Reflection on Ch. 3

Before reading this chapter, I never knew the process textbooks undertook to reach class rooms. I always knew that we were going to be bombarded with heavy books that I really wasn't going to understand most of the time. I remember back in middle school all the heavy books our teachers would assign us, but couldn't find sense in why they were so big. After reading this chapter, I realized the mistake is was having should books. "So much information that I can't remember all that" I remember saying when reading my 13 pound geography book. It was just to broad for me and didn't get to the "meat"of a subject. The worst part of all is my teacher would read word to word form the textbook and gave a fill in the blanks after the reading. Seriously, I think everyone left with a mild understanding of what that class was suppose to teach us.

It's amazing how superficial these texct books are. I allways thought that carefull experts got together and put the book together thinking of the kids that were to read the book. What are kids supposed to do when they get six to eight heavy weight books to read and complete all standedized test matrial when the rest of the information is irrelavant to their comprehension. Could this be the reason why test are so low in the U.S and all these new programs are poping up in so many states? How badly are these books made?

New designs on how to attrack kids to read the text are obiously distracting to many. According the readin in page 41, the books are trying to make it feel like a computer or a video game where the kids feel in control. In the outcome most students end up confused and overwhelmed. This becomes harder for struggling readers and really need to stay away from such distractions. Its disappointing to think how textbook publishing business work. Teacher should be aware on how not to be narrowed down strictly on what the book says. 

Since this chapter, I started to pay closer attention to my textbooks. One thick book I usually have been using for classes had have discrepancies and contradictions with in 4 pages. I found that disappointed. Even though I know most of that information is accurate, it's amazing how the editors have not caught those errors after the fifth or sixth edition. Teachers need to learn how to use textbooks as references and to each discretion.