Open-Door Success

By Bonnie M. Faiman

My students rose to higher levels of thinking skills when they perceived themselves impressing the vice principal.

One Friday morning when my class was reading the local newspaper and sipping cocoa in the cafeteria, the school secretary walked by, on her way to get coffee. "What are you doing?" she inquired, genuinely interested. There was a wealth of information given to her. She was told about the 100 donated newspapers that were distributed to every 7th grader that morning. She learned about sports scores in the National League, which comic strip was the best that day, and, upon giving her opinion on a front-page article, she evoked a debate on the controversial issue of capital punishment.

I couldn't have been more pleased. When she left, the class settled down to read again, this time with greater earnestness. They had enjoyed her five-minute stay and had been treated to an adult parlay, discussing the newspaper...