I absolutely loved class last week! i felt as if it was useful information for all teachers no matter what grade or subject he/she are wanting to teach. When going into the class last week i had not so good expectations for the grad student but she completely changed my mind. As soon as she told us the topic and what we would be discussing i love it. and i found it comforting that she was an elemenatry edu major. I just wanted to say that i really enjoyed class last week and learned a lot.

She was good. However as a secondary ed math major, I was wondering how ban books could relate to by subject area. She raised interesting convos for art, english, and music for all levels of education, yet I do not see the prupose for a Math/Science major.
Dont get me wrong she was great, and it was interesting, yet this thought was in my mind.

Dustin,

Even though you are going to be a Math teacher, the issues that were brought up in class about the banned books can apply to your class, too! For example, some students may feel inadequate about their ability to learn math or become a mathematician because of his or her sexual orientation, his or her racial profile, or even his or her societal class rank.

For example, I actually have learning disabilities in Mathematics. Even though this is not a very big controversial subject, I am willing to share this bit of information. I use to struggle with simple mathematical applications, such as doing my multiplication tables, problem solving, etc. Even though I had a documented learning disability, some of my teachers never took it seriously. I actually had a teacher ask me if I was cheating my way through high school (because I was given extra time to complete my math exams)! In my opinion, that is an issue! To question a child who struggles in a particular subject matter is ridiculous! Sometimes through my high school career, I did feel a little discriminated against, and I did feel segregated from my fellow peers. In other words, I felt that I was being compared to the average student, when I wasn't the average student in my math class. I'm not trying perceive myself as a victim; this issue is just one of the reasons I want to be a teacher.

Just remember, even when you don't teach the actual issues, they still occur in the classroom. From my experiences as an intern, I have already dealt with students being pregnant, individuals who have family-oriented issues, peer pressure, identity issues, drugs, religion, etc. These issues can occur before, during or after class, or even when we least expect them to. And, not only can they appear in the form of a student, but they can also take the form of a concerned parent.

I loved class last week too! I know that us elementary ed majors are a little outnumbered in class by the secondary ed majors, so it was good to finally talk about something that seemed to relate to our level of education. Reading is one of the most essential parts to a child's learning process, and talking about the different banned books really opened my eyes to what I am going to be faced with as a future teacher.

AMEN ERIN! Thats exactly how i felt! It was so refreshing to learn something that really effects my major and some of the struggles that i will face as an elementary teacher

I felt that though it some interesting discussion, last weeks classes are not going to be of much use to me. I am secondary math as well, like Dustin, and most of the things he said I agree with. I really only gained ideas on how to handle parents that a part in their child's education and voice concerns to the teacher. Related to this, I asked a few of my friends who are English ed about how banned books could be used in a math class. One was unable to think of a way, and the other could only think of me using "Devil's Arithmetic" in the class. Both of these friends are very bright on how to incorporate English into any lesson, so for them to have trouble tells me there is not much of a connection.

Ericka, I'm not exactly clear on how your post relates to what Dustin mentioned. I know that I will have students that feel that something about them prevents them from learning math (all of us will have those students in our respective areas). I'm not sure how I could use banned books to help those students though. The only thing I could possibly think of is that I could reference them to a particular book that I feel would help them. If you could explain a little more on the connection, I might be able to understand where you are coming from. You reference that no matter what subject we teach, we are going to deal with the issues that are raised in the books, and I agree with that. I'm not sure that having classes that discuss how to use the books that have those issues in my classroom really helps me since I won't be able to teach those books. Having classes on the subjects themselves would be more beneficial to me, in my opinion. I don't mean for this to sound like an attack on what you said, I am just curious as to how the classes where helpful to me.

We are talking about banned books in another class I am in right now, and I feel it is important to know WHY these books are banned. Part of my summer reading is to read books off the banned book list. Anybody can ban books. And for any reason...ie. It's too scary for kids, unsuitable content, political/religious views, challenging authority etc. What I plan on doing if a parent challenges a book that I am reading in a class, then I will have a form for them to fill out that will give me legitimate reasons as to why they don't agree with it. And always, if you think a book might be challenged, offer a different reading selection.

Ericka,

I see what you are saying, I just do not understand how it is relevant to what I said. I said that I don't think banned books apply to secondary math education. I understand diversity issues, disability issues and other issues that teenagers will go through, however I don't think there is any banned book that is relevant to teaching math.

I think Tony was right, a class about the issues themselves instead of banned books about the issues would be much more helpful to someone like me.