UP FRONT
It’s (Often) All in a Name
It’s Not Right
To show your students that you respect and value
“After leaving a teaching job in a
them, it’s very important to
privileged private school to teach
pronounce their names
in an inner-city classroom, I was
correctly. A young person’s
so struck by the difference in what
name is so closely tied
was available to students, and how
to their identity and
the lack of resources was impacting
heritage that you can
educational opportunities. I started
easily alienate one by
researching, paying attention, and
consistently mispro-
reflecting on the great inequity of
nouncing and/or
schools just a few miles apart from each other. It became clear
misspelling it.
to me that if a child of eight is academically behind because of a
“Here you go, Dad. I set the time and date on your phone.”
lack of resources, no matter their intellect, they will always
the importance of proper
struggle to catch up to the children with the resources, even if
pronunciation and how it helps
those children are not ahead of them intellectually.”l
build a respectful, caring culture in your school, check out mynamemyidentity.
— Richmond-based writer Judith Bice, author of Hey, White Girl, a novel set in Virginia’s state capital during a period of court-ordered school busing some 50 years ago.
org, where you’ll find resources including an educator
Students value the school library as a safe space. School librarians provide judgment-free learning spaces, curate resources that nurture student health and well-being, and promote reading for pleasure.
toolkit, information on a back-to-school campaign, and even an online course. You can also take the My Name, My Identity pledge to commit to building respect and modeling caring behavior. The My Name, My Identity Campaign was created by the Santa Clara County (CA) Office of Education in partnership with the National
New technology introduced by school librarians elevates student learning and enhance teaching methods. Students learn to safely and constructively navigate tools and resources that deepen inquiry, collaboration, and creation.
Association for Bilingual Education.l
Who Foots the Bill? According to the National Center for Education Statistics, this is how
Students find resources appropriate to their needs in a school library. School librarians curate diverse collections that provide mirrors, windows, and doors so that students better understand themselves and the world around them.
public school funding looks nationwide: •
46.9 percent by localities
•
45.3 percent by states
•
7.8 percent by the federal government
In Virginia, the emphasis is shifted a bit more toward local money. We fund our schools:
“You gotta stay a step ahead of them. That’s why I pay attention to all those teacher blogs.”
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VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | JUNE 2022
•
51.1 percent by localities
•
42.3 percent by the state
•
6.6 percent by the federal governmentl
Information-literate students are better prepared for college, career, and life. Post-secondary institutions, employers, and civic life demand the ability to find, evaluate, use, and create information in multiple formats. School librarians teach information, digital, and media literacies, as well as digital citizenship.
Photo and illustrations by iStock; Bice photo by Sunday Vibes Photo
To get some help on
Five Reasons to Love School Libraries (and School Librarians)
We Can Handle the Truth “Well, the truth is, learning sometimes has to be uncomfortable so that you are thinking and doing the work to analyze where we’ve been and how we move forward. I don’t think we can be afraid to share the truth in our classrooms.” l Former U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr.
Students achieve more in schools with libraries and librarians. Students with professionally staffed school libraries have higher reading, writing, and information literacy scores, as well as higher graduation rates. Studies show that Title I students and English language learners recognize even greater academic gains with a certified school librarian.l Source: American Library Association VIRGINIA JOURNAL OF EDUCATION | JUNE 2022
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