Thing That Make You Go HMMM!!

hmmm

Okay so I admit I lost it this week! If you read my previous blog, you know what I'm talking about, if you didn't you should check it out (warning there is cursing and stupidity involved). It's a good read. Really

Okay so I have been watching the news to see what other counties are going to do. Mostly I have been watching to see what OCPS is going to do. I want to see if I am going to have to run screaming from the building because I have gone completely mad. But anyway, no word on OCPS but I really like what two counties have decided to do.

The premise of this whole idea of parental rights in school involves parents wanting to control what their student learns. If I am being honest, that doesn't really bother me. I think parents should be involved. My issue is when the will of the few gets imposed on the many. That isn't fair. Two counties in Florida have found a creative way to stop this from happening. Polk county has six books that have been challenged. Parents in that county will be able to opt their students into reading those books. Another county had every school post their entire library online so that parents can access it. Parents then have the right to go through the list and decide what books their student is not allowed to read. Here is what I do know.

NO ONE SHOULD DECIDE WHAT SOMEONE ELSE'S CHILD IS ALLOWED TO READ. That's all. Period!!

Comments

Three Is More Than One

Umm, excuse me Governor Desantis but last year you said that you had a issue with standardized testing. I was like okay, this is a cause that I can get behind. The way we are currently using standardized test in the education system is abhorrent. In many cases these tests are the only measure of student and teacher success. Standardized tests don't allow us to celebrate the small wins. If a student read 2 books last year and 15 books this year, that's a win. If you learned to write your name in cursive, that's a win. If you know how to divide or understand fractions that's a win. I don't care what the test says. When did kids become standardized. My oldest daughter could read before she went to kindergarten. Her sister learned to read in kindergarten. My son could read when he was four. They all turned out just fine. Kids are not standardized. I was excited to hear that we were doing away with the FSA. As an educator, I felt like someone was finally paying attent...

Digital natives vs. digital fluency

I think digital natives are a real thing, but all digital natives are not fluent. The term native reminds me of the process that babies use to acquire language. A person is said to be a native speaker when they grow up surrounded by the language that is "native" to them. They grow up hearing their parents use the language and that's how they develop their proficiency. Some kids grow up with an amazing vocabulary and some students enter school at a deficit. Digital literacy is the same. Some students grow up in households where they are surrounded by laptops, phones, reliable internet and online tools that are being used consistently and effectively. But some kids grow up in a house where they don't have those things, or where they don't see these tools put to effective use. Those students are, by definition, digital natives. But are they digitally fluent? Nope. Just because you know how to scroll through TikTok or Instagram, doesn't mean you can navigate onli...

And Another One!!

Step up to the plate Clay County Florida. A school board member in Clay County thinks that "disciplinary action" should be taken against people who allow books deemed "inappropriate". She goes on to blame librarians for allowing these books into schools. Umm, excuse me ma'am but are you under the impression that the librarian is superhuman. Do you think that they can magically read all of the books in the library and know which ones will offend some random person, at some random time, in the future? This school board member goes on to explain that she has already identified 75 books containing "pornographic material" that should not be on shelves. They don't provide the list, that would encourage people to think for themselves and that is definitely not the goal. They do however offer some examples, three to be exact. I would have to assume that she choose the most egregious examples to prove her point. The first book is called "Julian is a...

Tired Teacher

Search This Blog