Today’s class was great. First, I really enjoyed the talk about children’s literature and how books need to be examined for biases and any inappropriate nature. Before Dr. Stohr mentioned her friend’s blog site about the negative portrayal of Indians in children’s literature, I hadn’t even noticed the racist pictures of them in the books I scanned about George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. That just shows how accustomed I am, as a white female, to seeing racists images in my daily life..so much so that I have never even thought about how American Indians are portrayed. Nevertheless, I was happy that this lesson brought that realization to life. I now know how incredibly important it is to actually read the books you put into your classroom so that you are not accidentally choosing materials that target specific groups or make students feel uncomfortable.
Regarding the lesson plans, I think next week will be better since we have had a discussion about the assignment and will have a group discussion/hear other peoples ideas. I am excited to see what next week brings.
Hello Molly, I am so glad you had a good experience with the bias lesson. It is always eye-opening to realize things about our own biases that we did not know were there. I think these will be important conversations to have in PLC meetings when deciding what books to use in shared reading. Also, conversations with the school librarian ahead of using books for a lesson will be beneficial.
I too look forward to completing the lesson planning process in class on Tuesday. Thank you for your reflection.