My new thoughts on blogging

Last summer, when I wrote a proposal to incorporate blogs into the TE 448 course, I wasn't sure where the project would lead. Since I was pretty new to blogging myself, I knew that I was going to have to learn along with all of you and draw heavily on the expertise of the class. Thank you for making the project so successful!

Part of my identity and practice as a teacher is to analyze student work and consider student feedback as I teach. Sometimes I do this more formally in action research projects, and sometimes I just think of it as part of good teaching. Usually I try to share what I've learned with the class in some way, although this is the first time I've gone "public" with my reflections! (And, since I, like all of you, will need a portfolio when I begin my job search, this record of my thinking will come in handy!)

I've spent today summarizing results of our end of the semester feedback activity, rereading your blogs (especially from the day we did a completely on-line discussion), thinking about how we seemed to use them for different purposes, reflecting on the discussions we had throughout the semester, rereading the correspondences from different authors, looking at our "public" site for final projects, and even revisiting the post-its that are stuck to the wall by my desk that say things like "How can I encourage more commenting???".

Here's what I'm planning for next semester:

• Sharing your feedback with the new TE 448 instructor who is planning on continuing to use blogs. I'll talk to her about whether she might offer more or a different structure that would encourage more focus and commenting. For example, I wonder if only subscribing to your group's blogs would have focused conversation. Or, maybe a schedule? The tension for me here is that this feels less authentic. I usually think of blogging as writing that one does as the spirit moves you!

• Developing a community, class blog for TE 348 next semester, decreasing the number of required posts, and making a rough schedule for posting/commenting. I'm hoping that this will focus discussion and make the project more manageable. Since TE 348 is a prerequisite for TE 448, I'm also thinking about this as a kind of scaffolding that might make individual blogs in TE 448 more manageable.

Here are my new questions:

• Will having a community blog focus on-line discussion so that people feel that others are reading and responding to their ideas?
• Will the change shift the interaction patterns? For example, will there be more student-student interactions, rather than student-instructor-student interactions? Or will students think of the blog as "my space"? (Ha, ha... You know what I mean!)
  
• Will there be something lost in the process? For example, I hope that students from this semester continue to write on their blogs. (HINT, HINT) Will students feel less ownership and/or stop blogging after the semester is done?
  
• How will the work load change for me as an instructor? Will it feel more manageable?
  

I'm sure that this newest experiment will raise new questions and innovations! For anyone who would like to see how it goes, you are welcome to read and comment on the TE 348, SS08 blog!

Your thoughts on blogging

As promised, I'm going to post a couple of more times! For anyone who is interested, these are the results of the feedback on blogging you gave me on the last day of class. Although I've added comments here and there, my next post will say a little bit about how I will use it to think about next semester!

Responses to end of semester feedback:
47 responses
(if numbers don't add up, it is because some people wrote more than one answer per question)

How much experience/knowledge of blogging did we have before the semester?

• No experience with blogs before the class (29)
  
• Heard of blogs and/or had read someone else's blog (10)
  
• Quite a bit of experience--they had their own personal blogs or had used them in a class (8)
  

This makes me even more excited that you reported you felt comfortable with blogs at the end of the semester and also makes me appreciate how much you all collaborated with each other.

How comfortable do we feel now?

• Wow. Everyone said that they feel comfortable reading and managing their blogs! Three people did say that they were careful about what they posted since blogs are so public. Many people said that they knew what they wanted to keep learning--sometimes these responses were technical, sometimes they were more about becoming familiar with other blogs and the genre in general.
  

I hope you all keep blogging and "learning along the way". I'm still subscribed to all of your blogs, so you may hear from me!

Will you continue to use blogs? If so, in what capacity?

• Yes, they will continue to use blogs in these ways: (35)
  
• Incorporating them in their classrooms (20). Two of those students mentioned bookclubs specifically.
  
• Reading and sharing ideas (general) (7)
  
• Communicating with parents (5); other teachers (4); and with friends (4)
  
• Finding books/researching (3)
• Adding to a professional portfolio (1)

• In the future as teachers, but weren't planning on doing it soon. (3)
  
• Maybe, but didn't elaborate (3)
  
• No. (6) Although everyone said they would do it if assigned for another class! Several people said it was because they didn't enjoy blogging and that it took too much time.

I hope I hear about how this goes! One topic we didn't talk about is that you may be working in communities where blogging is common and you may work with people who are new to the technology.

What was gained by including blogs in the class?

• Wider range of ideas were shared in the class. (39) People talked about four factors that we gained with the blogs: people had time to think about ideas before responding, we had more time to communicate since we weren't bounded by the class session, and that it was easier for shy people to get in on the conversation. The number of people who said that blogs enriched participation convinces me that they were valuable in the class. At the same time, I need to think about creating a classroom community in which more people feel comfortable participating!
  
• Good preparation for teaching (4)
  
• Project helped them work through a fear of technology. (2) Me too! :-)
  
• Blogging felt "safer" than face to face conversation when talking about serious subjects. (2)
  
• Each of the following was positive: development of artifact, access to information, gained a new literacy skill, found resources, and served as a record of the course. (1 each)
  
• Nothing was gained (1)
  

What was difficult and/or potentially lost?

• Nothing was hard (14)
  
• Remembering to read or post was hard (8)
• Number of blogs was unwieldy (7); several people said that it meant that people weren't responding to each other enough because of this. I agree. I hope the restructuring at the end of the semester helped with this.
  
• Blogs can't be substitute for face to face discussion (6)
  
• Coming up with ideas to write about was difficult (5) You know I struggled with this! You all had so many good ideas in class, which I wanted you to see as legitimate to write about!
  
• Workload/time (4)
  
• Technology was confusing (2)
• Blogging sometimes felt forced, so we didn't get depth (2)
• Fear (1)
  

Would you recommend continuing to use blogs as part of the course?

• Yes, continue using blogs (42)
  
• No, don't use blogs (3)
• Undecided (1)
• Make it optional, maybe for extra credit (1)

If so, are there any changes you think I should make?

• Develop a clear schedule of when people should post (7)
  
• Use prompts (6)
• Require a different mix of posts/comments (3)
• Require more posts (2)
• Require fewer posts (2)
  
• Clarify grading (2): What counts as "a post with substance" To clarify, I meant a focused idea, not necessarily length or elaboration. I emphasized this because I saw some responses like "I agree" without any elaboration. My posts on this blog aren't always a good example of brevity and focus!
  
