What Should I Read Next?

Here is a fun graphic from Teach.com to help readers of young adult fiction figure out what to read next. I'm posting it here and also on my book blog; it's great! Teach.com also sent me some background information on the flowchart - take a look.


Teach.com, a comprehensive online resource dedicated to helping great teachers use resources to support students in their learning and development, has just released the Young Adult Summer Reading Flowchart—a follow up to their successful Summer Reading Flowchart. This year, they addressed a second demographic, focusing on books for young adults across many genres; though, these books can appeal to people of all ages. The past few years have seen the mass popularity of young adult novels and series, including Twilight and the Hunger Games, as well as the revival of a few older books. The Young Adult Summer Flowchart walks you through roughly 100 books, asking questions about a series of genres and themes to help young adult readers to arrive at the perfect book. The chart helps students who are looking for a specific title, or those who have yet to establish what they are looking for. The summer months is a break from school, but shouldn’t be a break from learning (and by extension, reading). The Young Adult Summer Reading Flowchart is a fun infographic to help students get excited about reading and finding the right book for them.

Brought to you by Teach.com

If Only ONE

In my last two posts I have talked about how I've been fighting anxiety this summer, and last time I shared about two techniques that I tried that seem to be helping. I'm also trying one other thing that could be a key to a variety of emotional strains - the anxiety, frequent feelings of being overwhelmed, setting unrealistic expectations and disappointment when I can't meet those expectations.

I am trying to focus on ONE - one thing at a time. I have so many passions and projects and ideas and interests, I can easily be paralyzed by so many choices. Not only am I wondering what I should do next - work or read or crafts - but then there are the myriad of choices within each choice. It's ridiculous.

It would be easy to say that I should just NOT be that person, but it is too much a part of my pattern, a part of who I've been for a long time. It's hard to turn that part of me off.

So I started focusing on just the next choice. Not my next five books, but the ONE I'm going to read right now. I ask myself, "If I can only read one more book this summer (or month or whatever), what is the ONE I want to read?" When I want to be crafty, I ask "What is the ONE project that captures my interest right now?" rather than listing every option I have in the house over and over, wondering what to choose, until my crafting time has disappeared.

When this summer started, I had a list of books I was going to read. Even though I read over 100 books on my break from school, only a few items got crossed off my master list, leaving me feeling like I failed in some way. But if I focus on today and on ONE thing - the right-now thing - maybe I can step out from under the pressure I put on myself. Sure, I'll still make lists. They help me organize my thoughts and prioritize and not forget things. But hopefully I can then choose the ONE next thing and set the rest of the list aside for awhile.

Reading Changes People

"The Bible says, 'Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?' (James 2) If you have taken God's Word to heart and truly made it part of you, it will by its very nature change you."

~ Intro to SOLO: An Uncommon Devotional

Last year I did a lesson with my students where I asked them why reading matters. We have made a huge deal about reading through our adoption of Accelerated Reader. We have parties to celebrate students who meet their goals, we have one or two book fairs a year to get books into the hands of students, and I give silent reading time in almost every library class. Why? Why is this reading thing such a big deal?

The students gave a variety of answers and then we looked at my list where I reviewed what they said and filled in some of the gaps they didn't think of. I did this lesson in 13 or more classes last year. In all of those classes, I only had one student - ONE, at a Christian school - talk about reading as it relates to the Christian life.

Books change us. Whether they change us because they teach us new information or because they give us insight and empathy for others or because they inspire us to do something amazing or because they teach us what we DON'T want to do, they change us. We can read the same book year after year and get something new from it, or understand it with a different nuance because of our maturity or our life experiences. While this is true of books in general, it is true of the Bible in the extreme. How many Easter sermons have you heard? How many times have you read about the prodigal son?  Hopefully each time you catch something new, or it speaks to you in a new way because you are a different person than you were the last time you dug into that passage. Good material speaks to us as we change and grow. Reading changes people.

ALA Observations and Notes

We had a great time at the annual meeting of the American Library Association this past month.  The whole family enjoyed touring various sites in Chicago, and we all got to meet favorite authors and learn about new books. It was a great time.

