Listen. Connect. Empower.

I like for my students to set our expectations for the year.  Every year I look for a book that will give this a new feel.  In the past I have used Rulers of the Playground by Joseph Kuefler The Snurtch   by Sean Ferrell Tea Party Rules by Ame Dyckman Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham Alpha Oops by Alethea Kontis This year's selection was We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins. I was hooked on Ryan T. Higgins books when I met his Mother Bruce books.  He has a sense of humor that can be appreciated by children and adults alike.  This book is no exception. We began class with a partner share about a time something unexpected happened in class.  I then read to the class.  We were only 4 pages in when the first jaw hit the floor and the first eyes bugged out of their heads.  I expected laughter but often got pin-drop silence.  "Could the book possibly have said THAT?"  Yep.  It did.  They were instantly ...

Our 1st graders are new to our school and I like to start at the very beginning with them.  We started with what we know.  According to our 1st graders libraries... have a million books to choose from. are where you read in your head or quietly. are kind of quiet. are where you have to bring your library books back. are where you get to read books. are where you should be nice to the librarian, other kids, and the books. are where you have fun! We began by talking about the word "borrow" and what that means.  Students turned and talked with a neighbor about a time when they borrowed something or someone borrowed something from them.  Students reported back stories about favorite toys, games, and articles of clothing. Next, I shared the book Bear's House of Books by Poppy Bishop. In the book, bear shares (albeit begrudgingly) books with the forest animals.  My favorite line is at the end, "books are wonderful to read alone, but even better wh...

Back to school - I have always loved this time of year with its fresh starts and dreams of possibility. I loved this time of year as a child and continue to relish in the excitement. This is our library’s back-to-school story, where I confronted the challenges of years past, asked hard questions, and framed our year of learning around the concept of “welcoming” all students in and “inviting” them into our space and our books. Do I have big hopes and expectations? Absolutely. Big changes? Not really. This is about the small, subtle ways I am choosing to build a positive library culture and grow learners. I consider this just the beginning of our journey. The inspiration for change came from two books I read over the summer - one being a powerful picture book, and the other being a dynamic professional book about reading. There is something beautiful about summer reading, soaking in the sun and ideas without the pressure of lesson planning and deadlines looming. I read, wrote and thought...

We are ushering in a new school year with a new theme, an invitation to our library to read, grow, explore, and create. I want students to feel welcome in our library. I want them to know that this is their space and that this is a safe place.  I did the following activity with grades 2-5 (1st graders are new to our building so I did an adapted version of this for them). We began by brainstorming what "welcome" is: Being invited (like to a party)  Feeling included, like you belong Being allowed Being accepted Inviting people to come Feeling comfy Saying hi A saying on a rug Next, we read the book All Are Welcome written by Alexandra Penfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman. Students then went on a mission in the library to take a picture of an item or a procedure and decide how that item or procedure welcomes (or doesn't welcome) students and teachers. Students eagerly took off to take photos (and of course a few selfies were thrown in there)...

I am humbled by the scope and power of the journey I recently made to the Sharjah International Book Fair/ALA Library Conference (#SIBFALA17) on behalf of ALA. Look - it's me! The most valuable piece of this experience was in the exchange that took place between educators.  Even on the other side of the world we share similar challenges.  Recurring themes were Time - We don't have much.  How do we squeeze it all in? Relationships - How do you cultivate these in your school? Schedule - How does this impact your instruction?  How could it be improved? My first presentation on Project-Based Learning took a deep dive into the learning my students did this past spring around The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.  Attendees were curious about the multiple intelligences used, how I differentiated the learning and how the learning was assessed. My second presentation, Developing a Community of Learners was a broader look at the ways in which I foster ...

The bus pulled away and I was overcome with emotion.  I left my family standing on the sidewalk.  I have never been away from my family like this before.  My 8 year old son has an uncomfortable look on his face and keeps staring at the schedule in his hand for his week - the one I made that does not include mom.  I have been invited by the ALA to speak about what happens in my little corner of the world on the other side of the world (The United Arab Emirates). As the quiet bus makes its way through the dark streets to the airport I am completely overwhelmed with gratitude to so many who have been instrumental in my growth as an educator in ways big and small. When I began sharing my big news, most people wanted to know how.  How did I land this amazing opportunity?  The truth is it was years in the making, years of building my Professional Learning Network.  Thanks to Twitter, EdCamps, NerdCamps and technology I have been able to develop relatio...

We began our year by connecting with our summer reading and our Public Library.  Our second class of the year took the reading categories that our Public Library created and required students to interact with one another and have discussions about them. We began class by playing Human Bingo .  I created a bingo board with the reading categories and supplemented with several fun categories like "I read in my pajamas" and "I read something that wasn't a book."  Students had to find someone in the class that read or had the related experience and write their name on their board.  The goal was to fill as many boxes as possible and to accrue as many "bingos" as possible. When time was up I took inventory on how many "bingos" were achieved and how many boxes were filled.  I also wanted to know which boxes were hard to fill.  The most common responses were: History Science Fiction Science/Math Reading something that wasn't a ...