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.

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

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