No matter how tired I was each day (and trust me, I was tired), I tried to jot down notes of the things I did and the people I met. When the conference was all done, I tried to write down all the little observations and notes I had made to myself mentally. As this was my first trip to ALA, I wanted to remember these for next time (which probably won't be in 2014 as they are heading to Vegas which isn't a great family vacation spot). Here are my notes, in no particular order:

*On the last day, talk to booth staff about how they are breaking down their booths. Some publishers gave everything away. Others sold their stock and still others packed everything back up and took it home.
*Some Advance Reader Copies, or ARCs, are not put out for the participants to grab as they walk by, but you can get them if you ask. Some authors were tweeting that their ARCs were available. Other times I scored a great book because I listened to the folks around me. Still other times, I talked to the booth staff about books I liked or asked them what their favorites were and scored some great titles that way, too.
*Be appreciative and courteous. Some vendors said their display copies walked off - things they weren't planning to give away! Even if it is an ARC, if it's not displayed at the front of the booth, don't assume it is there for the taking. If there wasn't a sign or a crowd grabbing copies, I erred on the side of asking. And always say thank you! This costs publishers something and in this economy, I think they are very generous. They could easily move to all electronic ARCs or just stick with the most prominent review sources or libraries. The fact that I could get access to some of these awesome titles as a librarian from a small private school was a big deal.
*Bring cash. Not every vendor (or cab driver) could easily manage credit.
*Make a list. I had a list of signings and events I wanted to attend each day along with the booth number (the publishers name would have been a good addition). I also noted the ARCs I wanted most and where I could find them so I could focus my attention there and not get caught up in the chaos of grabbing every ARC available.
*Rolling bags might be bulky, but they would have been less abusive to my shoulder muscles than all the bags I carried every day.
*At signings, only have books personalized that you want to keep forever. Otherwise, a general signature works better to put the book in the library or to pass the ARC on to someone else.
*Know your priorities and follow them. Saturday morning I was tempted to follow the crowd of folks I was near because they were heading for a booth that was giving away a bag of "something." I decided to skip that (I knew the bags would be long gone by the time I got there) and go straight to the top author signing of my whole trip. Even heading straight to that booth, I was number 19 in a line that quickly started to spiral in on itself 30 minutes before the event was to start.
*Be kind - talk to folks around you. One person in a signing line pointed me to a vendor to talk about a problem I am having with my encyclopedias. On the shuttle buses, move to the seat by the window and put your stuff on the floor or in your lap. One day I got on a bus and no less than 6 people sat in the aisle seat with their bags on the other seat and an arm flung protectively over it.
*Don't bother bringing reading material unless you need something for the voyage there. I brought a stack of books to read plus personal books I wanted to get signed. The books for signing would have been sufficient because there were a couple that were brand new and unread.


So, those are my notes from my first trip to the American Library Association's annual meeting. It was an amazing experience and I'm so fortunate to have been able to experience it.

#bookaday update June 25th

I haven't quite kept to a book every day, but I'm keeping close. Those 29 picture books last week really help keep me on target when I miss a day! Here's the list for last week:

June 17 - Fatally Frosted


June 18 - Sea Monster's First Day and Crankee Doodle
       

June 19 - nothing

June 20 - Don't Pigeonhole Me


June 21 - The Book Whisperer


June 22 - Sinister Sprinkles


June 23 - Evil Eclairs



I'll be blogging about most of these on my book blog in the next couple months. When you read a book every day or so, but only blog every three days, you start to get a surplus, which will be fantastic in August when I don't have time to read because school is starting up.

If you've been inspired to pick up your reading pace this summer, too, I'd love to hear what you are reading!

Thank Twitter for My Tribe!

I'm not sure how it happened.... I've had a Twitter account for awhile, but in the last month or so I've been using it throughout the day and really getting into the swing of it.