• Talk about the fact that the general public doesn't have this as part of their lives; require responses; don't require responses; talk more about how to write shorter posts; build in reading author blogs; provide time in class; have a class blog. (1 person each)
  

Maus I Discussion

For anyone who wants a break from studying on Monday and wants to continue thinking about Maus:

Schuler Comic Book Discussion Group Meeting
(Eastwood store)
Monday. December 10. 7:30 p.m.
Join us for a meeting of our monthly Comic Discussion Group, exploring and investigating the publishing industry’s biggest boom medium - comics and graphic novels! This month’s title is Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman, completing our discussion of the Big Three comics that changed the comics industry in the mid-80s.

I talked to the woman who is organizing the event. She was very knowledgeable and excited about graphic novels. She also said that she was planning on having the group read American Born Chinese next!

Since I can't seem to leave a bookstore without a couple of purchases, I picked up The Invention of Hugo Cabret and The Arrival. I promise I'll finish working on the final projects before I open them up.

Hearing on Autism Services

Melanie asked me to post this so that more people would see it:

Hi,

I have worked with some children with autism and have seen many families who don't get insurance covered for diagnosis and treatments for those on the Autism Spectrum. There was a press conference scheduled today at the Capitol in Lansing. There is a hearing on December 13 at 9am in front of the Health Policy Committee at the Capitol to get the bills about the insurance coverage for families passed. You can find more information on their website: http://autisminsurancemichigan.blogspot.com/.
On this website there's an email address that you can send a letter about your experiences with families who have children with autism and let them know how a lack of access to Autism Services has impacted these families. This website also provides the address, time, and more information about the bill.

Please attend this hearing on the December 13, 2007 to support these families!! We need as much support as possible!

Melanie

Responses from authors

We've had two responses from authors this week: David Levithan replied to a question about Boy Meets Boy from a student in Monday's section and Sarah Littman responded to our class questions about Confessions of a Closet Catholic!

Since both of the responses were sent as emails, I'm not going to post them here. Rather, I'm going to put them up on Angel.

It's really exciting for me to hear authors respond to questions posed by the class!

Trillium Poetry Reading

Come to Trillium this Thursday evening to read and/or hear poetry with other College of Education faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates!

6:30 pm
Thursday, December 6th

252 Erickson Hall

Food will be served. (And you'll see 252 transformed into a very different type of space!)

Final session (and beyond!)

It is Tuesday and I've realized that I may have confused people in the Wednesday session by putting this up too early. For Wednesday (section 001), all you have to do is post your final projects posts (3-5 reviews, 1 professional review, and 1 post reflecting on your project). I will go over the final post and public post in class on Wednesday.

I will say this in class, but thank you for a wonderful semester! Talking to you about books and reading your writing has helped me think of the books we've read and the ideas we've explored in new ways!

Please keep in touch. I'm always happy to talk about a new book or think about a classroom challenge! (I'm still subscribed to your blogs, so if you keep writing, I'll keep reading and responding!)

A final checklist: Everything is due by Monday or Wednesday of next week.

• Hand in blog log. If you don't have it in class, drop it by Erickson 357 (and drop me an email so that I know to expect it)
• On your blog you should have:
• Final project: 3 fiction reviews, 1 professional resource review, 1 post in which you reflect on an aspect of your project as a whole
• Final course post: Find some time in the upcoming week to reread your questioning the text papers, look over the course syllabus, and page through the course readings. Then write a short reflection that highlights how your thinking about diverse literature has changed over the semester. What have you learned? How has your reading/understanding of diverse literature changed over the semester? Do you have new questions/concerns? Where will you go from here? Focus on whichever prompt(s) make sense for you! (This is not a course paper. The idea is to highlight, in a concise manner, a few key points!)
• "Public post" for final project:
  
• In the next couple of days you will receive an email on your MSU account inviting you to be a contributor to the "Issues of Diversity in Children's and Adolescent Literature" blog. Respond as directed to this email.
• Post one or more of your final project posts to this blog. Remember to follow the model for a full citation and labels for the posts.
• Future classes will build on your work, so keep your eyes open!

I know this is a lot to do at a busy time of the year. Email if you have questions. (I'm also around to meet in person!)

For session 13

This week is a good reminder that topics doesn't always fit tidily into discrete sessions! I'm very aware that we are in the middle of some great discussions and don't want to artificially cut them off. At the same time, the end of the semester is near!

Here's my tenitive plan for Monday (11/26) and Wednesday (11/28):

• Housekeeping:
  
• Wrap up discussion of Jewish American literature and debriefing on blogging
• GLBTQ literature--if we need to extend this into next session, we will.
• Discuss plans for final session/Final project
  
• SIRS forms
  

Are there other topics that people want addressed this week? If so, write a quick comment. :-)

To prepare for class, please bring:

• Confessions of a Closet Catholic so that we can wrap up our discussion and think of what questions we want to ask Sarah Littman
• Boy Meets Boy, your questioning the text papers, articles for our discussion of GLBTQ literature
  
• Your updated log of blogging (last page of syllabus). You will not have completed your blogging, but I want to check my records against yours before the end of the semester.
• Ideas about how you would like our last session to look. For example, any preferences on how we share projects? (I have some options, but would like your input as well.)
  
• Any questions you have about the end of the semester and/or the final projects.
  

Best Books 2007

Here's a link to the School Library Journal's Best Books 2007.

I think some of the same questions we asked about awards might pertain to these types of lists:

• What do people notice about the books as a set? In what ways are the books "diverse"? Or, whose stories are being told? In what genres? By whom?
• How was this list constructed? How are these lists helpful? What are the limitations of such lists?
• Anyone find a book that they think they otherwise would have missed? Any favorites that are missing from the list?
  

What was it like to talk with your group on-line?

For those of you who held your discussion on-line what was that experience like? How was it similar or different from meeting in class? What seemed to be gained or lost? How might this experience impact how you think about your own future teaching?

What was it like to meet, in person, out of class?

For those of you who have met in person for your discussion, what was that experience like? (Where did you meet? How did conversation go? etc.) How was it similar or different from meeting in class? What seemed to be gained or lost? How might this experience impact how you think about your own future teaching?

"Free" applications/Feed by M.T. Anderson

The other day in class I shared the concerns coming out of the Dean's office about using Google applications for university business. (The main concerns being around copyright, privacy, and the fact that the information might not be backed up.) I'm going to start being more careful about reading user agreements before clicking "I agree" and would encourage all of you to check out the Blogger agreement. :-)

I've noticed that a couple of people's blogs have public service announcements in them now. If yours is one of them, did you place those announcements/ads there? Or did Google? Or did Google, with your permission? Why might this matter? Would it matter more if you were blogging with your own students? Are there shades of gray? In other words, is a public service announcement ok, but an ad for soda not?

