At a faculty meeting, a colleague once whispered to me, “So, what do you actually do in your English class if everyone already knows how to read and write?” Though it was an innocent enough question from a chemistry teacher, it brought me to the halting realization that the abstract nature of a high school […]
censorship
We Put “To Kill a Mockingbird” on Trial
Books Are Meant to Be Discussed, Not Banned Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Last summer, I served on the jury of my first murder trial. We heard all kinds of griping testimony, viewed extensive forensic evidence, and witnessed dramatic outbursts from the defense lawyer, […]
Banned Books Week is a Time for Educators to Fight Censorship
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism Banned Books Week is an annual effort to fight for intellectual freedom. This year the theme is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us” and the fight could not feel more urgent. Banned Books By the Numbers This Friday, the […]
The Shakespeare Paradox
In Mitchell County, NC, there was recently an uproar regarding students attending a production of The Complete Works of Shakespeare: Abridged by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. Based on the article (which you can read here), it sounds as though the Parkway Playhouse, the theatre company that performed the play, went above and beyond to tone […]
Stop Censoring Our Classrooms
A staple of democratic society is the ability to civilly converse with those of like and unlike mind. At least, that’s the idea. These days politicians on both sides of the aisle rarely agree on anything, and their communication style is anything but civil. Viewpoints are dismissed with prejudice, and compromise is unattainable. While there […]
Have you Read a Banned Book Yet This Week?
National Banned Books Week is upon us, and the American Library Association once again reminds us that the Freedom to Read is a right everyone deserves. Most school libraries, especially in high schools, used to celebrate Banned Books Week by making commonly banned books available or displaying them as a reminder. But nowadays, with massive […]