4 Suggestions for Teachers Hoping to Assign Reading

At this point, you may be tired of seeing my school-related posts. However, because it's August, I want to send out help to those in school, like myself, and need tips and suggestions. I also try to include teachers and professors in posts like this because they made need some fresh insights into an upcoming semester or year.

I plan to do one more post for tomorrow, August 20, to give students suggestions for tackling any assigned reading they have for their classes.

Here are 4 suggestions for teachers hoping to assign reading.

Suggestion 1: Assign books that will benefit the students' understanding of the class.

If you're assigning Jane Eyre for a Middle Eastern history class, that does nothing for the students' understanding of the class. Yes, this was a dramatic example, but you get the point. Make sure that any assigned books have something to do with the course material and help the students better understand the material.

Suggestion 2: Avoid assigning books just for busywork.

Assigning books just for the sake of assigning books to read does nothing for students. And more likely than not, this will be one of many factors leading to the habit of not reading for future classes (depending on how much schooling the student has left). Even if the book helps the student understand the course better, don't assign it just to assign it. Maybe create a small quiz to see if students read it, or do a little notecard assignment asking what students thought about the book. You can even do an essay.

Just avoid assigning books just for busywork.

Suggestion 3: Don't assign much, if any, reading during the last couple of weeks during the semester.

The last couple of weeks of the semester are the most stressful for students. We're studying for exams, trying to finish up papers, and so much more. Assigning new reading during those last few weeks does not do any good for your students. If it's finishing up a book, then that's fine. But don't assign a whole new book during the last couple of weeks.

Suggestion 4: Read the book before you assign it for your class.

Yes, a book may be relevant to your class. But if you don't read it for yourself, you won't know for sure. Additionally, you may also see that, while relevant to the class, only a couple of chapters really help get the class material across. So you may want to assign only specific chapters of a book. Again, this is something you won't know unless you read the book.