What about applications like Facebook, which collect marketing data based on one's profile? Would that be ok to use in the classroom?

I don't want to scare people away from using technology, but I do think we have to become increasingly more savvy about our choices. Particularly as teachers! I haven't decided whether to stick with Blogger or move to Edublogs or another application for next semester... What do people think?

I can't end this post without mentioning one of my all-time favorite young adult novels--Feed by M.T. Anderson. What intrigues me about the book is that it suggests so much about how technology might change our lives--for good or bad.

Talk on No Child Left Behind

“Considering the Policy and Practice of No Child Left Behind”

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Erickson Hall, room 252
Refreshments served

Since it was signed into law in 2002, the reauthorization of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (more commonly known as No Child Left Behind – NCLB) has been a controversial piece of federal legislation designed to improve the educational opportunity and achievement of students across the country. For this conversation, we have invited panel of educators to talk about the law from their perspectives, including involvement in reauthorizing the law, urban classroom teachers, and urban principals. We will explore the disparities and connections between the policy and the practice, as well as the effects and potentials of the law.

Additional Information:
Overview of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/education/no_child/basics.html

Evaluating 'No Child Left Behind' by Linda Darling-Hammond. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070521/darling-hammond

A Chance to Make it Better: Reauthorization of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act by Sharif Shakrani. http://www.educ.msu.edu/neweducator/spring07/NewEd-spring07.pdf, see pp. 28-31.

Urban Perspectives is offered through the Urban Educator Cohort Program -MSU College of Education

The Holocaust in Literature

Choosing which novel to use for the week on Jewish American literature was difficult. As you'll see in the memo that you've been assigned for session 12, one of our considerations was whether to choose a book which focused on the Holocaust or whether to choose a book that was contemporary realistic fiction. Although we chose the latter, the ways in which the Holocaust is remembered is obviously a significant part of Jewish American culture. (Or, more broadly, American and world history.)

In addition to the books listed in the memo on Angel, you might check out:

• "What makes a good Holocaust book?: Beyond oral history". (Posted on Angel and available through MSU electronic resources.)

• Art Spiegel's Maus: A Survivor's Tale is an interesting text to consider because it is such a compelling example of a memoir told in the form of a graphic novel. (We didn't consider it for the class because it is really adult or maybe young adult reading.)

• "Michigan Teacher's Workshop on Holocaust Education". This day-long event is a chance to meet with other educators who use literature related to the Holocaust in their classrooms. The year I attended the focus was on the use of memoir. Although we did discuss students' responses to texts, the focus was much more on our readings and what is intellectually and ethically complicated about representing such a significant and horrific historical event. Spaces are limited and there is an application process. If you are interested, check the MSU Jewish Studies website for information early next semester. (And if you do want to attend and want help writing your personal statement, email me!)

I'll add to this list as I think of other resources. We can also have a conversation around the topic. What resources do you know of to support this type of work? What questions or concerns do you have?

Child_lit mailing list

For anyone who likes keeping up on news having to do with children's literature and/or wants to join a virtual community of people who are interested in children's literature more generally, I would suggest joining the child_lit list serve.

To give you a taste of the types of conversations that we have I went back to look over the emails from the last several days. Right now I'm following a spirited debate about religious objections (and, for a few, praise) to Philip Pullman's Dark Materials Trilogy. (More on that later.) Yesterday there was a strand of discussion on "basketball poetry" and representations of jail/prisons.

For more information about the list serve, including how to subscribe, visit:

http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~mjoseph/childlit/about.html

The only downside to the list is that it can fill up your box pretty quickly! There is an option to subscribe and receive everything in a a daily "batch" email.

Safe Schools Seminar this Thursday!

For anyone who wants to continue our discussion of the Harry Potter series and get a preview of some of the ideas we'll be talking about in class later in the semester, come to the Safe Schools session! If you haven't attended one, I think you'll find them low-key and informative. Everyone is welcome.

Beyond Dumbledore’s closet: Issues and Trends in

GLBTQ Children’s and Adolescent Literature

--Why is everyone talking about the Harry Potter series? Why does representation matter?

--Where can you find GLBTQ adolescent and children’s literature? What professional resources are available to help you think about these books?

Time: 5:00-6:30 FREE PIZZA

Date: Thursday, November 8th

Location: Erickson 252

A story you don't often hear about the Holocaust

I came across an article in the LSJ last week called "Exhibition honors Muslims who saved Jews from Nazis". Since I had spent part of the day rereading some books about the Holocaust written for children, my mind jumped to the idea that this is a story that doesn't get told. (Both in its particulars and in a more general sense that the Muslims in the story are the heroes and don't see Jewish people as enemies.)

Session 13: GLBTQ literature

I'm posting this early because I know that some people are working ahead and have 'complicated' schedules near the end of November. :-)

Read:

• Boy Meets Boy
• McLean (1997): What is McLean's rationale for considering GLB(TQ) literature as "multicultural"? What stereotypes and inaccuracies does she suggest we watch out for? This article was written in 1997. Are you familiar with any books that you think do a "better" job of representing GLBTQ characters?
  
• Levithan (2004): Although Levithan is directing his words to librarians, they also apply to teachers. What does he mean when he writes, "Being gay is not an issue, it is an identity. It is not something you can agree or disagree with."
  
• Optional: Barnard (1994): (Posted on Angel) Why does the author suggest that heterosexuals not identify themselves as such in these discussions? What do we mean by "heterosexual privilege" in a teaching context?
  

Write (everyone):

• Write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the dropbox by 6 pm the evening before class
• Bring "Blog Log" to class to hand in. (Last page of syllabus). Although you can continue to post and comment, I'll use these to check that my records on blogging are up-to-date. (Obviously you will not have done the final post.)
  

Feel free to comment and ask questions (particularly since we won't meet the week before this session.)

Session 12: Jewish American Literature

We won't be meeting together for session 12. Instead, you will have the option of arranging to meet with your discussion group for a face to face discussion and/or discussing the texts through blog posts.

As is indicated in the syllabus, everyone will read:

• Confessions of a Closet Catholic
  
• Silver (2002): What criteria does Silver suggest for evaluating books?
  
• Kimmel (2003): How does Kimmel understand the "Jewish content" of his stories?
  
• Group C members write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the dropbox by 6 pm the evening before your class was scheduled.

Here are some additional texts for you to consider. (We would have looked at in class):

• Read "The Shoebox" (posted on Angel). Which shoebox do you think the boy intended to take with him? How does this story connect to larger themes/issues related to Jewish identity and history?
• "Jewish book choice" memo. (posted on Angel): This is a letter that I wrote to the team when we were trying to decide which book to use as the selection for this week. After reading about the options, which would you choose for the course? Why?
  
