Also, Op's 11th grader is suggesting Animal Farm as a high school curriculum option. I read it in middle school a gazillion years ago, and my MCPS 8th grader is also reading it in 8th grade.

Anonymous wrote:Why does everyone need to read the same books? Surely the idea behind making kids read "1984" is to talk about themes like extreme government, propaganda, manipulation, etc. If they read Handmaid's Tale, they could discuss the same themes, no?

It has to be pretty boring for an English department to teach the same books for decades when there are so many good books to read, and new (more relevant?) books being written.

The curriculum at our school includes:

Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

The Handmaid's Tale (1985)

Never Let Me Go (2005)

They also read books like The Scarlet Letter (1850) and Kindred (1979) that aren't specifically dystopian but touch on many of the same themes.

You can study dystopian literature, without reading Animal Farm or 1984. Including a mix of books from different time periods, by authors with varied identities and experiences is powerful, but it means letting go of some of the old canon to make room.

I also think this is an issue related to location - I know we all complain about DMV schools but the truth is that our kids are better educated than lots of other areas of the country for many reasons, including the teachers, the curriculum, the parents.

My brother lives in the midwest and his kids were reading books senior year of high school that my kids read in middle school and many less of them.

I also think the quality of the teachers is not as good - DC is a mecca for the educated but in other places, you might not get someone with a PHD in literature teaching English.

I would be annoyed the teacher hadn't read AF because its a classic, short, easy and most people have read it, but weirder that she admitted the fact. In any event, good for your kid for knowing it.

AF is one of my family's favorite books - we listened to the audio version on a road trip when one of my kids was assigned it for summer reading - the other kids got to listen too and we have funny memories of the trip. The teacher should read it over the summer and teach next year.

It seems odd, I agree, but schools aren't reading the same classics that most of us read in the 1980s or 1990s. I'm not sure when things shifted (I graduated from HS in 1996) so it's possible that a teacher in their 30s might have read completely different books in school. Maybe HS literature is no longer about Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Joseph Conrad, the Bronte sisters, the Odyssey, George Orwell, and the like. Of all the books my kids have read to date in middle school, the only one I knew was The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably was an education major NOT an English major.

Not if she's certified to teach in a public HS. That's not how education certification works in this country,

Actually, it is. I'm a certified math teacher but I wasn't a math major. Some states require you to major in the subject you teach (Maryland), but many do not (virginia), and once you have a license in one state it's relatively easy to transfer to another. I could transfer my license to Maryland with reciprocity and not have a math degree.

What did you major in?

Business. My masters is education. I just needed so many math credits, but I somehow got credit for them through things like "logistics optimization" and "business statistics". My calculus credits for my initial licensure are literally from AP calculus when I was 17.

Of the 20ish teachers in our high school math department, only 1 was a math major. Several were engineering, but some of us were business, nutrition, agriculture, Spanish, or even physical education majors. Once you are licensed in one subject, all it takes to add a math license in Virginia is passing a subject matter test.

I reacted to a poster that says that she probably had an undergraduate major in Education. I have never seen a university program that had an an undergraduate major that led to high school level certification, other than in special education, or a subject like Music Education or PE where people are certified K-12.

I agree that you can major in one subject, and get certified to teach another. But you can't major in Education as a sole subject and teacher High School English.

You can major in "Secondary English Education" though in many states, without being a straight up English major.

Why does everyone need to read the same books? Surely the idea behind making kids read "1984" is to talk about themes like extreme government, propaganda, manipulation, etc. If they read Handmaid's Tale, they could discuss the same themes, no?

It has to be pretty boring for an English department to teach the same books for decades when there are so many good books to read, and new (more relevant?) books being written.

Anonymous wrote:I think this is a bizarre thing to be upset about.

+1 And also that high school students aren't always reliable narrators. But even if true, who cares. People can be smart and even teach English and not have read every book in the world that you feel is important.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably was an education major NOT an English major.

Not if she's certified to teach in a public HS. That's not how education certification works in this country,

Actually, it is. I'm a certified math teacher but I wasn't a math major. Some states require you to major in the subject you teach (Maryland), but many do not (virginia), and once you have a license in one state it's relatively easy to transfer to another. I could transfer my license to Maryland with reciprocity and not have a math degree.

What did you major in?

Business. My masters is education. I just needed so many math credits, but I somehow got credit for them through things like "logistics optimization" and "business statistics". My calculus credits for my initial licensure are literally from AP calculus when I was 17.

Of the 20ish teachers in our high school math department, only 1 was a math major. Several were engineering, but some of us were business, nutrition, agriculture, Spanish, or even physical education majors. Once you are licensed in one subject, all it takes to add a math license in Virginia is passing a subject matter test.

I reacted to a poster that says that she probably had an undergraduate major in Education. I have never seen a university program that had an an undergraduate major that led to high school level certification, other than in special education, or a subject like Music Education or PE where people are certified K-12.

I agree that you can major in one subject, and get certified to teach another. But you can't major in Education as a sole subject and teacher High School English.

Everyone has their classics they haven't read, even if you read a lot. I minored in English Lit and I haven't read the major Russian classics, for instance. There's too much to read.

There's just so much to read. I'm sure she know what Orwell is. There's many reasons this could be missed - switching school systems, taking an elective class. Every year, there are more books - what was mandatory for us won't be mandatory for the next group.

Old people often fail to appreciate that history is longer for young people. There are new classics

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably was an education major NOT an English major.

Not if she's certified to teach in a public HS. That's not how education certification works in this country,

Actually, it is. I'm a certified math teacher but I wasn't a math major. Some states require you to major in the subject you teach (Maryland), but many do not (virginia), and once you have a license in one state it's relatively easy to transfer to another. I could transfer my license to Maryland with reciprocity and not have a math degree.

What did you major in?

Business. My masters is education. I just needed so many math credits, but I somehow got credit for them through things like "logistics optimization" and "business statistics". My calculus credits for my initial licensure are literally from AP calculus when I was 17.

Of the 20ish teachers in our high school math department, only 1 was a math major. Several were engineering, but some of us were business, nutrition, agriculture, Spanish, or even physical education majors. Once you are licensed in one subject, all it takes to add a math license in Virginia is passing a subject matter test.

I mean, at least she had heard of the book and knew Orwell had written it. These are some straight up illiterate times we are living in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She probably was an education major NOT an English major.

Not if she's certified to teach in a public HS. That's not how education certification works in this country,

Actually, it is. I'm a certified math teacher but I wasn't a math major. Some states require you to major in the subject you teach (Maryland), but many do not (virginia), and once you have a license in one state it's relatively easy to transfer to another. I could transfer my license to Maryland with reciprocity and not have a math degree.

What did you major in?

Anonymous wrote:I used the phrase “Ergo . . .” in a group chat at work, and neither of the two twenty-something’s on our team were familiar with the word at all. General literacy amongst young people is on a steep decline.

This is what happens when colleges use "holistic" admissions procedures. Being an athlete or having a cool hobby is all well and good, but they do need to check for literacy and math skills.