. . . . just one more chapter

A goal of mine in the past two years has been adding diverse books to my collection. In reading the selection  by Smith-D'Arezzo and Musgrove (2011), I see there are a few more things that I need to look at when choosing books. I thought it interesting that the reader sees the story and pictures differently based on the race of the reader. This made me think back on a comment a teacher made when passing through the library at South Elementary. I had a group of books displayed on the top of a shelf. The books were new and focused on character values. The book that she pointed out was Come Clean, Carlos : Tell the Truth . The cover had a picture of a hispanic boy. The teacher said, "OK, that cover is almost funny in a bad way." She was implying that hispanics can be known for being dishonest and stealing. I certainly had never looked at it that way, but I wonder if students had. When adding titles of books so that my students can see themselves in books, I want this to ...

Some of the readings for this week really broke my heart. "Girls Like Us" will just not leave my mind. I had never heard of special education students referred to as "speddies". It's hard to think that children would call each other that, but then I know that children are that mean. It's so disheartening to see how kids treat each other in this day and time. It keeps getting worse. What is happening to our world? (Maybe we could start with our president, but that's a whole new post and a different day.) One thing that I always told my students in the classroom was- You may not always be able to be the best in reading, or the best in math, but every one of you has the ability to be nice to others. I found myself telling a group that the other day when teaching them about digital citizenship. We were talking about being nice online and about your words being permanent. The digital world and lack of empathy are really scary. Some of the topics in this ...

I was very interested in learning the detail and collaboration in which the book And Tango Makes Three came to fruition. The thought and detail with all that were involved makes the book all the more special (Young, C. A. 2011). To be honest, I had heard of the book, but I hadn't read it before this class. I love the book for many reasons, the biggest being that I love animals. It is such a natural response to the love that the penguins have for each other. I’m bummed that parents wouldn’t want their children to see this and see natural responses from animals in a true setting. In reading a response from a parent that by reading this book, her child may be encouraged to be gay, I am amazed that a parent would think this. How can a children's picture book encourage the sexual orientation of a child? I need to become more familiar with responses and situations that I may become confronted with. I have had two situations in which a parent has complained. One was a note fro...

      I was looking forward to tonight's discussion after the compelling books that we were required to read and hearing what others had to say. One thing that I knew would come up is library collection, and I was hoping to get some insight into thoughts of others. I have checked out system wide collection policy that states goals and objectives of instructional materials. Some of them are as follows: provide a wide range of materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the individual needs and varied interests, abilities, socio-economic backgrounds, learning styles and developmental levels of the students served provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values and ethical standards provide a background of information that will enable students to comprehend their role as citizens in society to place principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in the select...

This is really a topic that I am passionate about. At South Elementary, we have always used AR until this year. The teachers that fought to keep it were told at the beginning of the '18-'19 school year that we would not continue it after the end of that school year. A few in 2nd and 3rd grades are fit to be tied about it. Dr. Cottone, our principal, has asked for me to come up with some alternatives to AR testing. I am working on that and plan to lead some PD in November.  Because of this, I have done a lot of reading and digging into the topic of AR. Most research states (at least what I have found) that AR has not prompted a large increase in reading achievement. The growth is higher in 3rd and 4th grades, but not much at all as students move higher. I think that one of the large problems with AR is how some teachers use it. I don't agree with reading within a level range. I feel that students should be given voice and choice. If focusing solely on AR, students ...

       I have always been a huge proponent of teaching global awareness to my students, and in my role now, I largely encourage my teachers to do the same. In fact, I was leading a professional development last week about making global connections, and I had these on a slide:  • Integrates global awareness activities throughout lesson plans and classroom instructional practices. • Promotes global awareness and its relevance. I asked the the participants if these words looked familiar. A few responded that this is part of the teacher evaluation instrument. Yes, it is, and it is our job to integrate global teaching. I wanted to point that out.      In a Skype with a class from Ireland, we were once sharing what our favorite foods were to eat lunch at school. Of course my students said pizza. Their class favorite was sausage and boiled cabbage. My students didn't think that sounded too yummy. We were Skyping with a class fro...

