Ch.1 Seven Guiding Principles for Literature Teachers- Pytash

There were some points that I strongly agreed with from Carol Jago, but there were also some points that I strongly disagreed with.  One point that I really agreed with was, "That students can't read a book on their own doesn't mean that, with help, they can't and shouldn't read it"(7).  I believe that sometimes teachers find books to be too challenging for their students, and opt to teach another book.  It is not fair to those students who enjoy reading and like the challenge of a more difficult book.  As teachers, our ultimate goal should be to teach complex literature and have students understand and relate to it.  If we choose not to teach more difficult texts we are only hindering the growth of students knowledge.  My senior year of high school my English class read The Sound and the Fury.  It was one of the hardest books I ever read, but with the guidance of my teacher I was able to understand the book and fall in love with it and its characters. 
Another point she brought up was the use of other media to bring literature to life. Many movies, television programs, etc. can be used complimentary with books.  When students have a hard time visualizing what is going on with character, plot, and setting, these media can help.  It gives students an idea of what is going and helps trigger their own imaginations.  
One of the statements that I strongly disagreed with was, "Learning suffers when teachers squander it by taking a full class period for seventeen-year-olds to play with markers and poster board"(2).  I couldn't really believe that Jago saw working with these tools as just play time.  I am a very visual learner and whenever I did activities like this in my classes I benefited a lot from them.  While I agree the whole class period shouldn't be devoted to this, I don't see anything wrong with having students partake in these activities. 
I also disagreed with her views of young adult literature.  While they should not be the only texts taught in a classroom I believe a lot can still be learned from them.   They are great books to be read on their own, or to be paired with a classic.