Here is part of Kathleen Large’s beautiful classroom library in San Francisco. Take a look!
Kathleen understands best practices of classroom library design: outward-facing books, high-quality books, and multiple copies of titles.
A close friend and long-time colleague, Kathleen teaches English 11 at Leadership High School.
She believes strongly in the power of independent reading and is building her classroom library. You can follow Kathleen’s classroom page, Miss Large’s classroom, on Facebook or make a contribution to her DonorsChoose page.
This morning I read a well-written and mostly-neutral short history of the charter school movement. In “The Original Charter School Vision,” Richard D. Kahlenberg and Halley Potter outline how charter schools have developed over the past couple decades.
Charter schools remain confusing and controversial. Critics argue that charter schools worsen racial segregation. Others decry high staff turnover (twice the rate vs. other public schools) and the lack of unions. For others, the lack of unions is a positive. Because they’re fairly new, charter schools are right in the middle of the education debate fusillade. Depending on whom you ask, charter schools are either the best or worst things ever.
It’s weird: I’m usually a reflecting kind of guy, but I don’t spend too much time ruminating on my work in charter schools over the past 15 years. Where I’ve worked, we’ve focused on the students the traditional system, in general, has overlooked. And that’s where I want to be.
Excerpt
“ALTHOUGH the leaders of teachers unions and charter schools are often in warring camps today, the original vision for charter schools came from Albert Shanker, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.”
Source: http://j.mp/1vWX45V (via Pocket). You can also find this article at Iserotope Extras, a curated list of my favorite articles about teaching, reading, and technology.
Let’s say you’re a teacher, and you care about reading, and you want to start building a classroom library. Let’s say you raise $1,000. How do you spend your money?
Choice #1: Buy 100 different books.
This way, there is a lot of selection, and students will be impressed that you have tons of different books to choose from.
Choice #2: Buy 20 different books 5 times each.
This way, there is way less selection, but you encourage students to read books together and talk about them.
What do you think?
When I was a teacher, I thought that Choice #1 was the answer. In my mind, the more titles, the better. I never really considered buying multiple copies of the same book. After all, wasn’t that wasting money?
But that wasn’t enough. I was still stubborn and ignorant. Then came Tess Lantos, excellent ninth grade English teacher at Impact Academy in Hayward. (You will likely hear more about her in upcoming months!)
Tess helped me come to my senses. She has always built her classroom library through multiple copies of high-interest books. “Is there another way?” she asks kindly, so I can save face.
Because of Tess, now the trend is everywhere. Take a look!
It makes total sense. Single copies of tons of titles are overwhelming. The bookshelves look too much like the public library, which is scary for some students. You don’t know where to look, how to browse, which book to pick up and try. This is particularly true if you’re a struggling reader or your teacher expects you to read 18 books this year even though you haven’t finished a book since you were in the third grade.
Multiple copies of fewer titles, on the other hand, make a classroom library resemble a Barnes and Noble bookstore. Books pop, whether you stack them spine-out or cover-out. The bookshelves are beautiful, and if you’re a student, you’re lured to check out all that color and pick up a book.
The only concern with the multiple copies approach, of course, is that there is a greater risk if the teacher chooses poorly. Spending $10 on one book that no student reads isn’t a problem, but spending $50 is another story. I totally relate and understand the anxiety teachers feel when purchasing books.
That’s why I think it’s so crucial to ask your colleagues, public librarians, and students to determine which books will “sell.” It’s true that if you have 150 ninth graders, not all of them will like the same 20 books. On the other hand, I can assure you that 80-90% will like Tyrell. And away you go to your list of Top 20 Books.
What do you think of this approach? Would you modify anything? Please leave your thoughts. Also, if you have a book that you believe 80-90% of ninth graders will love, share it, please, and say why!
The news tidbits may sour people’s interest in e-readers and cause teachers and schools not to invest in them to promote independent reading.
I hope not. Research is just beginning about the effects of e-readers vs. physical books on student reading comprehension and engagement. There is conflicting evidence, which I plan to investigate more in coming months.
The truth is, in my mind, the real problem with reading in schools isn’t e-readers. The problem is that there isn’t enough reading in general, and students don’t get to choose their books, and there isn’t very much access to high-interest books, and middle school and high school teachers don’t have training or experience in reading instruction.
I’m happy that Patrick Larkin may share a similar sentiment. An assistant superintendent in Burlington, MA, Mr. Larkin is leery of research findings that categorically denigrate e-readers. In “Another Defensive Post About e-Reading,” he makes clear that the recent European study has a sample size of just 50 people, which I wrote about in my own post. But Mr. Larkin goes one step further: Only 2 of the 50 students had previous experience using an e-reader. Maybe that’s why the students’ comprehension was inferior!
Please check out Mr. Larkin’s quick post and let me know what you think in the comments!
Excerpt
“Disclaimer: As an administrator in a district where we have provided iPads for all students, I always feel a bit defensive about articles and research studies that are quick to dismiss e-reading in lieu of traditional books. This is especially true when I am quoted in one of the articles.”
Source: http://j.mp/1lxqqrd (via Pocket). You can also find this article at Iserotope Extras, a curated list of my favorite articles about teaching, reading, and technology.
Here is part of Kathleen Large’s beautiful classroom library in San Francisco. Take a look!
Kathleen understands best practices of classroom library design: outward-facing books, high-quality books, and multiple copies of titles.
