145th Street Book Trailer

Here's the book trailer I put together for a series of short stories by Walter Dean Myers called 145th Street.
    -Bridget McDonnell

The Power of Short Stories

I truly love short stories. Now don't get me wrong I love novels too, but short stories are also awesome. I love the fact that they can offer a short glimpse into something and still leave we wondering and questioning. In my opinion some of the short stories I have read are more thought provoking than some of the novels I have read. I believe that we all can get something meaningful out of a short story. For example in Tales From Outer Suburbia my favorite story was "Distant Rain." It left me with a feeling I can't even describe. It made me think about who the people were that hid their works and how I could have been one of the people to read one of the scraps. It makes me think about how small the world is and at the same time how big the world is. I really enjoy short stories. They are also great in a school setting. The chance to read a short story for some students is amazing because it is what it is...short. I think it is also helpful because it can same time for the teacher. You can read many short stories in the same time that you can read one novel. Novels are important, but so are short stories.

Alisa Richter

Marginalized Teens and the novel Owning It

There are numerous ways a student can be marginalized.  Some may be poor, handicapped, have memory problems, various learning disabilities, or have Tourette’s syndrome.  For those of us who are going to be teachers, there is a great possibility we will have some of these students in our classroom.  The book, Owning It, is a collection of short stories all about teenagers who are marginalized for various reasons.  Through these stories, I gained a sense of what life would be like for them-definitely more difficult and challenging.  All of these stories really impacted me, but there was one that impacted me the most.  The story was about a boy who had Tourette’s Syndrom.  Some classmates made fun of him, and his family was cautious about him being at school with his outbursts of tics. He decides to speak at an assembly in front of all of his classmates.  He informs his classmates what is like when he has a tic, and how he cannot control it.  It was an extremely powerful story, especially because he decided to talk to his school about it.  I thought this was a really brave act, and I could never imagine doing that.  It may not even be Tourette’s Syndrome or ADHD or a behavioral disorder, students like this and in other situations are marginalized in today’s society.   I think it is extremely difficult for them because I believe the majority of students do not understand what it would be like to have whatever their classmate has; therefore, they make fun of him or her.  It makes me sad that students are like this, but hopefully, we can make changes in society, especially for those of us who are going to be teachers.