In the Romanticism unit, we read some Poe and look at how the Gothic genre has developed in modern cinema. Then, students get a base understanding of Transcendentalism and read excerpts of and watch Into the Wild.  Students finish that unit by writing an analytical essay, and I've heard students say numerous times, "That was the best essay I've ever written!" During Realism, students read excerpts of Frederick Douglass's narrative then read Sold by Patricia McCormick, a modern slave narrative that follows a young Nepali girl named Lakshmi as she is sold by her stepfather into sex slavery. Students end that unit by raising awareness and money to help stop sex slavery in the United States. In my last unit, Modernism, I still teach The Great Gatsby because students really get into that one, and I found an amazing unit by Ashley Bible (Buildingbooklove.com) that gets them engaged in the novel.  I start the unit by giving students $200 (of fake money), and their goal is to earn money and get to West Egg. 

I still teach the classics, but I'm not married to them anymore. I use them to supplement literature that gets students engaged, and that's when the magic happens. Students weren't learning before, and I feel like I failed them. Now, since they are engaged in what we are reading, they are becoming better readers and writers, but more importantly, they are becoming better citizens.  I challenge you to try to ditch the classics like I have.  Start small and see where it takes you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.