READING IS STUPID. A quibble with this article. I'm thinking of Dr Pence's explanation of Efferent (useful) vs. Aesthetic (pleasurable) motivations to read. Gotta say that my classes respond a lot better to the Aesthetic approach. Wilhelm's emphasis on "actionable" readingg (leading to real work or accomplishment) as being more "salient for males" has not been borne out in my experience. What the males in my classes seem to want more are fast-moving stories that entertain. The objection to readingt that I hear most often isn't that it's stupid but rather that it's boring.

NONSTANDARD DIALECT WRITER. I wonder how many of you recognized your students in this piece? I certainly did. Most interesting was the realization athat a lot of the mechanical and grammatical "mistakes" that I see are really transfers from proper Spanish constructions. Other eye-openers included the descriptions of how students' defensiveness impacts theri willingness/ability to ask questions and work with peers. It occurs to me that sometimes the "helpless handraisers" in our classes have more going on than Fred Jones might allow for. Could be they just can't "get" instructions without extra help and are ashamed to show that in front of the group?