While I can't remember what got it started, I do know what has kept it going - teacher talk! I have found a community of teachers and librarians who are on twitter talking about books and reading and teaching and students and authors and all the other things I adore. I have found tweetchats like #kidlitchat and #teachchat.
I have found reading challenges like #bookaday and #SummerThrowdown (I am SO excited about this one - teachers and librarians competing over reading. I can't wait to find out more!). I've been introduced to new authors, new books for my students and new professional development for me, both books and events.

One event starts next week and that is #TeachersWrite. It kicks off next Monday and will be several weeks of writing prompts, writing blog posts and writing encouragement for teachers/educators who want to put their money/time/effort where their mouths are and do the things they ask their students to do all school year long. I can't wait! You can find out more about it here.

After two years in our school library, I feel like I am still getting a feel for my role at school - a feel for what teachers are passionate about what parts of their jobs and what form that passion takes. I haven't found the readers yet on staff - the folks who are reading what the students are reading, and talking to students about the things they are reading and clicking with kids over books. I've seen hints, and I am getting to know the teachers who read often to their students. But I still haven't clicked with anyone on the same manic-book-loving level as I am in my building.

But I have found those people on Twitter. In fact, a lot of them make me look like an amateur. So I am learning a lot and trying to find my way and my place in the conversation. But it is encouraging to feel like part of a "tribe" of folks who are passionate about books and connecting students with stories and developing readers. I am eager to look back over this summer and see how I grow and how I am energized for a new school year by these folks and these activities.

#Bookaday Update June 18th

I'm still working on the #Bookaday challenge issued by Donalyn Miller and the folks at the Nerdy Book Club.

This week was uber-productive because I read a lot of picture books and early readers for school. Actually, I recorded all the picture books, but didn't even bother with the early readers - it felt too cheat-ish.

Here are last week's books:

June 10 - five picture books
June 11 - 29 picture books
June 12 - nothing
June 13 - nothing
June 14 - The Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked by Jarrett Krosoczka

June 15 - Galaxy Zack #1 and Amelia Bedelia (the new chapter books) #1
   
June 16 - The Good, the Bad and the Witchy by Heather Blake


I find myself feeling guilty if I do too much reading on a week day when our house is a disaster area and needs so much attention. So those two days where I read nothing? I worked on the house. I did work on the other days, too, but I am trying to find some balance, like working during the normal school day hours and relaxing in the evenings. Hopefully I'll find a good rhythm soon so I can enjoy my summer and my reading with more joy and less guilt.

#Bookaday update

By the time this posts, I hope to have the library closed down for the summer. When I left work on Thursday, the office was cleaned out and ready for business in August. The library itself, though, needed a few more projects done. Hopefully by now, Tuesday, it's all finished and I am officially on summer break.

Since I made good progress last week and had to go in for a meeting on Monday, I took Friday off and spent the whole day reading. So, I decided to kick my #bookaday (use this hashtag on Twitter to see what other folks are reading) challenge off a few days early. I know most of the teachers and librarians participating in this are reading kids books - either WITH their kids or for their work, but I was in the middle of a re-read of the Alien series by Gini Koch, so I kept working through those this weekend. I'm not sure what I'm going to read this week - I have so many choices I almost don't know where to start. So, here's my update through Sunday:

June 7 - day 1 - Alien Diplomacy  by Gini Koch
June 8 - day 2 - Alien vs. Alien by Gini Koch
June 9 - day 3 - Alien in the House by Gini Koch.


It's been nice reading grown-up books for awhile after the reading blitz I did during the final quarter of the school year (In a contest with other teachers, I earned 474 AR points from April 8th through May 17th.). I may stick with the adult titles for another week or so before digging into my kids lists. We'll see.

So, what are you reading this summer?

A Sad Little Reader

A couple weeks ago, as I was meeting with one of my first grade classes, I was encouraging my students to keep moving forward on their reading for Accelerated Reader. They had about a month left in the quarter to work toward their goal. And I told them that this quarter's party is a great one to go to because - if the weather is good - we go outside to play and eat ice cream. It's a great time.

In the back of the room, leaning against the wall, was a round-faced boy. His bottom lip protruded and his eyes were sad. "I'm never going to make it to the party."

"Yes, you will. You can do it."

