When I started my blog, I forgot to include the introductory post so I am doing it right now. When I initially began writing, I focused on the topic of standardized testing, in particular how No Child Left Behind legislation affects language arts instruction in the secondary classroom. I used the major search query “No Child Left Behind” through Google News. Since taking education classes, my views concerning NCLB have changed and I wanted to explore the specifics of the issue so that I could be better informed. I wanted to know more of the specifics of NCLB and how it directly affects teachers in the secondary school English classroom.
I sidetracked on a blog and did an article on Religion in Schools. This post, however, is not included in my seven article posts for the semester. I simply wanted to explore how religion plays a role in schools, despite the fact that church and state are supposed to be separate.
From here, I changed my focus to young adult versus classic literature, which is what I will finish out the semester studying. We have talked a lot in class about the benefits of young adult literature and it seemed to me that classic literature in the classroom was being shown as bad. Therefore, I wanted to see what others say about this topic, whether or not YA or classic literature is better to teach to secondary students. For this topic, I am using the major search query “Classics + Young Adult Literature” as well as “Teaching Classic Literature” through Google News. In addition to these, I am looking at the New York Times and BBC World News news sources, in particular the education sections. I am also looking at a blog on “Teaching Classic Literature” for inspiration. Although I don’t think people will be able to change my opinion, I want to know what the general consensus is. It seems that nowadays people are drifting away from the classics, especially adults, and I want to perhaps understand better why that is.
