Bright Ideas Conference

I, unfortunately, had problems finding the site of the Bright Ideas Conference, and therefore missed the keynote speaker, Jacqueline Woodson.  I did, however, get to take part in three of the separate sessions after it, so I’ll discuss those.

 

The first session I went to was “Introducing a Twenty-First Century Curriculum.”  There were three speakers there, and each spoke on a different topic; wikis, Youtube, and advertising.  I honestly didn’t get much out of this session; it seemed rather unorganized.  Not to mention the Youtube and advertising bits didn’t seem at all connected with the rest of the conference.  The wiki part was interesting, but with the danger of illegitimate information being put up by anyone, I can’t see myself using it in my classroom.

 

The last two sessions actually ended up being linked in content.  The second session I went to was entitled “macBeth: Using Technology to Enhance the Teaching of Shakespeare,” and the third was “’Whose Space Is It?’ Integrating Social Networking Sites into English Language Arts Instruction.”  Both of these sessions showed how to use the networking system MySpace as a tool for character development in such texts as “MacBeth,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “Feed.”  I really enjoyed these sessions.  I’m actually a friend of one of the presenters, Bethany Erickson, and she had told me about this method before the conference, and I may incorporate it into my pedagogy  project.

Banned Bookslut: My Kind of Blogger

I recently stumbled upon the blog of one Chris Zammarelli, who focuses on censorship and banned books on the editorial website <a href=“http://bookslut.com”>Bookslut.com</a>.  Zammarelli is not one to sugarcoat views on censorship.  In fact, the motto of the editorial columnist’s blog is, and I quote:

“If I do my job right, I’ll be creating a great reference guide of titles for kids to check out if they want to read something that will piss off their parents.”

And, ladies and gentlemen, I fell in love.

Not that I really condone upsetting parents.  After all, upsetting parents is pretty much a surefire way to lose your coveted teaching job.  No, it is not so much the idea of angering people by giving students controversial texts, it is the idea of giving the students confidence to read such texts, to forget what their elders tell them is and is not okay, and deciding for themselves whether or not they are at a high enough intellect to read them.

But I digress.

Zammarelli recently wrote a column regarding a group called AsIf!.  Here is the summary of the group’s beginnings:
In May 2005, Cary McNair told the St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin, TX that if they did not remove Annie Proulx’s short story “Brokeback Mountain” from its 12th grade reading list, he would pull a donation of $3 million to the school’s rebuilding fund. St. Andrew’s board of trustees opted to leave the story on the reading list and let McNair keep his money. Board member Bill Miller said, “St. Andrew’s has a policy not to accept conditional gifts, whether it’s $5 or $500,000.”
The school’s decision caught the attention of author Lisa Yee, who posted the story on a listserv for young adult fiction authors. Two other authors had the same immediate response. Jordan Sonnenblick said, “[Mark Williams] and I posted back at the same time, ‘We need to all send books to that school to support them.’”
With that, AS IF! (Authors Supporting Intellectual Freedom) was born. Forty young adult fiction writers agreed to send signed copies of their books to the school to show their appreciation.
I think this is <i>fantastic</i>.  It’s just amazing to hear about authors giving back to their readers, and to schools specifically.  I feel the urging need to advertise the organization, so, I’m taking advantage of having this blog to do so.

<a href=”http://asifnews.blogspot.com/”>AsIf!</a>
<a href=”http://www.bookslut.com/banned_bookslut/2007_04_010913.php”>Complete Article</a>
<a href=”http://bookslut.com/banned%20bookslut.php”>Chris Zammarelli’s Blog</a>

Fighting Fire With Fire

As evident by this blog, I’m fascinated with censorship. And not in a pro-censorship manner. I have a bit of that passive aggressive rebellion in me that’s left over from childhood and adolescence; if someone tells me not to read something, it’s pretty much a surefire way to get me to want to read it, and likely succeed in doing so. It’s my somewhat ineffective way of sticking it to the man, so to speak.

Because of this, I found a recent article in the Fond du Lac reporter to be of great interest;

Students in Alayne Peterson’s college English class at the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac tackled timeless themes of censorship, conformity, government control and the role of the intellectual after getting a double dose of Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.”