• One of Kimmel's picture books. (Available at most libraries/bookstores) Do you agree that his work includes "positive Jewish content"? Do the stories seem universal in some respects? You might also check out some of the award winners.
  

If you are going to meet in person:

• Arrange when and where to meet with your discussion group. You can meet on campus, for coffee, at someone's house. (Just be sensitive to transportation/$ issues.) In some ways this might be a more "authentic" discussion than an in-class meeting.
  
• Discuss Confessions, the readings, and "The Shoebox", and/or the letter.
  
• Take notes on what you discuss and whether/how this meeting felt different or lead to different types of ideas than a whole class session.
• Post a description of your meeting and 1-2 key ideas that came out of discussion on your blog. You may also contribute a comment to the "what was it like to meet out of class?" post on the class blog.
• You are welcome to read other blogs and participate in those discussions as well!
  

If you are going to have your discussion on-line:

• Cs begin one strand of discussion on their blogs by posting a very abbreviated version of their QTT paper
  
• As and Bs (and Cs, if they want) should begin strands of discussion on their own blogs. Here are some ideas: post a short response to the Silver/Kimmel articles. (This could be an interesting quote, idea, question, connection, etc.), post a response to "The Shoebox" or "Jewish book choice", raise another question related to Confessions, share a profession resource you find on-line, etc. Remember that short, focus posts often lead to focused responses!
  
• Everyone in your discussion group needs to participate in each strand of discussion. You might set up a schedule to decide when the initial posts are made and a "closing time".
• Contribute a comment to the "What was it like to discuss ideas on-line?" post on the class website.

We'll talk about the timing of all of this. Remember that you'll be preparing for session 13 as well, so you'll have to manage your time (especially because some of you will be traveling over the Thanksgiving break)!

Feel free to comment and ask questions (particularly since we won't meet this session!)

Session 11: Asian Pacific American literature

Read:

• Project Mulberry
• Siu-Runyan (2002): This article focuses on "Books that teach about the Asian and Pacific Island peoples of Hawaii". What does it add to your understanding of that population? Of the purposes and need for multicultural literature in general?
  
• Yamate (1997): As of 1997, what was the state of publishing for Asian American texts? What type of research might you do to explore whether anything has changed over the last 10 years? What themes might you find in Asian Pacific American literature?
  

Write (Group B):

• Write a questioning the text paper and submit it by the Angel dropbox by 6pm the night before class

Blogging:

• If you are a "C": Please post before the class session. The topic is "open"--you can write about Project Mulberry, either of the two readings, or something else!
• If you are an "B" or "A": Respond to at least one post from a "C" before session 12.

Publishers and books

A friend who is a librarian sent me this email and then gave me permission to post it here for our class' consideration:

Here are some interesting articles from Publisher's Weekly about publishers and books. (just in case we had any doubt that publishing was not about the bottom line...)

The Book That Takes Off Running
Read the full article at:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6492857.html.html?nid=2788&

MySpace Does Branded Book with HC
Read the full article at:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6493884.html?nid=2788&

Identity Crisis? Not Really
Read the full article at:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6492859.html?nid=2788&

Manga as a genre/Different blog format

I've been poking around to see how other instructors use blogging in their literature/literacy classes and I found Everyday Literacies. Here's a link to a post two students did on Manga, a genre we aren't addressing! (Although I will bring in a graphic novel in a couple of weeks.)

I thought that it was interesting that:

• Rather than each student having a blog, all the class members are authors of the same class blog
• The writing style seems more "chatty" or relaxed(?) than the type of writing we've been doing.
• The writing seems to serve multiple purposes: collaboration, sharing information, floating ideas, etc.
  

One of the key ideas I want people to have as they leave this class is that our design choices have pedagogical consequences! After looking at this site, do you see any advantages or disadvantages to the blog's design? (Or maybe it makes sense to talk about this in terms of different purposes?)

Stereotyping Native Latin Americans in the Film Industry

The Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive (CLASA) at the University of Detroit Mercy presents:

(Sorry for the incorrect information in class! I thought this was on the MSU campus!)

Dr. Rocio Quispe-Agnoli, MSU
“The Fear of the Other: Stereotyping Native Latin Americans in the Film Industry”

Tuesday, October 30 (Tomorrow morning!)
10:00 am
Jane & Walter O. Briggs Building, Room 10

ROCIO QUISPE-AGNOLI is Associate Professor of Colonial and Postcolonial Latin American Studies and Acting Director of the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University (MSU), and is also affiliated with MSU’s American Indian Studies Program. She earned a Master’s degree and Ph.D., both in Hispanic Studies, at Brown University. She has published “La fe ind�gena en la escritura: asimilaci�n y Resistencia en los Andes coloniales” (Lima: Universidad de San Marcos Press, 2006). She recently edited “Beyond the Convent: Colonial Women’s Voices and Daily Challenges in Spanish America” (2006). She has co-directed an intensive summer institute for teachers which, among other topics, critically examines how Latin America/Latin American-ness is represented and how stereotypes may be reinforced in K-12 textbooks and curricular resources. Dr. Quispe-Agnoli will discuss the films “The Royal Hunt of the Sun,” “Cabeza de Vaca,” “Pocahontas” (2005), and “Apocalypto” (2006), with critical emphasis on how the films portray Native Latin Americans. She will also mention how a new documentary by Nova helps to dispel myths about the Andean Indigenous past. Historians and archaeologists are discovering new data which has helped them to rewrite Incan history.

Co-sponsored by Women’s and Gender Studies

For more information contact CLASA Director Dr. Gail Presbey at 313-993-1124 or visit the CLASA Website at http://liberalarts.udmercy.edu/clasa/.

Remember to log blog activity!

This weekend I spent some time looking at your blogs and catching up on reading posts and comments. Today I realized that I wasn't systematically recording people's participation! (Good news in terms of what it says in terms of how engaged I am in your writing, bad news in terms of record keeping.)

Please continue to keep track of your posting and commenting activity on the log that is at the end of the syllabus! It will help me "catch" any work you've done that I've missed!

Weight as a disability?

I'm still thinking about our discussion about how weight might be considered a disability. (For those who weren't there, we weren't talking medically, but about how people's bodies are sorted into those that are "normal" and those that are "unacceptable" socially.)

I'm not going to do a full review, but I think The Earth, my Butt & other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler treats weight in an interesting way. The main character, Virginia, struggles with how people see her as well as how she sees herself. Although she loses weight in the end (trope of disability), she does so on her own terms and makes a clear statement to others about whether her body is up for discussion.

