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I am embarking on a road trip from Boston, MA to New Orleans, LA. I am a 36 year old single mother and a high school teacher in Boston. I love my job and I can't wait to learn everything I can and bring it back home to my students.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Tragic New Orleans LGBT Massacre

In 1973, one of the worst LGBT massacres in the history of the USA happened in New Orleans. I have heard the name "UpStairs Lounge" but I never heard of the terrible story until now.  I will definitely learn more before my trip, and see if the memorial is happening when I am in New Orleans.  What a horrifying story.





Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Banned Books

One of the books that consistently can be found on the list of banned books is Harper
 Lees's To Kill a Mockingbird.  Banned books are nothing new, and the controversy over banning them is equally as old.

Some of the criticism that Lee's book has garnered is about its themes of rape and racism.  Complaints also exist about the "n-word" that is used throughout the book.  Some have even ventured to say it fosters a view that the government is racist.   Is it fair to say that this critically acclaimed and often taught novel encourages a racist view of the world?  Fortunately, many schools have seen this book for the target it aims at racial prejudice.

As a teacher and an avid reader, I find this discussion ridiculous, hypocritical and insulting.  Are we to tell students that we "all get along now" and so no book about racism has a place in our lives?  Do we stop teaching 1984 since the government is perfect now?  How about we stop teaching Hamlet in case it glorifies the concepts of suicide, murder and revenge?  Naturally, it would follow that even classics like Of Mice and Men encourages the murder of puppies and loose women as well as the over consumption of beans and ketchup.


Teaching isn't about reading words off of a page, it is about the moments when we connect those words to our lives, our struggles and the human existence.  To forget this is to forget the purpose of education- teaching kids to THINK.

Nothing is a better example of this than the reworking of Twain's Huckleberry Finn which removed the "n-word" and replaced it with "slave."  Since Jim was NOT a slave, this showed an inherent racism that is much more concerning that anything written by Twain in the first place. Twain

Harper Lee's work, and the work of so many authors who routinely show up on this list, are too valuable to be locked away because they make people THINK and FEEL.  Isn't that why we loved them in the first place?

Banned Books