Why is this relevent, some may ask (specifically those unfamiliar with Bradbury’s book)? A website dealing with banned books gives us the reason:

This book is about censorship and those who ban books for fear of creating too much individualism and independent thought.
~http://web.archive.org/web/20021230232445/www.banned-books.com/bblista-i.html

The entire book “Fahrenheit 451″ revolves around censorship and the banning of books, and is actually a very challenged and frequently banned book itself, to boot. I, personally love the fact that it’s being used to address the issues of censorship and banning

“Fahrenheit 451″ — Students find each voice can make a difference”
Sharon Roznik
Fond du Loc Reporter
April 2, 2007
Complete Article

NCAC — Sticking it to the Man, All Professional-Like

I thought I would take a small break from the endless search for articles in newspapers and simply type “censorship” into Google.  Yes, I know I risk finding “unreliable” sources.  But sometimes, just sometimes, a person’s got to read something that hasn’t been filtered through a newspaper.

What I found was the National Coalition Against Censorship.

The NCAC is the censorship student’s best friend.  The website is full of articles, blogs, and other bits of information regarding censorship from many different genres, from classic texts to television shows.  A description below is taken from the website itself:

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), founded in 1974, is an alliance of 50 national non-profit organizations, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties groups. United by a conviction that freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression must be defended, we work to educate our own members and the public at large about the dangers of censorship and how to oppose them.

The NCAC is a very peaceful organization, despite the fact that it so avidly promotes texts and other media that has been deemed controversial.  The members of the coalition hold meetings, publish a quarterly newsletter titled <i>Censorship News</i>, and otherwise spread the word that it is okay to read controversial books.

While the site focuses on banned and challenged texts (among other things) in general, and not so specifically in regards to education, this site will certainly be one I return to.  It is my belief that anything that promotes reading and gaining knowledge is certainly worth my time, whether it is a “legitimate” source or otherwise.
<a href=”http://www.ncac.org”>National Coalition Against Censorship</a>

Not Loving “Beloved”

Once again, we have a challenged text. And once again, it’s one that students have been reading for years, one that’s an award-winning book, and, of course, one that adults in the school community are getting all in a tizzy over.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved, which focuses on slavery in antebellum America, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and one that I personally read in my twelfth grade AP English class. I found it to be a very good book, personally; it painted a brilliant picture of the horrors the main character had to go through, reflecting what actual slaves survived as well.

Like all books challenged and banned, this one does not feature only puppies and meadows:

Beloved is the story of an escaped slave haunted by memories of her murdered child. It portrays her plantation days and life after the Civil War. Considered a classic of literature and written by one of America’s foremost black female novelists, the book frequently has been challenged across the country partly because of its depiction of rapes, beatings and murders.

Yes, because it is quite evident that young adults are never subjected to seeing or hearing about such things.

Oh, wait, yes they are. It’s called the news. Life. Magazines. Music. Media and the power of speech in general. I don’t understand why school boards and other educational authorities find it so necessary to shield students from things they know exist. How is it going to help them? It’s not. Really.

One of the students who was in the class that had the book banned was actually interviewed:

“At one point, it’s talking about a plantation. And there’s no females. So the men resort to bestiality,” Comerlato said, adding that he didn’t object because “we’re in a college-level class.”

I would like, for once, for those banning and challenging books to actually ask for the opinions of the students, and let them decide whether or not they’re ready for such books. A little credit to their intelligence would be nice.

Ky. principal tells students to stop reading acclaimed novel
The Associated Press
03.29.07
Complete Article

Since When Are Scientific Terms Dirty?

I’m a big fan of banned books.  As a writer myself, I’m proud of authors who push the envelope and step outside the comfort zone of typical society.  I plan to have an extensive collection of banned and challenged books in my classroom, because I feel they are important in showing students how society and culture react to deviations from the norm.  I want them to realize that in Huck Finn’s time, African Americans were called “niggers,” and that the word is a negative connotation, and therefore is often challenged.  I want them to see the reality of life and death in Of Mice and Men, because they need to know about such things, in my opinion. Literature is not all red wheelbarrows and prairie grass.