I wonder if it is "possible" to write a story about a "person of size", as I've heard say, and not have them "resolve" their weight "problem"? (Take the quotes seriously!)

This is a fun read. I would love to talk about it! (And if anyone wants to take on the challenge of thinking about size and disability, it might be an interesting project. I would want to talk about what might be tricky about how it is framed.)

Session 10: Exploring Latino/a Literature

This week we'll continue to talk about critical literacy (bring the Kuhlman article to class) and then focus on Latino/a children's and adolescent literature.

Read:

• Becoming Naomi Leon
• Ada (2003): This chapter is from the book A Magical Encounter: Latino Children's Literature in the Classroom. Why does Ada use the term "Latina" to identify herself? How is this connected to her understanding of self and history? What does she add to our understanding of the insider/outsider debate? To our understanding of the Pura Belpre award?
  
• Barrera and Quiroa (2003): This chapter is from the book Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature. Why is it important to consider the use of Spanish in texts? When does it enhance the text? When does it detract from the text? How might audiences of Spanish/English and English speakers be accommodated?
  

Write (Group A):

• Write a questioning the text paper and submit it by 6 pm the night before class.

Blogging:

• If you are a "B": Please post before the class session. The topic is "open"--you can write about Becoming Naomi Leon, the Ada or Barrera and Quiroa articles, or something else!
  

• If you are an "A" or "C": Respond to at least one post from a "B" before session 11.
  

Collaboration on final projects

I've posted the class list with project topics and contact information on each section's Angel site. Please check to see if your information is correct. If you want to make a change to the list, email me and I'll update it as needed. Remember that if you include your email, you are indicated that you are willing to have a classmate contact you! (If or how you collaborate is up to you.)

Where does the term handicap come from?

Related to our discussion last night:

Here is the proposed change to the language used in Michigan laws. The background section (page 2) includes information on the derivation of the word "handicap". (You'll notice that I was wrong about the horse connection coming first!)

Here is the source for that information.

Reactions to Charlie's POV (Monday section)

Since we didn't have time to do share everyone's reactions to From Charlie's POV, let's continue the discussion here on our blog.

• What were your reactions to From Charlie's POV? What ideas captured the interest of your small group? What new questions do you have about the book? Does anything seem unresolved?
• Does listening or reading the speech "Blindness: Is Literature Against Us?" by Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, former head of the National Federation of the Blind, add anything to how you read the text? I found the first 15 minutes and then the conclusion to be the most relevant. (Wow. He talks about "the blind detective" as a trope!)

I said this in class, but there were so many different reads of the text! I hope people will share!

Address for audio:

http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Audio/BanqSpeech/BSP-1974.mp3

Address for list of banquet speeches:

http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Speeches_and_Reports_Banquet_Speeches.asp?SnID=4

Jim in Bold: Safe Schools Event

Here's an announcement up the Safe Schools
event that is happening this week!

Jim in BOLD
View the award-winning documentary film
Jim in BOLD. This film explores the
complicated struggles and hopes of gay
and lesbian teens in America.
Discussion will follow the film.

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 4:00 - 6:00 252 EH Erickson Hall
Pizza will be served.

What do we mean by "ally"?

In our discussions of how one's own identity impacts one's reading of the text, people have used the term "ally". I'm worried that we haven't explored what we mean by that term! Here's one definition:

An ally is someone who speaks up or takes action against oppression not target towards themselves. (Yeskel, 1997, p. 249)

Often people who use the term emphasize that being an "ally" means working with and listening to members who belong to the oppressed group. It is often connected to the idea of recognizing and responding to privilege.

For me the term is helpful in thinking about how I acknowledging my own privilege as a white person and how/why I might work to end racism, for example. As a woman, it also helps me think about how men can be a part of dismantling sexism.

Here are some other resources that I found which might help you think about the term and what it helps you see or do:

• A more developed definition of ally from Bishop
• A list of "characteristics of an ally" from "Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice", p. 108. I don't have an electronic copy of this (and it's too long to quote), so I'll bring the book to our next class..
  
• Adversary vs Ally, a list of concrete actions one can take from the University of New Hampshire Residential Life page
• A lesson plan from Teaching Tolerance that explores how you might think of the concept with students

Feel free to comment with questions, ideas, connections to literature, etc.

Rowling "outs" Dumbledore

A friend just sent me a link to an article about a comment that J.K. Rowling made stating that her character from the Harry Potter series, Albus Dumbledore, is gay.

Keeping in mind that he is a fictional character, I'm trying to think about how he is being constructed and how what it means to be gay is being constructed in her comments, the text, audience comments, and the media. I'll post on this later after I've had some time to mull it over.

Read the article and let me know what you think!

Citing sources/Giving credit for ideas

Although we've talked about how blogs are somewhat informal writing, I want to clarify that you still need to give credit for the sources from which you draw ideas. (And certainly need to indicate direct quotes and their sources, regardless of whether they are from print or electronic media.)

For example,

• If you use a direct quote you need to put it in quotation marks or off-set it and give the source.
  
• If you paraphrase someone else's idea, you need to indicate that you've done so.

In most cases I think that doing this informally is fine. (Meaning you don't have to do a reference list like you might in a course paper.) For example, indicating the author's name and year of publication when you are drawing from a course reading or including the web address of where you drew a quote or big idea.

Here's where things get a little fuzzier, since a lot of our work is collaborative.

• If you are summarizing ideas formed in group discussion or sharing an idea that one of your classmates developed, you need to indicate that.

For example, if your analysis of a book is the product of a whole group discussion that helped you think of the book in new ways, say so. For example, "Class discussion helped me see..." or "One of my group members helped me understand..." or "Our debriefing after the such-and-such activity made me realize..." Or maybe leading with, "One of my group members wrote a questioning the text paper that made me look at the book in a different way".

Several positive things come out of acknowledging sources: it allows readers to track down written sources, it reminds us of the value of talking through ideas and hearing multiple interpretations of text and it keeps us "honest" in terms of sharing the credit for ideas.

I know there may be times when the issue of what counts as one's own idea and what is drawn more directly from others may seem blurry. Let's keep this conversation open!

Reactions to Al Capone Does My Shirts

Wednesday session:

Since we didn't have time to do share everyone's reactions to Al Capone Does My Shirts, let's continue the discussion here on our blog.

• What were your reactions to Al Capone? What ideas captured the interest of your small group? What new questions do you have about the book? Does anything seem unresolved?
• Did viewing Autism is a World make you think in new ways about Al Capone? If so, how?
  