"No, I can't. I'm not a good reader."

Oh, my heart broke. He's right. He's not a great reader. It's taking him longer than some of his peers for this reading thing to "click." I don't know what sort of help he gets at home. But I do know that if he believes it is impossible, it will be.

I stopped the whole class and gave him a pep talk. I told him that the assessment he took told us what books were the best fit for his reading right now. These were books that he could read and understand. And I told him that if he read them carefully, a couple of times, and if he took his time on the quiz, he would be able to pass the quiz and earn the points. I told him if he worked with his teacher and practiced at home, he could surprise himself. His demeanor improved, but I have still been worried about him. I'm not sure he is motivated enough - if he believes enough, if there are enough supports in place for him to actually make his goal. And, unfortunately, his continued struggles could very well set him up to always define himself as a poor reader.

Reading Race to the Finish

This winter, two of our teachers asked if we would ever be able to do something so the teachers could do Accelerated Reader (reading books, taking quizzes, earning points) like the kids do and see which teacher could earn the most points. I loved the idea and talked to the principal and we were able to make it happen.

Thus, the Reading Race to the Finish was born. Teachers and staff members opted in or out of the program, based on what time they had available. They have six weeks to read books and take quizzes and the top three point-earners will receive a prize.

We are only two weeks in and everyone seems to be having a great time. Classes are setting reading goals for their teachers, kids are recommending books, and those of us taking quizzes get to see the program from the other side.

Yes, I am taking quizzes, too, although I am not competing with the teachers. I read too much for my work for that to be fair. [Instead, students will be guessing how many points I earn this quarter and the winner will get a prize and his/her class will get an ice cream party.]

Here are some of my observations so far:
* All of our cautions to kids about not skimming through books before taking quizzes and about not waiting for months after reading something and then trying to take a quiz on it are completely on target. I tried to do both and lost points in the process.

* Something powerful happens when students and teachers are reading the same things. I have really enjoyed hearing teachers talk about some of the more popular books the kids are reading. I'm curious to see if the reverse happens, too, as I have teachers reading adult books and some Christian fiction books that happen to have AR quizzes. If nothing else, at least the students are seeing their teachers as readers.

* I am working toward a significant goal for my part of this "race," so I'm not reading books that don't have quizzes.  As an adult, I know this is temporary. Once this program is over, I can read what I want. But my students don't always have this luxury. Sure, they can read what they want this summer, but once school starts again in August, most of them will eschew books without quizzes, even if they want very much to read them. This makes me sad.

* There are days when I can't read as much as I want to. Sometimes I go three or four days without reading any significant amount. This has been true all year - seasons of a book every day or two and others when a week goes by without any reading. Sometimes it's because I just finished something amazing and I can't bring myself to start something new. Sometimes it's because I'm busy with other things. But now, the reading dry spells matter! If I'm not reading, I'm not earning points! Then I think about my students. They have busy seasons too - seasons when they have baseball every night or three tests in one week or nights where their families have made plans and they are required to tag along, or times when they just need a break from intense reading. I wonder if we, the teachers, remember this when we set goals for our students. Do we give space to our students for those days where they either don't want to read or just don't have the time? Do we label the strong readers as such early on and maintain high expectations for them that don't allow for a natural ebb and flow?


I imagine observations and insights - as well as fun - will continue over the next few weeks of this contest. It's   become a fun way to wrap up our school year!

Required Reading Vs. Choice

A couple weeks ago I came across this blog entry about reading and the power of choice. I really enjoyed it and quickly shared it on FB.

Then I clicked on the comments that were on the original FB post and was surprised to see an angry one from a secondary teacher who felt attacked by the writer as a teacher who uses required reading. While I could follow the person's train of thought, I think she missed the point the writer was making.

My understanding of required reading is this: We require students to read classic literature to create common cultural references. We require students to read one piece so that we can teach them analysis and about symbolism and other skills with a text everyone can relate to.

There's nothing wrong with those things. But many people will tell you that they stopped reading for fun when they became overwhelmed by things they were required to read for school. Many "readers" talk about how nice it is to finish college and get to read "whatever I want!"

