Dana Lott's Page

After reading David Levithan's article "Supporting Gay Teen Literature" and participating in our multicultural discussion in class on June 28th, I have a greater understanding of the term, "multicultural". Gay, Lesbial, Bisexual, and Transgender teens most certainly constitute a culture. The process of being recognized and accepted mirrors that of just about every traditional "culture" in the United States. (Nearly all of our roots can be traced back to when our ancestors were immigrants and man… Continue

Wow! I must say that this was a new (and valuable) experience for me. Having never really been "into" comic books, I hadn't ever ventured out into a comic book store. There's a first time for everything, I guess! :)

When I asked the salesman which graphic novels are popular with young adults, he told me that although "The Watchman" has been reprinted numerous times, this story about a world without super heros continues to be a popular one. He showed me a couple that highlighted vampires as mai… Continue

I am in agreement with a few of my colleagues as seen through their blogs on this topic. I strongly feel that both of these articles represent essential information that should be passed on to our students. One must know war in order to know peace. If we didn't teach about war, and the MANY precursors that lead to it, we would not be representing reality for our students. Young adults and teens are so impressionable and passionate. I tend to think of them as pretty empowered individuals. They'll… Continue

After browsing through the titles on the link Diane gave us, reflecting on the novel Whale Talk, and thinking about the sports movies I've enjoyed, I do think that sports fiction (and some biography) can give us a glimpse of the big picture of life. We learn persistence, how to experience failure and success, how to support teammates, being humble, setting goals, how to deal with the complexities of relationships, trusting others,...all of which are important life lessons. I guess I had n… Continue

After exploring a few articles on adolescent literacy, I must say that I am simply amazed! Young adults are faced with SO MANY different ways in which they must be literate--it's not just books anymore! Additionally, there are: internet searches, cameras, phones, texting, blogging, social literacy, cultural literacy, and on and on... Kudos to the adolescents! I don't know if I had fared well being an adolescent now. I guess we all adapt to our environments, but knowing this about adolescents mak… Continue