Here at NCTE, we’re excited about the great things ahead for 2018. Before we kick the new year into high gear, however, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all of the wonderful writing generated by our staff, members, and educators on our blog last year by sharing our top 10 most read blogs of 2017. If you haven’t had a chance to check out these great pieces yet, you most definitely should!
10. Why Students Should Read This Book
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian was THE most challenged book in the nation in 2014. Millie Davis, director of NCTE’s Intellectual Freedom Center, shares why educators would be better off arguing for why our students should read the book rather than getting bogged down in rebuttals to the challenge. She makes her point using the words of Minnesota parent and member Kathryn Campbell.
9. More Than a Grade: Cultivating Intellectual Play in Students
Member Danah Hashem encourages teachers to consider a number of alternatives for assessing students outside of grading, including revision and self-reflection.
8. We Shouldn’t Always Feel Comfortable: Why “To Kill a Mockingbird” Matters
Christina Torres talks about the importance of teaching challenged texts like To Kill a Mockingbird in the face of the book being removed from Biloxi, Mississippi, schools.
7. Grading Practices That Grow Writers
Guest blogger Arina Bokas describes how she moved from simply grading a student’s final product to assessing a student’s writing process and the positive impact it had in her classroom.
6. Let’s Stop Pretending “To Kill a Mockingbird” Is Progressive on Race
Member Julia Franks shares her reasons for removing To Kill a Mockingbird from her curriculum.
Using quotes from a variety of sources, including a blog written by member Teri Lesesne and the American Association of School Librarians, Millie Davis, director of NCTE’s Intellectual Freedom Center, discourages educators from using Lexile scores or reading levels as a way to restrict student reading.
4. Promoting the Pleasures of Reading: Why It Matters to Kids and to Country
Member Jeff Wilhelm, author of the 2016 NCTE David H. Russell Award-winning book Reading Unbound: Why Kids Need to Read What They Want and Why We Should Let Them, argues the main point of the book: pleasure reading is a civil rights issue.
Millie Davis, director of NCTE’s Intellectual Freedom Center, shares news about the most comprehensive book banning she’s ever seen: the superintendent of the Dixie District Schools in Florida banned all books that “contain any profanity, cursing, or inappropriate subject matter.”
2. Reading List for Summer in Participatory Citizenship
As part of the NCTE Standing Committee on Global Citizenship, member Pam Allyn shares books and activities to foster global participatory citizenship in students.
1. There Is No Apolitical Classroom: Resources for Teaching in These Times
Members of NCTE’s Standing Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English share resources to encourage all NCTE members to speak out against racism and bias in the classroom.