I
have been struggling with the idea of whether or not Cliff Notes are exactly
ethical within the English classroom. I searched the internet and came across
an internet debate on just that. I swore to myself that I would NEVER use cliff notes in the classroom and would do everything in my power to make sure students do not use those guides instead of reading the text. There are many websites which claim that students should not resort to using the cliff notes because they deter the student from reading the text in its entirety. On the other hand, some claim that cliff notes actual benefit students in the classroom by not necessarily replacing the text, but providing aide to the text. Both sides provide pretty strong arguments, but as a student and a future educator, I am at a stand still regarding which side is technically correct.
As a student, I must admit that I wasn't a fan of reading. I hated it. I never read a book cover to cover until college, so in order to achieve high grades, I used cliff notes. It didn't feel like cheating, but looking back and thinking of the time other students put into actually reading the text, I think I took the easy way out. I did very well in all of my English classes and always was active in discussion about the texts, but when it came time to discuss certain details about the novel, I couldn't contribute because I read a summary instead of the narrative. Since cliff notes weren't necessarily helping me as much as I would have liked, I found another website which went above and beyond all of my expectations. The site is called Gradesaver.com and it has all the major texts discussed in high school and college classrooms. It brings up topics of discussion, which would help me to begin discussions and be able to argue specific points about the text, even though I had not read it.
After I began reading novels that I couldn't lie my way out of, I fell in love with reading and I felt like I cheated myself by not reading novels from middle and high school, which I have actually gone back and read now. As a teacher, I want to encourage my students to read, even though some may do what I did. I feel like I can't tell them not to use it because that would be extremely hypocritical of me, but I don't want to encourage them to use it either. While reading the arguments for both sides, something stuck out, READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS! Both sides agreed that cliff notes help students better understand novels instead of relying solely on the novel. One of the people in the debate is a Language Arts teacher who originally looked down upon those who resorted to using cliff notes, but he changed his tune when he saw how it helps students, "One of the primary ways that I used a Cliffs Notes guide in my lesson plans was as a companion reader for more difficult texts. For example, Nathaniel Hawthorne's text The Scarlet Letter is exceptionally hard for mid-level and struggling students in the tenth grade. (To be honest, that text can be difficult for adult readers.) To help my students, we would keep both texts on our desks side by side" ( Walter Allen, 2008), I think that using both texts together is an excellent way to utilize cliff notes, without the students using one instead of the other. I think after each student reads the chapter of a novel, they should be able to look at a guide like cliff notes to reinforce what they read and help them to grasp some themes or situations they may not have understood while reading.
The other side who believe that cliff notes have no place in the classroom argue, "Despite its usefulness, it is one of the most abused learning tools in the American public school system. Over ambitious students swamped with school work use them as short-cuts for actually reading the novels. Others, looking to avoid reading all together, use them without ever opening the book it was meant to demystify" (Dean Traylor, 2008). As someone who has done exactly what this person is referring to, I cringe at the thought of my students using just the cliff notes. The guides are embarrassingly abused in the public school system and that is why it wil be mortifying to know my students will be doing exactly what I did. I want to deter students from using them and one of the ways I could do that is to make the text exciting and meaningful. Class discussions would be a group effort and I would help students make connections from the text to their own lives, perhaps giving them an incentive to read the novel. I don't want to be one of those teachers who gives a quiz after every chapter to make sure that everyone is reading, but I would want to assess in some way that my students are reading. I think that participation in class discussion, though not necessarily justifying that they read would help me to see who is engaging with the text and who is not.
Overall, I believe that cliff notes have no place in the classroom, but I do believe they are beneficial to students who may have difficulty understanding the texts read in class. I have come to the conclusion that some students are going to use cliff notes, but if I have an opportunity to show them how to use the guide appropriately, then I want to do that. I would definitely apply the guide's chapter summaries and distribute them at the end of each chapter, that way my students can comprehend what they read and they then can respond to the reading. I would have my students read and respond, which would be graded either as an online blog or an in-class journal. I think that would be the most appropriate balance of both reading sources within the Language Arts classroom.
Works Cited:
http://www.helium.com/debates/163678-is-the-use-of-cliffs-notes-academically-honest/side_by_side
After reading your post, I brainstormed a few ideas that led me to believe that Cliffs Notes should NOT be used in the classroom. I think it will always be a struggle because it CAN aid understanding but I believe that some students will always use it to veer away from actually reading because they will wonder why they should read if they have summaries and an analysis right in front of them? I used Cliffs Notes, too, in high school and guess what? I got good grades! I was able to get by so why wouldn’t other students? I remember coming into class having read a summary and my peers would say that they read the whole text. I remember feeling ashamed. But, for me, I am a slow reader and it would have taken me hours to read a few chapters so I figured that the summaries would do justice and save me time. However, I could not shake the feeling that I was taking a short cut that was not right. When I got to college and started reading texts cover to cover, I realized all that I was missing out on. But, how can we help students veer away from using these summaries as their only “reading” of texts? However, I have to disagree that Cliffs Notes can be used as “companion readers.” Think about texts as ambiguous--especially literature texts. Students can have so many different interpretations and by suing the summaries with the texts side-by-side, students may just view that summary as THE answer and ignore other interpretations.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you said you would try and make reading exciting and meaningful. I think a good idea would be to use OTHER aides to help understanding. Why do students need to use summaries as aides? Why can’t they use pictures, videos, or collaboration? Students can create blogs and go into the minds of characters and create blog posts in the point of view of a certain character. Then, students can read blogs from other students. This is fun and students are also learning from other sources---their own peers! So, I think there is a great amount of aids out there like reading a play and then watching it acted out via a Youtube video. Students can gain understanding by seeing it played out with emotion and characters and props. This is an aide but doe snot involve giving students answers or making students view a text a certain way and avoid their own interpretations and critical thinking.
I thought you questioned a really good topic in this blog! I, too, struggle with whether or not Cliff Notes are appropriate. As a student, I have relied on online summaries many times. At first, I would use them as an aid, so I could make sure I properly understood the text. Then I realized I was spending so much time reading, taking notes, and looking information up online. It seemed so much easier to just go straight to the Internet. I agree that it is cheating in a way, but we cannot do much to prevent students from turning to the Internet. Regardless of what we do, as teachers, there will be some students who read the text, some who do not, and some who just read online summaries. While I wouldn’t encourage my students to rely on online summaries, I would want them to at least read the summaries, rather than come to class not having a clue about what the text was about.
ReplyDeleteYou admit that you “felt like I cheated myself by not reading novels from middle and high school.” I definitely think that are benefits to reading the actual text, but there is so much information online these days that you can still get a good understanding on the work without ever reading it. You wrote about the one teacher who has his students use Cliff Notes along with the text. I think this is a great idea in theory, but we have to know that eventually students will realize they can skip reading and just read the Cliff Notes. Like you said, we can’t really blame the students when we used to do the same things, ourselves. Even today, as I do lesson plans for my various educational classes, I rely a lot on online information. It makes me feel better to double check all of my thoughts with information from the Internet. I feel as though this will prevent me from making mistakes and looking stupid in front of a class full of teenagers.
I agree that Cliff Notes are “one of the most abused learning tools.” There are certainly both pros and cons, but we have to admit students rely way too much on the Internet. Students are very busy, juggling after school activities, sports, family issues, and jobs. There is a lot of pressure and even the really good students are bound to turn to shortcuts. As teachers, we can drive ourselves crazy trying to catch who didn’t actually read or we can just accept that some students have read and some have not. I think it’s important to give regular assessments that force students to critically think, not just know the basic facts. This will help teachers evaluate who is reading and who has been sliding by.