Sifting through the Book Room.

In the last waning minutes before early dismissal on Friday, I wandered into the library to check out the book sets and video resources available to staff at Wellington. As soon as I was let into the room, I noticed there were no book sets in there (?). So I was told to go chat with the Dept. head afterwards to find out what book sets were in stock. I still decided to take a look around the resource room, and I was impressed to find numerous reference books (ESL, Special Needs, Grad Transitions, etc.) as well as over 1,000 videos/DVDs spanning all subject areas for teacher use.  I then headed off to find the Dept. head (who I’ve also been observing this week), and he gave me all the details on book sets.  It’s pretty much standard fare in terms of the books for this district, and the teachers generally follow the grade recommendations so teachers can build on previous knowledge gained from the novels they know the students read last year.  Some of those titles (that I’m sure most of us remember reading) include: The Outsiders, The Chrysalids, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, and 1984. He also showed me a cabinet full of various unit plan binders for all the novels- which is a fantastic resource for the teachers!

On the topic of book choices, I talked to an Engl 11 teacher who was in the process of trying to get Testimony by Anita Shreve approved to teach in her class. I haven’t read the novel, but she said that the first 15 pages are a particularly graphic rape scene- hence the issue getting it approved. She said that she really wanted to do this novel because she could relate it not only to Lord of the Flies (the other novel they’re reading), but it could also be related to the issue of rape- an important discussion to have with high school kids. As it stood last week, it was sitting at the superintendent level, waiting to get approved. It certainly raises the issue- how risky can novels be at a high school level? Should we choose literature that plays to the most naïve student? Or should our goal be to jar their worlds and (hopefully) inspire them to greater heights of knowledge? I think it would have to be a happy medium, but how one would define that? I’m not too sure.