Choice matters.

This is one of the reasons I've never joined/started a book club. If I have managed to carve out time to read, I want to use it on something I'm going to like - something in a style I prefer or that has a plot that has intrigued me.

I think there is a place for both. I know that when my son's teacher read a Hank Zipzer book to her class, all the books I have from the series in the library were checked out, many for the first time ever. This teacher exposed her students to material they might not have tried otherwise. This classroom "required" reading was a benefit to the students.

Over Christmas break, I had to coerce my son to finish a book that he had 95% read before break began. He didn't resist because he didn't like it, but he had already taken an AR quiz on it and in his mind, the book had served its purpose. He wasn't compelled to finish anymore. But the day I bought him a new book in a Lego series he enjoys, he was reading every spare moment until he finished it. I no longer had to cajole him into picking up a book - he did it willingly.

Choice matters. I hope we as parents and as educators never forget that.

Goals/52 Days

Over the New Year's holiday I read a blog post from Jon Acuff called, "Why I Quit New Year's Resolutions (And What I Am Doing Instead)."

This really resonated with me because I routinely bail on my New Year's goals by February. Acuff described my experience perfectly - the goals don't work because they are determined without any clue what the new year will hold by way of opportunities and challenges.

The idea of tackling the year - and my goals - in 52 day chunks seems like a great way to change the course for me. I am gradually working on my first set of goals, and I feel optimistic about them because I know if they stink, I will get to change them up in late February.

Jon recommends setting goals in seven areas: Mental, Spiritual, Physical, Financial, Social, Family and Career.  Here are mine for the first 52 days of 2013:

Mental - read one book per month (so one in January and one in February) on a device (Nook, Kindle app, iBooks). This is to help me actually use the books I have downloaded onto a device - and reading is always a winning goal.
Spiritual - download a devotional/Bible reading app and use daily. I want to be more intentional about my spiritual life this year. A colleague posted the following on Facebook:  “We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.”   I don't know where she posted it from, but the sentiment challenged me. I have found a great Bible reading app and a couple devotional ones that I am doing every day. I'll post about those another day.
Physical - Join Weight Watchers in January. It's time. It worked well for my husband and I when we did it 6 years ago and I'm ready to get back to it.
Financial - only use gift cards or cash to buy books. We have worked really hard to pay off our credit card, but trips to the book store, at least for me, get pricey. It's too easy to swipe the card and worry about paying for them later.
Social - engage with friends in person - not just Facebook. This one is a little wimpy. I would love to make it more of a "invite friends to our home once a month" sort of goal, but I have issues with feeling comfortable with others seeing our house. It doesn't make sense. We've done a small "gathering" the last two years before Christmas and have really enjoyed it. But I have many more years of house-shame to overcome. Maybe that should be my goal instead - banish my house-shame by inviting people over.
Family - reclaim our bedtime reading routine, starting with Wings of Fire/The Dragonet Prophecy. We've gotten out of the habit of reading together at night and I want to get back to it. So far in the new year, we are doing better about being consistent.
Career - Put 10 new books out in the library every week. Before Christmas break I killed myself, working late even when I was sick, to get a big crop of books cataloged for the library. Now they essentially just need their coverings - laminate or those plastic sheets that libraries use on hard cover books with paper jackets. I brought three bags of books home to work on over break, and I ended up taking all three bags back to school, untouched. I really embraced the idea of a "break" for Christmas break, but I am still committed to getting new materials into kids' hands asap. So, we'll try for 10 a week and see how it works. Hopefully I can actually do more.

So, those are my goals for the first 52 days. What goals have you set for 2013?

Free Time

I do NOT knit.

But I love reading "The Yarn Harlot." I've gotten her books from the library before and I downloaded a sample of her book All Wound Up for my Nook.


This weekend I read through those few sample pages where she talks about how annoying it is when people see her knitting and say something like, "I might do that if I had your free time." The author's point was that most people have some amount of free time or down time. Whether we use it to read or watch TV or surf the internet or knit, we have some. We all make choices about how we use what free time we have. The people who look at her sideways in a doctor's office as she is knitting have chosen to use their free time (while in the waiting room) to fret about their wait or to check email on their phone or whatever. She chooses to spend that time knitting.


