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A new manual uses language to explore bias

Historical and contemporary Japanese-Mexican collaboration leads to a theatrical performance. Replicate the play at your school.

It can be daunting but also amusing to set the context for Harper Lee’s classic To Kill A Mockingbird. If my students thought the 1992 L.A. Riots were “back in the day,” imagine how long ago the 1930’s feel to them. Not only that, but when I refer to the southern United States, several of them think I really mean “a place near L.A.”To conquer this, we spent a period locating Alabama on the map, sipping sweet southern tea and checking out Dorothea Lange’s Depression-era photos. I even play a compilation of tunes that were popular then, including A Tisket, A Tasket by Ella Fitzgerald. Overall, we have fun as we look back.

By now, most people have heard about the new edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn being released next month. In it, the n-word has been slashed 219 times and replaced by “slave.” Discussions over this edition have been loud, particularly in literary and education circles. Erasing the n-word would, theoretically, free teachers to teach Huck Finn again. After all, year after year, the novel appears on the American Library Association’s list of most frequently challenged or banned books.But what have we heard from our young people about this issue?

My journalism students were brainstorming topics for their final story projects. I urged them to come up with compelling ideas that relate to their experiences but that push deeply into national trends. “Stop letting all the midlife writers (like myself) tell your stories,” I pushed. “Tell your own.”

Schools in Maryland and Connecticut are rethinking suspension policies. Promoting positive behavior has led to higher graduation rates, especially among students of color.

Through his experience at a poetry festival, one teacher realized how daily poetry readings could offer students a glimpse into a variety of experiences.

A recent issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine addressed two subjects that I see converging in news stories from around the country – intolerant attitudes toward students who are atheist and teachers using their positions to bully students.