Should Books Be Banned?

So, for those of you who didn't know, it's Banned Books Week.  The purpose of it is to bring awareness to the fact that students are not free to read certain books due to the fact that teachers, parents or community members request that those books be banned from school libraries and curriculums.

Now, I must admit...

I Read Banned Books.  

I even have this bag that says so.  You can get one for you too!

 I'm not a huge fan of banning books.  I used to teach middle school English before being a stay-at-home mom and I found it unfair that because a parent was not comfortable with their child reading a certain book that it meant that no student could read that book.  As a parent I totally understand not wanting your child to be exposed to things you don't approve of, but I don't feel it gives you the right to put those values on other people's children as well.

In fact, my first year teaching, The Giver was part of our curriculum.  I LOVED teaching that book and most of my students loved it too.  And then it was banned from our curriculum.  We could have it in our school library, and I would recommend it to my students but I could no longer teach it.

There are some great classics that have been banned from curriculums and some great reads that have been banned from libraries, such as the Harry Potter series (irreligious), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (irreligious), The Hunger Games (too violent), James and the Giant Peach (socially offensive), and Speak (too graphic).

So, what do you think of the idea of banning books from schools?

Creativity in the Classroom?

Do you think students' creativity is being squelched in the classroom?

I used to be a middle school English teacher before I became a stay-at-home mommy and writer and blogger.  The focus drilled into us teachers constantly by principals, vice principals, team meeting leaders, etc was the curriculum.  Teaching students what they needed for the next test and for those standardized tests that would prove to people that their children were not being left behind.

Now, I think it's awesome that we're making sure we're teaching our students what they need to know.  But I fear that in the process, we've taught students how to prepare for tests while putting their ability to think for themselves and to be creative on the back burner.  Not that critical thinking and creativity in the classroom don't exist, but they're not being encouraged as much as they should.

My last year of teaching, I decided to end our fiction unit by letting the students write a story of their own.  I was excited by the creativity that would follow.  I thought they would be excited too.  What I got instead were lots of questions.  "How is this being graded?"  "Why are we doing this, writing isn't on the test, right?"  "How long does it have to be?"  "What does it have to have in it?"

I got frustrated.  I wanted them to just write and be creative.  Without concern about their grade or page length.  Just to write.  And this very situation is what inspired the concept of my manuscript I began working on alongside those students.

Eventually they began to let go of their anxieties.  Those pencils started flowing.  Excitement filled the air.  Even though I told them they'd have plenty of time in class to work on their stories, many went home and worked on it.  I loved seeing them excited about their ideas and their writing.

So, I ask you, what do you think?  Do you think students' creativity is put on the back burner to focus on the curriculum and testing?  Does it depend on the teacher and whether they incorporate creative outlets in their lessons?  Or is creativity flourishing and thriving in schools?

Bookish Bulletin Board

Before becoming a full time mommy, writer, and apparently blogger, I was a middle school English teacher. For some reason I felt inspired to share this when I came across the pics....


So the kiddos loved the bulletin board I used year long, and I'll admit I love it too, though it does require maintenance. I made my bulletin board look like a book shelf and wrote "Building Our Brains One Book at a Time" as the title. I cut pieces of construction paper into varying sizes and when students finished reading a book, they grabbed a 'book spine'. They wrote the book title, author, their own name and a star rating (out of 5 stars) for their peers to see. I made a shelf for each class and at the end of each quarter, the class with the most books on their shelf got a prize. The kids got really into it, noticing which class was winning, and which classes were 'slacking'. Nothing like encouraging kiddos to read. :)


For more bookish inspiration, check out my Pinterest board Book Loving

What are some things you do to encourage kiddos to read?