Session 9: Critical Literacy/Material Culture

Although the focus of this session is, broadly, "critical literacy", we'll think about the topic in several ways. First, we will meet at the MSU museum for the first hour of this session to talk about what we can learn from "reading" a historical artifact--a quilt created to raise money for the KKK. Then we'll return to Erickson to discuss Witness and how one might lead students in thinking about texts more critically.

To support our discussion of critical literacy:

• Read Witness by Karen Hesse. Complete the graphic organizer I've provided in class for the character you've been assigned. (You will find a list with your character assignment posted on Angel. I've also posted the graphic organizer in case anyone wants to work from an electronic copy and/or didn't get one in class.)
  
• Read Kuhlman. Did you read Little House on the Prairie as either an adult or child? What were your responses to the text? What does Kuhlman mean by "critical reading"? Why and how does she engage students in this type of reading? (What does it "look like"?)
• Optional: Post a blog entry on your response to Witness or the Kuhlman article
  

To prepare for the museum visit:

• Optional: Read "The KKK Fundraising Quilt of Chicora, Michigan" (posted on Angel)
• Optional: Write a blog entry on your response to one or more ideas in the article, any questions or expectations that you have as you anticipate our visit to the museum, or connections you see between Witness and the museum trip.

Please remember that we will begin class at the MSU museum! (You are welcome to arrive a little early!)

Signing up for projects

I had a moment today, as I was puzzling over the most efficient way to post project topics/contact information in an easy-to-read electronic format that maintained confidentiality, when I realized that sometimes the good old-fashioned, low-tech option makes the most sense!

During our next session I'm going to ask each of you to sign up for the topic that you think you'll be exploring for you final project. Those who are interested in collaborating with others will have a space to indicate their email addresses. I'll then combine the two class lists, scan them, and post them to Angel. (OK, so there's a little "tech" in my plan.)

In the meantime, some people have started to indicate their interests through blog posts. You are welcome to contact people that way as well. And, if anyone wants to indicate their topics as a comment to this post, go for it!

Session 8: Preparing for Charlie's Point of View

Note: This is the only session for which the Monday and Wednesday sections have different assignments! This post applies to the Monday (002) section.

Blogging:

• If you haven't already done so, post the results of your group's award research. Be sure to cite and/or link to electronic resources you found helpful.
  
• Optional: Where do you stand in the awards debate? What purposes do they serve? Should awards be given for particular types of literature?
  

Read:

• From Charlie's Point of View
• Linton (1998): What does Linton say about the power of language? What terminology do you prefer when discussing this topic? Why? What would it mean to read Charlie's Point of View from a "disability studies framework? What types of questions would you ask about the representations in the text? How would you analyze those questions?
  
• Tal (2001) and Williams, et. al. (2005): In what range of ways have people with disabilities been portrayed in text? What criteria might one use to evaluate books that include people with disabilities? Is there anything you question about the criteria presented?
  

• Optional: Check out Richard Scrimger's website and/or blog. (I suggest after you read the book!) You might even write him and then report back to the class! On a less adventurous note, what can you learn about him from his on-line writing? What don't you learn about him?
  

Write (Everyone):

• Write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the Angel dropbox by 6 pm the evening before class.
  

In class we'll listen to a speech by the president of the National Federation for the Blind and talk about how the speech may raise new questions about From Charlie's Point of View.

Session 8: Preparing for "Al Capone..."

Note: This is the only session for which the Monday and Wednesday sections have different assignments! This post applies to the Wednesday (001) section.

Blogging:

• If you haven't already done so, post the results of your group's award research. Be sure to cite and/or link to electronic resources you found helpful.
  
• Optional: Where do you stand in the awards debate? What purposes do they serve? Should awards be given for particular types of literature?
  

Read:

• Al Capone Does my Shirts
  
• Linton (1998): What does Linton say about the power of language? What terminology do you prefer when discussing this topic? Why? What would it mean to read Al Capone Does my Shirts from a "disability studies framework? What types of questions would you ask about the representations in the text? How would you analyze those questions?
  
• Tal (2001) and Williams, et. al. (2005): In what range of ways have people with disabilities been portrayed in text? What criteria might one use to evaluate books that include people with disabilities? Is there anything you question about the criteria presented?
• Optional: Check out Gennifer Choldenko's website. (I suggest you read the book first.) What do you learn about her? What don't you learn?
  

Write (Everyone):

• Write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the Angel dropbox by 6 pm the evening before class.
  

In class we'll watch part of a documentary in which a woman who is autistic shares a little about her experience and talk about how the film may raise new questions about Al Capone Does my Shirts.

Final project

The final project is an opportunity to practice selecting, reviewing, and researching books on a topic of your choice. More importantly, you'll be sharing your work with a larger educational community!

During session 7 we will read through the directions and rubric for the final project. (You should have picked up a hard copy of these documents in class last week. They are also posted on Angel.)

Here are some links that you might find helpful:

• Sample book review that models the format of the review: MLA citation, book cover, summary of book, critical component, labels. (Remember that "critical" can be a positive or negative evaluation. The important aspect is that you draw on our work in the class to thoughtfully consider the text as a piece of literature.)
• Sample professional/critical resource: Remember that this can be a review of a resource as a whole OR can be a post in which you share a focused idea/question from the resource.
  
• Link to "public site" at which you'll post one or more of your reviews. (Don't worry about this now, I'll provide directions on selecting and posting your final work later in the semester.)
  

Although this is an optional post, you might want to write about why you are focusing on your topic and/or where you are "coming from" as a reader. Here's an example post in which one of your classmates talks about her interests.

Please post questions and comments about this project here. That way everyone will benefit from the discussion and responses that result from your queries!

Teaching Tolerance arrived today!

I just went to my mailbox and my copy of "Teaching Tolerance" had arrived! I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I can already see that there are articles on a number of topics we've discussed in class in recent weeks. The cover story is:

• "One Nation, Many Gods: A California school district learns how studying religion can open minds rather than close debate"

But there are also articles on inclusion, integration, "dismissing stereotypes about people living in poverty", "Christian normalcy", and gender-based bullying.

Blogging idea: Check out the on-line Fall 2007 edition of Teaching Tolerance and choose an article to read. Then summarize it and respond to one of the ideas presented in the article. (Remember, responding can be about elaboration, challenging, questioning, etc.)

Blogging: Which posts seem to invite comments?

As an author of a blog I want people to read my posts, but I also want responses and interaction from my readers!

You might also analyze what has been happening with our own posts. (In a similar way to what I did when I read through the blogs to analyze how we were using them.)

• What moves you to comment on a post? (No fair saying that it fulfills an assignment!)
  
• What do you notice about the structure or content of the posts that seem to provoke comments? (And I mean provoke in a nice way!)
• How might thinking about the genre of blogs/our discourse community shape how you write in the future!