As I read her rant (which was completely enjoyable) about the perception that she knits because she has nothing better to do or has too much free time, I starting thinking about my lamentations about free time.

It feels like "I never have any free time." My weekends zip by all to quickly. My post-work time at home seems to be over in a blink. But in reality, I choose how I spend my time. Some Mondays I leave school as soon as my official schedule is over. Other days I get caught up in a meeting or I decided to stay and get some things done. My "evening" can start at 3:15 or 5:15, depending on my after school obligations and choices. No matter what time I leave school, though, my time is booked with mom-duties until 8pm. If I have to bring work home that I couldn't get to during the day, that has to be squeezed in as well. And if I don't go to bed by 10 pm, my students get a  grumpy librarian/lunch lady the next day. My evening free time is finite.

Even so, on a "bad" day or a busy day, I can usually carve out an hour of time every day that's just for me. An hour's not bad! Sure, I'd love to have more, but during the school week - four days - that's four hours to do what I choose - read a book, surf the internet, be crafty, read a magazine, blog, journal, draw, etc.

What I realized is my true problem isn't a lack of time.

It's an overabundance of hobbies.

There are too many things I want to do with that hour or so a day. I can't read a book AND a magazine AND do some scrapbooking AND check my email AND work on an art journal AND check out Pinterest in one hour. I can't read a book for the school library AND a mystery for me AND non-fiction book on a topic I want to study in the same hour. It just can't be done.

In order to be content, I am going to need to lose a dozen hobbies or lower my expectations for what I can reasonably do in a week.

Wish me luck.

Odd Girl Out - Not

I recently attended a Children's Literature Festival at the local university. This was my second year to attend, but I almost didn't go. The week before, I debated. I was only familiar with one author/illustrator who was going to be there, but it was a passing familiarity. It was an 8 hour event - 8 hours that could have been spent on other home or school projects that are more pressing. It was an 8 hour even that started at 8am on a Saturday morning - the one day I can usually sleep in.

But, as my husband reminded me, I made a commitment to go. Chances were good that I would enjoy myself once I got there. And I did. The one factor I didn't think of in all of my debating is how seldom I get to be with other people who are as passionate about children's literature as I am. The closest I get is an occasional conversation with a parent who is looking for reading material for their kids or a student who really liked the last book they read. I live for those conversations in my week. But I don't have a lot of people in my circle of relationships who care about when the next Percy Jackson book comes out (October 2nd) or who know who Mo Willems is.

But the people at this conference were MY people. I sat by a friend from church, and we had a delightful conversation about her kids' reading habits. I met a children's librarian at lunch who told me about the last three books she loved (Wonder, Crunch, and another title I can't remember). In the afternoon session, I spied another librarian reading a book from my TBR pile (To Be Read). Talking about that book led to a conversation about the second book she packed (in case the conference was lame - she originally had 4 in her hand to bring along, but she settled on just 2 - a woman after my own heart) which reminded me of another book which she put on her reading list.

It was delightful.

Lesson Plans

Many (many) years ago, when my husband and I taught upper elementary and middle school Sunday school, I enjoyed lesson planning. I had a theme or plan for the year (Women in the Bible or Children in the Bible) and I had theme verses I wanted students to focus on. I loved plotting out the lessons, writing out my thoughts and observations on the scripture passages. I loved teaching the material and interacting with my students over it.

I am typing this post after over 2.5 hours of lesson planning for school. I am not yet experiencing the same joy I used to feel.

I teach 17 classes a week to kids in 7 grades. So I am "only" planning 7 lessons a week - far fewer than my dear colleagues who teach that many lessons in one day. And my lessons have to be short enough to fit in a 40 minute period where I need to check in returned books and check out new books for anywhere from 10 to 25 students in a group as well as teach the lesson. Right now, I am just trying to plot out all of the library orientation material I need to cover depending on the age and skill level of the group. I'm having a hard time even remembering what all I taught last year.

