In a recent article sent out by NCTE titled "Lesson in poetry gets a teacher in trouble," a Florida teacher has been put on leave from her high school teaching position after parents called the principal and argued that she was writing and speaking about derogotory terms in her classroom.
Melody Irizarry, 40, a second-year language arts teacher at Chiefland High School, was doing a poetry study in her classroom, showing her students how "in poetry [words are used] to describe or label other people and how the significance of those words have changed over time."
Some students went home and told their parents about the lesson, and outraged parents sought the administration. Some parents went to the teacher's defense, though:
"Cheryl Hopper's son Greg has been in Irizarry's class for two years. Hopper said Greg had the same poetry lesson last year in Irizarry's class.She said her son was no teacher's pet - that he had been written up earlier in the year and otherwise disciplined by Irizarry.But Hopper said she and her son respected the lesson Irizarry presented."What she taught in that class was more than just about words. It was also about the influence of words and that calling someone a name at any level will not only influence their life but it will also influence your life," Hopper said. "It helped my son to understand that he should respect everyone."
Personally, I find the parents that went against the teacher to be terrible examples for their children. Do the parents expect the students to sit idle in class and not be exposed to the problems in their society? Irizarry was trying to show her students the relevance of stereotypes and labels in poetry and how they affect a person's perception of others...a wonderful idea!
I guess as teachers we have to worry about trying to show our students anything worthwhile...how sad!
source: http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070308/LOCAL/703080349/-1/news
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2 comments:
I am in shock over this. For starters, there are so many other worse things happening in classrooms now a days, (unfortunatly) that what a teacher expresses about poetry should be the least of parents worries. Poetry can have MULTIPLE meanings and everyone is entitled to their opinion. Have we forgotten about the Freedom of Speech? I could understand if it was something totally out of line and if a student took offense or was uncomfortable about it, but I personally think the parents are going overboard.
Staci,
You should be able to create your own ID and password from the button that says log in/sign up (or something like that). But if you need to get into the site, the ID is Wiki Group and the password is ENG307.
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