Blogging ideas, take 2

It seems like there's an even split in the class between those who like the very open nature of blogging and those who feel like they need more guidance in thinking of what to write. For those who feel like prompts constrain them, keep writing as the spirit moves you!

For those who want more direction, you might be inspired by what your classmates are doing! Here are a some of ways that I've seen people using the blogs so far:

• Erin wrote a book review
  
• Lindsay and Laura responded to articles that were available in class, but we didn't discuss
• Lindsay and Stephanie commented on current events that they connected to themes of the class
  
• Lisa tried to clarify a term
• Tara extended a class discussion by adding a perspective that we didn't hear in class
  
• Tricia raised a question about an article
• Trisha made a connection to a community event
• Courtney reflected on how discussion changed her reading of a text
• Jessica shared a resource related to a class reading
• Katie made a connection with an idea from class and another text (In this case, a Disney movie)
• Katie D. posed a question about a Habibi that prompted a discussion of gender
• Many students have used a prompt from class to state their position on a key topic (I linked to Lauren's as an example). This one was assigned, but you could do this with any theme from the class. In class prompts and those in the "Sessions" posts might give you ideas.
  
• Mike introduced himself by letting use know about his reading interests
• Molly shared background information on an author we are reading
  
• Paula share questions from her questioning the text paper

Remember that blog posts are generally short and focused. You don't need to take on the world in your post, you just have to share an idea, question, resource, etc.

As people have other ideas, add them as comments! We should be able to build quite a list by the end of the semester!

Community event: Cowboys and Indians

This isn't really a "community event" in the sense of how we've used the term so far, but it is happening in our community...

A friend of mine has a daughter who goes to East Lansing High School. She mailed me today and wrote:

It's homecoming week, 2007. Students dress up every day with a different theme. Yesterday was CEOs and Secretaries. The theme of Homecoming this year is Cowboys and Indians. The seniors are the Cowboys.

What do you think? (I'll weigh in later!)

Session 7: Awards assignment

The co-themes of session 7 will be "practicing close readings of text" and analyzing awards for diverse literature. You'll only need to prepare for the second!

Everyone:

• Read the Aronson and Pinkney articles. What are the arguments for and against honoring books in specific cultural/social categories? What assumptions does each position rely on?
  
• Where do you stand in terms of the debate?
  

Award jigsaw: Research the following information for your assigned award.

• Is there an official website for the award? Are there other resources that provide information about the award? (Sometimes libraries or author blogs feature information not available on the official sites.)
  
• Why and when was this award created? What is the rationale for the award?
• Selection criteria: What books, authors, illustrators are eligible? How are the books judged?
• Who sponsors the award?
• Selection committee: Who chooses the winners? How do you get on the committee? How transparent is the process?
• Bring in books that have won or have been honored by the award. This will mean a trip to the library--you can coordinate this within your group. How easy was it to find the books? Do they have seals or other indications that they are award winners?
• It would be helpful if one person in the group could bring in a computer.
  

In class we'll teach each other about the awards, share books, and talk about the questions that our research raises. The "product" of your group work will be a collaborative post on your award. (Although you'll have time to work on this with your group, most of your research should be done in advance of class.)

Blogging: Keeping track of comments

I discovered a new feature that might be of use to the class. Using Google Reader or another aggregator will let you know when people add new post to blogs that you want to follow.

However, even if you subscribe to your own blog, you won't know when someone comments on what you've written. (Unless there's a feature I'm missing on Google Reader.)

So how do you know when someone has written a comment to one of your posts?

• Go to the settings tab
• Under settings click on "Comments"
• At the end of the page there is a "Comment notification" feature which allows you to enter an email address so that you get an alert when a comment is posted.

You all know that I'm learning this technology right along with you. If there's an easier/better way to keep track of comments, let us know!

What do we think of blogging so far?

I would like us to start a conversation on how you feel about our use of blogs in the class. Although no one is required to post, please do so if you have a comment or question to add to the discussion.

You might write about:

• What you find valuable about our use of blogs
• What you find to be limiting or frustrating
• How you can imagine using blogs in the future
• Questions you have about the blogs
• Ideas for mini-lessons/discussions we might have in class
  

I'll read the posts carefully, both to guide my planning this semester and think about the use of blogs in future classes.

Session 6: African American Lit. and "Voice"

Everyone:

• Read Martin (2004): What does she mean by the "double voicedness" of text? How is this "double voicedness" connected to the historical position of African Americans? Do any of the modes of discourse seem familiar? (You might draw on popular culture for examples or written texts.)
• Read Woodson (1998): What does Woodson add to our "insider-outsider "debate?
  
• Read Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes. This books is written in a combination of verse and prose. Try reading (and maybe rereading) the poems aloud to explore how they sound. Mark 1-2 poems that you would like to share and discuss.
  

Group C:

• Write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the Angel dropbox by 6 pm the night before class
• Bring a hard copy of your paper to class
  

Optional:

• What can you learn about Nikki Grimes through internet research? Post any interesting resources in a blog entry.
• Contribute a response to "How is blogging going?" by 6 pm the night before class

Blogging and copyright

A number of people have been making connections between current events and the course. Wonderful!

In terms of copyrighted material, you need to be aware of what you can and can not post on your blog. Posting the full text of a copyrighted article, for example, is a no-no. Providing a link to that article, a short excerpt, or summary of the article is fine.

When we get to posting book reviews we'll have to talk about how to post pictures of the front covers of the books.

I'm not an expert in this area--let's ask around and see if we can find more authoritative guidelines on the topic.

Jewish Studies Events Calendar

I just received the Fall 2007 MSU Jewish Studies Program Calendar and will post it on our Angel site. (I'll also bring a hard copy to class.)

The Jewish Studies Program holds a workshop on teaching about Holocaust each spring. I went last year and learned a great deal. If you are interested, keep your eye on the Jewish Studies program website for details.

What types of questions "work" for the questioning the text papers?

On Monday a student gave me feedback on the assignment guidelines that made me think. She said, you give more examples about what not to do in the QTT papers than examples of what might work!

Fair enough.

The reason that I'm hesitant to post example questions is that often the best questions are those that are unexpected or so particular to a text that they can't be prompted with a generic model. However, I want to respect the fact that a number of people have said that it has been hard to get a handle on how to frame a question.

My first piece of advice is to reread the assignment guidelines and ask yourself if the question you want to pose can be answered by analyzing the text and engages in a discussion of the work as a piece of diverse literature.

So here's my compromise: I'm going to list some very generic types of questions below and then leave it up to the class to continue posting samples as they hit on questions that seem to work in discussion.

