I went over the rules for active reading today with my first class. The results were good. We started with Gombrich’s chapter 40, which is about what he lived and worked through. I got almost everyone in the class to read, even if only for a little bit. We discussed diphtheria and other causes of childhood death when Gombrich was 9 (in 1918). We examined his claims about the population increase over the last 80 years, and discovered that he was right when the book was published; but that he is no longer right. And we wrote a few summary sentences. And we discussed the word “imperceptibly” and what it meant, and how it could be broken down into “Im” + “percept” + “bly” = “not” “seen” “[adverb form]”. So it was a good class.
I can see that I have to train my students to do some things, like put a header on their paper. And how to use a piece of paper. And some could definitely learn how to type to advantage. But so far, I’m pleased with progress.