My main challenges are

• My preference to plan a full week at a time. My first day of teaching classes was a Thursday. I have 4 classes on Thursday and 4 on Friday, so about half of my load. But in those two days, I taught two of my fifth grade classes. I didn't see the other one until Wednesday of the following week. So, during the first full week of classes, I spent three days (nine classes) covering our orientation material and two days (eight classes) covering Week 2 material (the always thrilling discussion of shelf markers!). After two full weeks of classes, we have a Monday off for Labor Day. It will take me about a month of classes to arrange the material so that the three fourth grade classes (which meet Monday, Wednesday and Friday) are all on the same lesson in the same calendar week. This problem continues throughout the year thanks to breaks and school events and book fair, etc. I've already plotted out the dates of meetings through December so I can see where my partial weeks are and try to plan around them.
• Planning developmentally appropriate lessons. I am still learning what books and what concepts work with which ages. Two years in a row now, I have read Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? to my kindergarten students and both times it has completely bombed. I finally got smart and started keeping a file of books I am using, what lessons I do with them, and when they work and don't work.
• Planning lessons that prepare kids for more than just finding a book in the non-fiction section of any library. Library usage skills are important to me. Not only do they minimize the cyclone-like appearance of the library when a class leaves, but I believe they are skills necessary for life-long learning. But I want my students to leave with so much more - a love of reading, an appreciation for the impact a well-written story or well-developed character can have on your heart and mind, an understanding of the world that can come from digging into a well-written non-fiction book, a new depth of understanding of Scripture that can come when you know how to read for understanding.
• The overabundance of material available to me. I almost have too many choices as far as lesson material. I have the things I did last year (some of which worked and some didn't). I have fun things I have found online from other teachers. I have a file cabinet full of material from my predecessor that I haven't even had time to open. I have shelves of library magazines full of lesson ideas. 
• The pressure of having to develop a scope and sequence by October. I knew this time last year that I had to put together a scope and sequence of lessons for each grade level by this October. I had every intention of doing it this summer, but it didn't happen. In part, that is because of the other library projects I was doing instead. But honestly, part of it is because I hate having to commit to a scope and sequence this early in my librarian/teacher journey. I have so much to learn. I have so much material (see previous bullet point). I'm afraid the minute I submit this curriculum plan I'm going to hate it and want to do something completely different (or I'm going to try to implement it and find it's a complete flop)!

What's sad is that I realize this 150 minutes I just spent was really just for formatting an outline of what I'm going to do on certain days - and I haven't even finished all of September yet - not even planning the exact lessons.

*Sigh*

I am expecting to feel a lot better about the manageability of my teaching life by October. I haven't lost the hope of someday being able to leave school at 3:15 again!

Things I Love Right Now: Audio Books

We started our relationship with audio books with the FANTASTIC Harry Potter audio books. I wish our school allowed Harry in the library, because I would love to use the audio books with my students. They are so well done.

This summer, we have been listening to some Percy Jackson in the library while we work, and we have been enjoying The Kane Chronicles (also by Rick Riordan) on audio in the car. Audio books are a great way to get through great material while doing other things at the same time.

The only downside I have noticed this summer is that the audio books during the day have replaced bedtime reading at night. That's not a trend I like, but it is easy to get lazy and let my son stay up later, playing, while I do something else rather than set aside the 30 minutes or so for our usual reading routine. But I know in my heart that that routine is precious. I just need to find the right material to restart our bedtime routine.

Now, I am on a quest through my book magazines for some new audio book titles to try. We started The Phantom Tollbooth read by David Hyde Pierce, and it's fantastic. I'd like to finish that one. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

"What Are You Reading Right Now?"

Someone asked me this at a party recently.

My first thought was, "Wow, this person knows me well."

My second thought was "I wish I had some spectacular answer for her." I felt like I was missing an opportunity because I haven't had time to dig into any reading material. I have book review magazines from January I haven't read, so I've been getting caught up on those. With the library clean out project, activities with my son to make the most of our summer break, keeping up with social media, and household projects, I haven't had time. I long for a season of reading all day and into the night to finish a great book. I am committed to carving out time for that this summer - maybe even a whole week of it!