• In what ways does XXX function as a generalization or stereotype in XXX?
• Who seems to be the implied audience for the text? (i.e. What textual clues signal who the author assumes you'll identify with or what knowledge the reader does or does not bring to the text)
• How does the [genre/style/plot/or any other literary feature] position readers to think about XXXs XXX say about the relationship between XXX and members of the dominant culture?
  
• How is humor/tragedy/etc. used to...?
• How does XXX and XXX work to unravel the dichotomy of…
• What did [plot twist, particular character/etc.] add to the text?
• How does the text challenge ideas about [choose any dichotomy: modernity/tradition, gender, etc.]
• Using XXX’s framework, how would you characterize XXX?
• What does the title of the book…

Remember this is a conversation! Post your questions, thoughts, etc.

Sorry to end on a less positive note, but I want to offer a caveat regarding grades: Using one of these models doesn't guarantee a particular grade. I assess how you develop the question and the relationships between the sections of the paper.

Safe Schools Seminars (GLBTQ)

Seminars for Fall, 2007

One in Ten: Issues of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Schools

One in Ten? GLBTQIAA? What do these terms mean and why are they relevant to schools? This seminar kicks off our six-part series with an introduction to GLBT-issues in education. We will hear from a diverse panel explain why paying attention to issues of sexual and gender identity in schools is important.

Monday, Oct 1, 2007 6:00-7:30 252 Erickson Hall

Jim in BOLD

View the award-winning documentary film Jim in BOLD. This film explores the complicated struggles and hopes of gay and lesbian teens in America. Discussion will follow the film.

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 4:00 � 6:00 252 EH Erickson Hall

GLBTQ Children's and Adolescent Literature

Wondering what books to include in your inclusive classroom library? Join us as we explore examples of children�s and adolescent literature that address GLBTQ issues. Samples of books will be available for viewing.

Thursday, Nov 8, 5:00-6:30, 252 EH Erickson Hall

Session 5

For session 5 we will be discussing the book Habibi and Arab American children's and adolescent literature more generally. To prepare for the session:

• The Al-Hazza and Lucking (2005) article provides a context for our discussion. Who are Arab Americans? How are they (mis)represented in the media? What are the implications for how we read a book like Habibi?
  
• Al-Hazza (2006) provides an analysis of children's and adolescent literature? What do you notice about the types of books that are available that portray Arab Americans? What seems missing?
  
• Read Habibi and note what strikes you about the text. Bring your questions, concerns, impressions to class. Next week we will talk a little bit about how the book has been used and questioned in schools.
  

• B's only: Write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the Angel drop-box by 6 pm the day before class
  

New book!: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Here's a link to a book review on Debbie Reese's blog that you might find interesting:

Reviews: Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I haven't read the book yet, but it looks like it is well received! If you are thinking about focusing on Native American literature for your final project, this might be an interesting selection.

I can't resist a couple of thoughts on blogging:

• When you want to create a link to a particular post, rather than the general address where the blog is located, you can use the "permanent link" that is specific to the post you are citing.
  
• You'll see that an anonymous reader posted a comment and Debbie Reese responded. This type of discussion is what blogs are all about! (Although it is unfortunate that the comment is nasty. This is one of the reasons I set my blog so that readers can not post anonymously!)
  

Subscribing to blogs

Although we have links to the class blogs on this site, you can imagine that it would be pretty inefficient for any of us to check 50 blogs on a regular basis to see if particular people had posted!

Rather than going out and looking for posts, there's a way to subscribe to content on blogs/webpages that brings new posts to you!

In order to do this, you need to set up an account with an aggregator program like Google Reader. This is a free service that you can sign up for with your google account.

Whenever you go to a webpage or a blog that you want to keep tabs on, you'll click on the RSS feed icon. (The orange icon to the right in the address bar.) You'll get a prompt to add the subscription to your account. (You can keep your subscriptions in folders, change their names, etc.)

Then, when you are ready to read blog posts, you can go to your Google Reader page and you'll see all of the new posts from the blogs to which you've subscribed!

Questions? Any advice from people who have experience subscribing to blogs? Post questions and comments!

Guillermo Delgado Visit

Click on the image to make it large enough to read!

Michigan Indian Day Event: September 28th

Michigan Indian Day Event
Friday, September 28th
8:15 am -5:00 pm

$15 per student
$40 per "professional"

Contact Emily Proctor at proctor8@msu.edu for information and registration.

The Michigan Indian Day Event is a day long conference focusing on issues related to Native American children. In addition to sessions throughout the day, the afternoon keynote is: "Do Mascots Really Impact American Indian People? (Origins, Perceptions, and Actions for Future Generations"!

I'm planning on attending the conference and would love for any of you to join me! (Or attend on your own.) I'll bring the flyer which includes more information to class with me this week.

Suggested reading: McIntosh

The questioning the text papers and class discussion around "Heart of a Chief" made me think of an article that I read when I was in college (and sometimes use with classes). The article is fairly short and (I hope!) interesting.

The article is "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh.

The article introduces the idea of "white privilege": the idea that white people may or may not have had a chance to recognize the significance of race in day to day life. Although McIntosh thinks in terms of race, I think the idea of privilege can be helpful in thinking in more general ways about how those with majority identities sometimes haven't had a chance to explore common experiences of people with socially marginalized identities. In fact, I just came across an article which uses the concept of privilege to think about heterosexual privilege called "The Daily Effects of Straight Privilege".

What do people think? Did anything in McIntosh's article "ring true"? Was there anything that you questioned? What does "privilege" have to do with our identities as readers?

Preparing for Session 4

Reading:

• Next week we'll focus on the "insider-outsider" debate in class: who should write "diverse literature"? What are the rationales for seeking out works written by authors who draw on personal experience and/or identify with the cultural or social groups they represent? What are the rationales for taking a stance that "outsiders" can also write quality pieces of literature? In what ways is the "insider-outsider" distinction tricky or a problem?
• Your readings for this week are drawn from a on-going, written, and scholarly debate in the world of children's literature. Read the four articles for this session in the order that they are presented in the syllabus. You may find it helpful to keep a list of different arguments and counter-arguments.
• We'll spend time in class clarifying different viewpoints and complicating our understandings of the dilemmas involved in this debate!
  

Blogging:

• This is one of the few weeks for which there is an assigned post (or comment, if you wish to respond to someone else's idea). Write a focused and concise post on an aspect of the insider-outsider debate.
  
• Optional: Add a section on your blog for links to professional resources on diverse literature.
• Optional: If you haven't done so, set up a Google Reader (or other similar account) to subscribe to posts from this blog and your fellow classmates' blogs.