Journal Entry 1: Excitement about reading- reservations about technology

First and foremost, I must admit that this whole blogger thing has me a little confused... well, confused is not the best word for how I am feeling because I have indeed seemingly conquered this technology thing for the moment... I am not so much confused as I am hesitant, I suppose. Nonetheless, the technology has been properly harnessed (for the time being!) and I am ready to begin my very first blogging experience. Although I am slightly hesitant about keeping a journal online (I am an avid writer and have mounds of journals at home, some of which I am sure I must burn at some point due to their incriminating content, lest the men in little white coats come looking for me) I think it is an experience which I will thoroughly enjoy.

I would like to begin by writing about the first book that I selected to share with the class. Sloppy Firsts was SUCH an enjoyable read. I am the type of person that reads the same book over and over, always finding something new, and I am sure that this is a book which I will one day pick up, dust off, and enjoy it as much the second time around as I did the first. Though I enjoyed the book immensely and found myself chuckling on more than one occasion, I am attempting to think with my teacher hat on, so to speak. I need to make an effort to think about things beyond the here and now and truly examine the possible implications of my learning and teaching style in my future classroom. So while this is a book that I obviously liked, is it something that I could keep in my classroom and recommend to my students?

Though this does not seem like a complex question (surely it could be answered with a simple yes or no....?) the answer is indeed much more obscure. As someone planning on teaching at a middle or high school level, my hypothetical students will hypothetically be dealing with some of the same issues as the protagonist in the novel... the question of whether or not this novel would be appropriate for them to read would depend upon how the novel resolves some of the issues, such as drugs and sex and peer pressure, and how I as an educator present the novel. I feel that while the novel does present the reader with some sticky situations and graphic language, perhaps it can reach out more effectively to the students. The story isn't watered down at all, instead it presents a world that (whether we like it or not) our students are familiar with... and I think that this novel would be a great conversation starter- it would be a wonderful jumping off place for some generative discussion and thought. And while it may make some people uncomfortable, perhaps it is necessary. Take a look at sex education: abstinence only programs don't educate teens about the dangers of unsafe sex, and what good is that when we know that they're GOING TO DO IT ANYWAY? Because they're teens, and that's just what teens do. So to me, it makes much more sense to be open about these issues and talk with our students and educate them, because at the end of the day that is what is most important. I want my students to feel like my classroom is open for discussion, and I am not going to live in lala land and pretend that my students are little angels who don't have the tiniest inkling about "real world" problems.