Week 8 Blog Forum

TOPIC 1: BANNED BOOKS AND YOUR BOOKSHELF

• The Hunger Games -- I absolutely loved these books in middle school. My friends that had never opened a novel in their lives locked themselves in their rooms for days until they finished the trilogy. It got people of all ages, male or female, reading. I think that's a great thing. Is it a little scary? Yes! But there is so much worse crap out there that I hardly think it was violent enough to be banned.

• To Kill a Mockingbird -- This book is an American classic. I wasn't overly fond of it, but I thought it had some really great messages. We read it in freshman English after Lord of the Flies. If anything Lord of the Flies should have been banned!

• Captain Underpants -- My friends would read these books in elementary school and I always thought they were stupid, but once again, at least those kids were reading. The humor was probably a bit crude, but I really doubt the books were any worse than the shows you find on Nicalodian like Kim Possible or Adventure Time.

• The Color Purple -- I haven't read this book, but I have read some of Alice Walker's other works and I think her work really contributed to our culture and she had some really important messages as well. I think any kid who is interested in grabbing a book with such strong messages is probably going to be mature enough for the content.

• My Sister's Keeper -- I haven't read this one either, but I know several people that have and from what I know about the book, aside from being a heart-wrenching story, there's nothing wrong with it. I was surprised to see that it has been banned because it really dives into what it's like to have cancer and I think it's good for people to read about things like that so they can understand what's going on in those situations.

• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian -- Sherman Alexie's works are, once again, so culturally insightful. I think his books are good to read because he has such honesty in what he writes. He was there and knows his culture, so I don't think people should expect his experiences to be toned down.

I think that limiting books is the same as limiting any other work of art. It seems to me that books should be available and parents should be the ones in control of censoring their own kid's reading materials. It seems like most of the books that have been banned are of pretty great cultural significance and I think it would be really sad to see kids missing out on them.

I think that there's probably nothing wrong with monitoring children's libraries in public elementary schools and such, but I feel like by middle school they should have a right to read what they want. If your parents see you reading a book they don't like I think it should be up to them to say no.

If there's a book that's absolutely downright raunchy, maybe a school should just not order it until there's been some request for it and a parent signs off that it's ok for their kid to read it.

On my own bookshelf at home I have a pretty broad selection. My old house had an entire private library that my mom had pretty much been collecting for her whole life, but she spends so much more time reading than I do. My mix of books is about as eclectic as my taste in music. If you hit shuffle on my iPod it could very well switch from Skillet to Johnny Cash to Susan Boyle on any given day. 

Likewise, my bookshelf consists of a complete compilation of Edgar Allen Poe's, a dozen or so fashion history books and cook books (yeah I read cookbooks for fun, don't judge me), some classics such as Shane by Jack Schaefer, or C.S. Lewis' Narnia Series. I also have a collection of various predictable novels that are so beautifully written I only read them for the way they've been constructed. Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors because her books, though terribly dark, are so beautiful to read.

I'm not really sure what you could draw from that mix about my interests, but I guess the main thing I look for in a book is the imagery and creativity.

TOPIC 2: GOOGLE U

What I really appreciated from the reading: 
I love the idea of picking instructors based on their teaching style, and having them more as a tutor and a curator rather than a dictator. Mistakes and creativity are both regarded as such negative things in schools today, and that is so wrong. It seems like they type of teacher Jarvis describes would be so much more efficient and helpful. 

Perhaps if they didn't spend so much time developing lesson plans and slide shows they would have more time to dedicate to the students and their needs as individuals. I think you do a really great job of this by the way! You don't expect us to come to class and regurgitate your facts -- rather you send us home to create a blog to really demonstrate what we know! 

I always felt like my creativity was such a burden in school. Teachers didn't really want me thinking outside of the box and it was really hard for me, as well as the other lowly creatives in my class, because we had all these ideas, but they didn't fit the cookie cutter, and therefore weren't of value. What a great life lesson for kids, eh? 

I think that one change needs to be the monetary cost of a good education. I think that everyone should have a right to be educated, and yes we need to be able to pay schools in order for teachers to make a living, but do schools really need all that money to prepare students for their degrees? So many talented individuals end up either not chasing their dreams for the fear of college expenses, or they do go to college and come out having spent more money than they'll make back from their degree than if they had never gone. 

Another thing that I would like to see changed is the transitions from high school and college. If kids had an option to go straight from eighth grade into the 90-100 level college classes I think many of them would be so much better off. My freshman year I missed 25 days of school, not counting the half days, because I was horribly ill. One time I made up 3 weeks of homework in 20 minutes. And I was in the "advanced" classes. I'm really not that smart either. 

I'm just an average kid, probably a little below average when it comes to math. There's something wrong with that! My high school experience was such a joke. Yes, it was fun hanging out and doing nothing, but seriously, what a waste of perfectly good minds! Teachers hold our hands in high school, letting our minds rest on idle. 

What happens when we go to college then? My teachers hadn't prepared me for any of this, but why shouldn't they? 

Getting to go into college full time as a sophomore was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. It's hard not having the social aspect of it, but for the first time in years I actually got the opportunity to learn. No one was holding my hand anymore, I was shoved out into the world to figure things out for my self. 

If more kids my age had the opportunity to go to community college before a University, I think they would learn so much more without having to waste all of that time. Plus if more high schoolers went to community college that social aspect could open up more and we would have the best of both worlds! 

If kids were taught early on how to work hard, college wouldn't be such a jump. You don't have to be above average, it just takes determination. Obviously something this drastic would take years and years to out into action, but I just think it makes so much more sense. It seems to work pretty well for other countries right? 

Schools as we know today were "invented" during the Industrial revolution to produce ideal factory workers. Why has't education changes in the last century?! We shouldn't be aiming for cookie cutter factory workers anymore. We should be aiming for Google's "not-evil," determined, risk-taking creatives! 

So that's my opinion.. kind of more like a rant, but hey, I think Jeff Jarvis is spot on!!