Hi Kia,

I posted a letter to my Discussion page, and hope you'll share it with people who follow you. Here's my letter.

Dear MCTE Members,

As you know, I will be doing two sessions at MCTE's Autumn Assembly. If you've had a chance to read American Indians in Children's Literature, you know that I am quite critical of some of the classics in children's literature. Reading what I say, for example, about Little House on the Prairie might make you uneasy or uncomfortable. You may feel your defenses rise, because, it may seem as though I might label you a racist for not seeing what I see when I read the book.

I'm writing today to say that I'm often uncomfortable, too. Though we have some of the finest schools in the world, we also have glaring gaps, bias, even racist material in what we're teaching. I don't want you to feel guilty for any of this because, a lot of what we "know" is what we were taught by people we trust: our own teachers and our parents.

All of us are products of our American society. Just walking out the door each day, we are taught something or other about this or that people. I've made some terrific missteps about Asian Americans for one, and African Americans, too! I felt deeply embarrassed and ashamed when I realized my error(s). Then I remind myself that that misstep is an opportunity to do something different next time... I know that teachers are basically good, caring people passing along information that was given to us by other good, caring people.

From that position, I will talk about depictions of American Indians in the books you use with children in your schools. I hope you come to one of my sessions, and that you find it helpful---even if it is unsettling or uncomfortable.

I hope to see you soon!
Debbie

Thank you for the question, Kia. Unfortunately, I won't be speaking at the fall conference. I applied last year, but I was not selected. It's probably too late to apply for this fall. If you're interested, I do have a WBCL radio broadcast at http://www.streamaudio.com/Player/Player.aspx?Station=WBCL_FM&filename=mm20100722.mp3&fmt=wma. I also will be featured in the MEA Voice in August and speaking at Mott College and the Women2womenmichigan conference in November. Visit wendybyard.com to learn more. Take care, Kia!

Kia,

Working on setting up online registration. Should be available soon. I will need a conference credit card, however. In the past, conference organizers have used personal cards.

Hey Thanks so much for the information!

Hi! I was just wondering how to change my address with MCTE. I am moving and I was going to contact the Secretary, but seeing that he or she isn't on this web service, I couldn't do that. Thanks!

Hi Kia Jane!

Check out the 11 new photos I posted from yesterday's meeting. We missed you, but you know you'll be in a big, boisterous group next month--that's when the "party" will really get started!

Kia--

I have a piece on faculty use of Facebook. It does incorporate one graphic (and depends somewhat on it). Can LAJM do B/W graphics?

Kia,

Are you currently looking for articles for the LAJM?

Hey Kia,

I see you've been inviting people like crazy to this network. Keep it up!