No Shhing Here

I co-chair the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee for my building (but don't confuse me for an expert—I still have so much to learn). As a school librarian, this work feels like a natural fit, as so many tenets of our profession parallel traditional D.E.I. goals.  In my building, one of our current goals is to increase the diversity and range of viewpoints and voices in classrooms and curriculum, especially those that are historically marginalized. We've done some big work in this area—for example, we overhauled the novels and some short stories students read in 9th grade ELA.  Sometimes, though, we move towards our D.E.I. goals with baby steps—small changes that send us in the right direction, but on a smaller scale. An example? We're using daily agenda slides to highlight Hispanic voices during National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from September 15th—October 15th.  Almost every teacher in my junior high starts class with an agenda slide. Agenda slides ar...

As a school librarian, it's super important for me to mark the American Library Association's Banned Books Week (this year, it's Sept 18 - 24). As long as I've been a school librarian, I've included a Banned Books display in my library. In the past, the stakes felt low, and I didn't worry that it would cause any kind of controversy. And things have changed. Now that book banning is MUCH more prevalent, and considered by many to be both a controversial issue and a highly politicized issue, I'm VERY careful to ensure my display is informational and allows lots of room for students to draw their OWN conclusions about the topic. (This aligns with my district's school board policy on teaching controversial issues.) To do this, I use the display to incorporate three reasons why people support book banning AND three reasons why people oppose book banning. I provide students with paper and pens, and encourage them to reflect on their opinions about the topic. Th...