Meditations on Literature and Literacy…Continued
Musings on the world of literature, education and how they intersect
As we close 2020, many of us are uncertain about what the future holds. When can we all get the vaccines that are beginning to be available? Will it be safe to go back into school buildings? Will we be able to keep our kids engaged and happy when we have to spend less time …
Continue reading “We made it, but we still have a ways to go…”
Well. Numbers are rising around the country and in NYC. The 3% school closure threshold has been threatening for the last few days, but there are many loud complaints to keep schools open, that they’re safe, etc. My main question for the Mayor: Was it worth it? School has been open a little over two …
So. Many. Feelings. It’s been a bit (time has been very tight) so for a recap: My school’s zip code saw a spike in Covid cases early in October and was shut down to in person learning until further notice. I have been teaching remotely from home for the past 3 weeks. Just as I …
I now have a KN95 mask labelled for each day of the week. I feel more confident about driving to work. I miss my reading time on the subway. There are still way more questions than answers about how this school year is supposed to look. For example…attendance is usually pretty straightforward. The student is …
First I was going to write about how I was tired of seeing comments (generally from a bunch of dudes) about how teachers are lazy and “the worst” because we have the audacity to request a basic level of safety when considering opening schools during a pandemic. If teaching and education in general was a …
I wrote this letter to my council person regarding reopening in person school. I hope if you share my concerns, you will do the same: Dear Councilman, I am a ______ resident and an experienced educator in the New York City Department of Education. I have never been as anxious and skeptical about an upcoming …
With everything else that is going on, I haven’t actually written about one of my main educational interests in quite a while – YA literature. Diversity in YA lit has become an important topic of conversation and has lead to some really great books gaining recognition. There are also some that you might not have …
The debate over whether schools are safe and ready to open in September has been taking up a lot of space in my mind. There are just so many questions that have no answers. Something that I see that disturbs me is that on social media platforms especially, when teachers, teacher/parents or parents express concern …
I’m not sure what there is left to say about the subject of reopening schools. Kylene Beers (author of When Kids Can’t Read – necessary reading if you have the inclination) wrote an eloquent rebuke to school boards considering this issue here: http://kylenebeers.com/blog/2020/07/11/thinking-about-re-opening-your-schools-read-this-first/?fbclid=IwAR2acq6dWVpxZ6l3ZutX9M9aPePCeNPus7HLizkG7RffzHxELfM1YrSxHCc We can debate all day about the concerns, the implications for learning …
Usually, summer is a welcome change. A more free form schedule, not having to get up at 5 AM, being able to do things that I don’t normally have time to do during the school year… it’s usually the least stressful time of the year. Cue 2020 when the world is upside down, and the …
Meditations on Literature and Literacy...Continued