However…sometimes censorship is just stupid. And there isn’t a nicer way of putting it.

Susan Patron’ book The Higher Power of Lucky has recently been challenged and banned in many schools. And why?

The main character, Lucky Trimble, a 10-year-old orphan, overhears a man in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting say a rattlesnake bit his dog, Roy, on the scrotum.

Scrotum. One word. And not even a dirty one, or an actual curse. The scientific term for a part of the male anatomy is cause for banning an entire book. Nevermind that the book includes Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and other darker aspects of reality. Anatomical terminology is the driving evil force in literature.

This is a winner of the Newberry Award! The book is clearly worth its merit, and people are getting hung up over one word, and one that’s not even particularly scandalous.

Society frightens me sometimes. I’m waiting for the day that I’ll see anatomy books burning in barrels.

Patsy Lord
Sand Mountain Reporter
March 1 2007
Complete Article

MEAP and Family

It is a well-known fact to most Michiganders that the MEAP test is a major facet of education in our state.  The standardized test is taken by every Michigan student, and is meant to reflect not only their intelligence, but the abilities of the schools’ faculties to teach the students.  One writer for the Lansing State Journal, however, believes there is another factor:

It is my opinion that passing scores reflect the values of families who provide a safe and stable home life where children can grow and flourish, and are therefore prepared to learn what is being taught.

Conversely, the problem of failing scores is generally not solely a problem with the school, but is a problem with the family life of some of the children where barriers to learning are put in the child’s path as the schools endeavor to educate them.

While I have to agree with Ms. Vander-Molen that family life undoubtedly can make or break a student’s future, I can’t say that I completely concede to the idea that it is the driving force.  I’ve known many a student that has a stable home environment and couldn’t give two hoots about doing well in school, let alone a standardized test that doesn’t count towards their immediate grades anyhow.  On the flip side, I was also friends with students in high school that had rather tumultuous home lives that were great students.  One of my good friends was a teenaged mother who didn’t get along with either of her parents, and she made the top twenty in our class.

 I have to give Vander-Molen credit; it is nice to see that not everyone blames the teachers for not preparing the students “correctly” for the MEAP.  But we do have to take their role into consideration.  After all, it takes a village to raise a child.

Barbara Vander-Molen
Lansing State Journal
February 11 2007
Complete Article

Advanced Placement Leaving Kids Behind?

A recent article in the New York Times was written in regards to the Advanced Placements courses and prerequisite testing involved in them that have been instated in public and private schools across the country.  The classes are meant as stepping stones for high school students planning on carrying on into college; the workload is greater than most high school level courses, and the curriculum is more challenging.

 However, as the article points out, there seems to be issues of race involved in the testing:

Some 15,000 of the nation’s 24,000 high schools, or 62 percent, offered one or more Advanced Placement courses in 2006, up from 57 percent in 2000, according to an annual report issued yesterday by the College Board, which runs the program. Still, African-American students, who made up 14 percent of the student population last year, were only 7 percent of the participants.

What I have to ask is, why focus on the AP tests and courses?  Why not think about revamping the junior high/early high school curriculum to better prepare ALL students for the AP tests?  And why focus so much on race?  If a student WANTS to do well, he/she will.  It doesn’t matter what color their skin is, or their social status, or anything like that.  It’s an individual issue, not a social one.  So let’s focus on individual students and make sure each one has the opportunity, no matter what their background is, shall we?

New York Times
Sam Dillon
February 7, 2007
The Complete Article

Introductory Post

This blog is where I will keep my personal thoughts on articles and other news relating to education, specifically literature.  I’m also very interested in testing in schools, such as MEAP tests and advanced placement testing.  I’d like to know more about such tests, as well as policies such as “No Child Left Behind.”  I may also focus on censorship, “banned books” specifically.  What leads books to be banned?  And who is in charge of the banning?

Here are the sources I will be using:

New York Times: Education
For national, general education news.
BBC News: Education
For international education news.
Google News: Education
Another source for educational news.

Banned Books Google Query
Literature Censorship Google Query
Standardized Testing Google Query