Do you remember when states started adopting the Common Core State Standards? The standards’ emphasis on nonfiction had school librarians scrambling to find “readable” nonfiction as they welcomed the opportunity to help teachers with the shift away from fiction. We… Read More ›
Celebrating what we have chosen to do for our life’s work is steeped in both reflection and joy. School Library Month reminds us to pause in our busy school librarian lives and contemplate for a few minutes what we do… Read More ›
One of the most frustrating aspects of being a high school librarian is failing to increase the level of leisure reading among the teenagers who frequent my library. There are a handful of dedicated readers who are as enthusiastic as… Read More ›
Creating a culture for reading is a major part of what it means to be a school librarian. It is also an ongoing effort. There will never come a time when we stop encouraging students to read. One of the… Read More ›
The History of Black History Month Black History Month started as Negro History Week, created by Carter G. Woodson in 1926. It celebrates the significant impact African Americans had on development in the United States and the world. Woodson was… Read More ›
For the last seven years, I have facilitated a customized student reading incentive program at my school that seeks to reduce the “middle school slide” for readership. This program has been successful in keeping books in students hands and a… Read More ›
I love it when inspiration comes at just the right moment, and I also love how great ideas build on each other. I was catching up on some KQ reading this past summer when I stumbled upon the post by… Read More ›
This past weekend I read an outstanding essay in The New York Times “Book Review” section by Brian Morton, the director of the writing program at Sarah Lawrence College. In it, he describes an encounter with a college student who had been… Read More ›
New Year’s Resolution fanatics take over New York salad eateries! Not the exact headline, but reports noted that there were record lines at restaurants like Just Salad and Sweetgrass instead of McDonald’s. Eating healthy is a popular resolution. Another one is… Read More ›
The preschool program at my school focuses on using the students’ interests and the world around them to guide classroom themes. Being from Michigan, we see very distinct seasonal changes. What animals do during each season is often observed by… Read More ›