January progress

Rather than set a lot of goals for this year, I just set one - to read more books from my "to be read" (TBR) shelves. Yes, shelves, plural.


To that end, I chose one nonfiction, one general fiction, one book for kids and one series from my shelves for each month of the year.


For January, I chose The Writer's Book of Days as my non-fiction. It's a book of writing prompts and writing advice for a year, so while I have not finished it, I am using it regularly, so I am counting that one "done."


My general fiction book for January was Deep Trouble, a book I received from the author ages ago and hadn't gotten around to reading. You can check out my review of it here. That one is also "done." 


I am on book two out of three I was behind on from the Booktown Mystery series. I finished Bookplate Special and have moved on to Chapter and Hearse. I haven't started my book for kids, The Beyonders: A World Without Heroes, yet. So, of the 6 books I picked for January, I have three done. So far so good. There's a little less than a week left in January, so I hope to be doing a lot of reading this weekend.

Reading Levels

It's no secret to people who know me or follow me on Facebook or Twitter that I am a fanatic when it comes to books, especially books for kids.

I recently signed up for a reading instruction class online through the American Library Association. I didn't expect it to be as much work as it is, or to enjoy it as much as I have.

Our primary tasks were to research one method of teaching reading and to practice different leveling methods. This last one has been the most fascinating part of the whole process.

I had no idea there were so many ways to level a piece of reading material! Our school uses Accelerated Reader and I have come to appreciate it in part because it puts our whole school on the same page regarding reading. We all have a common language that enables us to talk about helping our students improve their reading skills.

For my online class, though, I have sampled a variety of methods. For one, I had to pick some passages in a book and count how many 3+syllable words were in the passage. I used Rick Riordan's new book, The Son of Neptune because my students have been asking what its level will be for AR, but it is too new to be leveled yet. This first method - based on the passages I chose - came up with 7.1, or seventh grade, first month.

The AR system has a few ways for you to get a rough level estimate, so I tried that with the same book. I had to type in three 150-word passages and estimate the number of words in the entire book. It came up with a 5.9 level.

Our other assignments were to level a kid's magazine passage and a kids website. While it might have been self-serving, I did the latter on my own reviews of kids books. I got a reading level of 8th grade. (Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing when it comes to blogging!) We also noted that publishers will list their own opinion on the back of books.

All this got me wondering how "regular" parents, who don't read kids books - or read about kids books - 85+% of the time,  help their kids choose books that will be a good fit for age and maturity.

So, parents, chime in! How do you help your kids choose books?

Boys. Girls. Reading.

Last week, I did some shopping.

See, I got a new job (elementary librarian - yippee!) and in my excitement, I wanted to get some new materials for my students. First I stopped at the American Library Association online store and picked out some posters and some bookmarks (very cute, book-related, super fun).

Then I went to an online poster site to get some more general posters that weren't based on any particular book. I found a couple cute ones - an illustration of a woman on a park bench reading, a photo of an African American girl smiling and reading, a Marvel super heroes poster.

Know what I could NOT find? A poster of a boy or a man reading.

Now, the ALA has a great line of posters of famous people with books they love. My problem, though, is that those are either people my students have likely never heard of (and who therefore won't inspire them to read), people in controversial material (I teach at a Christian school, so the Harry Potter actors - while completely welcome in MY home - are not worth the trouble they would cause), or people the kids don't think are cool any more. What I need are some generic there's-a-kid-like-me-enjoying-a-book kind of posters.

When I run into a problem where I need something I just can't find "out there," I tend to just make it myself.

I like the ALA's READ campaign so much that I bought the software to make my own posters. I have visions of our superintendent with his favorite book (in addition to the Bible) on a poster. Our principal. Our teachers. And maybe some of our own students can earn a spot on a poster.

That will solve my immediate problem of gender-balance in my bulletin board materials. But it doesn't really get at the larger issue. 

Why aren't there posters of guys reading?!