Wow, this is a tough one. I’m going to begin with my thoughts on Jack Gantos’ Dead End in Norvelt. I thought it was an odd read. I wasn’t fond of it. So upon completion, I searched to see what other readers thought about the book, as well as reviewers. It was a mixed bag. I just thought maybe I was missing something, because many thought the book was funny, even hilarious. There were very few times in which I thought the book was funny.  Maybe it was the time in which the story took place that didn’t interest me. It bothered me the way that Jack’s mother treated him. There could have been some teachable moments, but she seemed to have few, if any, meaningful conversations with him. I felt that she demeaned him about his nose bleeds. I thought the nose bleeds were gross. I was also bothered by the fact that the father didn’t stand up for Jack. His summer punishment was basically due to the fact that he disobeyed his mother, but he followed his father’s orders. Why didn’t hi...

"The Whole Child", meaning "not just a score". Our focus this year is a commitment to providing meaningful and impactful professional development/training opportunities in the area of human diversity. I have been chosen to be a part of this and am looking forward to what our presenter has to teach us. He has been meeting with us in small meetings since school started. I've learned some fascinating things already, a lot to think about and how we identify ourselves and our students. I am glad that the system is taking initiative with this. Graphic Novels . . . you were unclear as to what I meant last week when I ended with "enough said". When writing last week, I felt that I continued to harp on the fact that I don't like the graphic novels. I am comfortable in saying that is where I am with them right now, but I didn't want to keep on and on with what I didn't like about them, so I just ended it like that. I did sign up for the we...

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about multicultural representations. None of these feelings mean that I don't 100% believe of the importance of these titles in our collections. I have spent a lot of time in the past year working to add multicultural titles in my library.  Here is where I am conflicted. There is just  SO much  to learn. When I think I am on the right track, I read (Gangi, 2008) about Oyate's "Books to Avoid". In my natural curiosity, I look this up and learn that most of the titles in my collection related to Thanksgiving are on Oyate's list of NOT RECOMMENDED books about Thanksgiving. Now, I can blame this on the fact that I have only been the media coordinator for two years. But, did I know this? No.  I want students in my population to see books that represent them! I was fortunate enough to be accepted for two Donors Choose grants last year that completely were devoted to adding multicultural titles. I also spent a large...

Ms. Marvel Vo1: 1 Well, no good news here from me. This is just not my cup of tea from all directions. I have learned that I am not fond of graphic novels for my reading pleasure. I also don't (and never have) like superhero books or movies. So, you can see why I didn't love, or even like this book. I have tried to like graphic novels. I do like them for the grades that I work with, I just don't prefer them for myself. I LOVE to read, and I LOVE movies, just not this genre. The plot is all over the place featuring villains, talking animals, aliens (don't like those either), and reality tv (really) all at once. This is a little shaky when trying to like graphic novels. Enough said. Last Stop on Market Street Complete opposite of Marvel, I loved Market Street. I like everything about it: the pictures, the writing, the story, the characters. The story teaches the reader, as well as C.J., the value of getting out into the ...

I really enjoyed reading the articles this week, because they were really relevant to what I do and the resources that I use on a daily basis. It's ironic that I jumped the gun with my surveys that you will see in my response on your blog. I did those before I read these articles. I was interested in surveying students after reading about transliteracy as well as the questions that you posed for your blog.  My surveys were right on with Jones & Brown's Reading Engagement (2011). My 3rd graders indicated a preference for e-books when given a wide selection of choices and the freedom to make their own choices.  Students like being able to see definitions, word pronunciations, automatic page turning (one student even said that his fingers got tired turning pages in a real book), and the option of choosing the read-aloud. My surveys did not indicate that teen prefered e-books, but the survey was based on reading for pleasure. The study in Jones & Brown's Re...

Rick (2011), states that the most crucial step in incorporating graphic novels in the school curricula is educating teachers about their pedagogical value. Graphic novels construct rich, lively illustrations with a limited amount of text to drive the narrative. They can be especially appealing to young readers who are reluctant to pick up a more traditional book. Graphic novels are a great way to help struggling readers strengthen vocabulary, build reading confidence and stamina, and develop a deeper appreciation of storytelling.  There are misconceptions about graphic novels, and I have experienced this with parents. They see them as comics. Parents see graphic novels as easy reading and often relate them to superhero stories. I work with the parents and work to help them understand the importance of graphic novels to our young readers.  Because graphic novels are illustrated, comics are often associated with children. There are some wonderful young adult graphic nove...