Friday's Class

I believe one of the best ways to learn is to read and discuss. Too many teachers today send students off on reading assignments, memorize what they read, and take a test on it. Very few still do open discussions. I think this is a crime. It robs students of the ability to get multiple perspectives on a reading. Fortunately, I do not have to criticize "Thought and Writing" as a class in which this horrible injustice takes place. I learned a lot on Friday, and it was thanks to the open discussions. One of the best things I got out of that class was a new perspective on life in 1959. The description the author gave of the man's experience on the day Billy Holiday died said a lot. We were able to dissect the reading and figure out who the man was, where he came from, what his motives were, the way he thought, where he worked, and his general attitude. It is quite interesting that we can infer so much from a simple, well written poem.