I am very happy to announce that there will be a new classroom joining the Kindle Classroom Project in just over a week.
Kathleen Large — whose beautiful classroom library I featured in September — is an outstanding English teacher at Leadership High School in San Francisco, where I taught for 12 years.
Kathleen runs a robust independent reading program in her classroom. She begins each class with silent reading, knows what each student is reading, makes recommendations, and conferences with students about their books. Kathleen’s students have read many books, given book talks to younger students, and written poignant essays about how reading has affected them. (Her students also read the New York Times!)
Here’s a sneak peek of her classroom library:
It is an honor to partner with Kathleen in this work. She has already pushed me about the best role of Kindles in a reading classroom. The KCP is a reading program, Kathleen reminds me, not a technology program, and the Kindle is best introduced not necessarily at the very beginning of the year, but rather after a reading culture has grown.
That’s why Kathleen launched a “soft start” with 10 of her students before Winter Break. She met with them individually, asked them if they wanted to opt in, explained the requirements of the program, and answered students’ questions. So far, the news is wonderful: Students are texting Kathleen over Break to let her know they love their Kindle and are finishing books.
It will be exciting to learn how the rest of her students react on Jan. 5 when they find out that there are plenty more Kindles to check out!
It’s very clear to me that the quality of the teacher is the most important ingredient to a successful Kindle classroom. When a teacher understands reading instruction and how the KCP can fit into his or her classroom, things flourish, and the power of the KCP comes out.
I can’t wait to tell the story of Miss Large’s Classroom and its participation in the Kindle Classroom Project!