Skip to main content

What the H*** is Happening


 

Please excuse my thinly veiled attempt to cover my cursing. I realize that I should use my words better, but to be honest in this case the word is the most appropriate one I could think of this morning. This morning I woke up to this article.

https://bookriot.com/florida-teachers-remove-classroom-libraries/


The article discusses how teachers in Brevard Public Schools have been told that they cannot use their classroom libraries this year until they have been vetted by an expert. 

seriously

I thought teachers were the experts! I mean we did go to school for just such an occasion, but I digress. Let's get back to the real issue. 

I would be remiss if I just read one article, so I went a googling. Here are the other headlines that popped up. 

https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2022/05/12/florida-schools-stirred-up-over-library-books-textbooks/

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2022/04/15/brevard-schools-discuss-district-wide-library-book-policy-prepare-for-review-process/

 I will give you the gist if you don't want to spend the time getting angrier than you already are. A small group of people have submitted challenges against books they feel like shouldn't be read. Each of those challenges must be reviewed and the book must be vetted before it is allowed back on shelves. Here's the problem, a lot of small groups of people want to ban different books. Who would have thought? So because it is impossible to keep up with all of the issues that people outside of the classroom have with certain books, we just take them all away until we get to it.



Also, if one person (or a small group of people) get to decide what is appropriate for students to read, then aren't their voices the ones that will be heard? What makes it okay to allow a few people to dictate what you kid can read. This is a slippery slope folks and if we don't watch out...

Hang on folks, this is about to get bad!! It reminds me of this book I read, but I guess I can't talk about that until its been vetted.


Comments

  1. The WeaveJuly 26, 2022 at 12:33 PM

    MAKES. ME. SICK. I'll go ahead and say, "I wish they would!!!" lol I just keep saying it about all these other counties. If Leon when down that road - I would be getting written up, because I would be putting ALL my books out for these children. Oh, and I AM WEARING RAINBOWS EVERY DAMN DAY. Psshhhft.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rachel WellmanJuly 27, 2022 at 6:37 PM

    Oooooooooof. Every time I think they can't go lower, or be more restrictive than they already are, THEY FIND A WAY TO DO IT. So sorry those of y'all in classrooms are still dealing with this! What a waste of your tremendous energy and precious time to deal with this nonsense.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

But I Want It Now!!

  I have been struggling with our upcoming knowledge sharing assignment. I think the problem is that I have too many big ideas. I want my students to all have access to the internet. I want my kids to all be fluent. I want them to know how to do all the things. In an ideal world, I would be able to go into my classroom on day one and incorporate every tool that we learned about in this class. I want all of these thing and I want them right now! Here's the problem. I have to do the work. If I want my big ideas to work, I have to start small. The problem is that small sometimes feels too small. I always want to put my spin on it, to try and make it my own. For me, curating and sharing the content of other people feels a little dishonest. Even when you give credit, someone is getting the idea from you and they might attribute it to you. I am much more comfortable sharing something verbally, than I am sharing something in a online space.  I am starting to understand that sharing c...
4 comments
Read more

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...
4 comments
Read more