Those of you who do your blog reading via Google Reader know that the site is going away on July 1. Basically, that means you need to import all of your blogs into Feedly or Bloglovin now so you don't miss any posts.
I signed up for Bloglovin tonight. It kinda reminds me of Pinterest but for blogs... sold! And they have apps for your iPhone/iPad so you never have to miss the newest post, which is super important if you want to jump on people's time-sensitive giveaways. I can't tell you how many I've missed because I don't read anything on my phone... I will now!
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June 18, 2013
June 11, 2013
Teacher Tip Tuesday - Student Book Recommendations
I'm linking up with Holly today to tell you about my new Teacher Tip about student book recommendations.
I think it's true of all ELA teachers that sharing book recommendations with students gives us that warm fuzzy feeling we all love. But what do we do to motivate those reluctant readers in our classrooms?
I pride myself on winning over my reluctant readers with a multitude of strategies I've implemented in my classroom, one of which being today's tip: a Novel Recommendation Binder. This tip seriously took me about 15 minutes to throw together but has made a lasting impression in my classroom.
In my classroom, I keep a binder in my classroom library for all of my students to access at their leisure. Inside, I keep a stack of blank Novel Recommendation forms.
On the top half of the form, students write the title of the book, author, genre, short summary, and a brief description of who they think would enjoy it. The bottom half of the form is left blank with the subtitle "Recommended By" above the space. Any student who also recommends that book can simply sign their name on the page, which is sorted alphabetically by the student who completes the form (you can use alphabet binder tabs to help here). If a student needs to choose a new book, he or she will often grab the binder and see what their friends recommend instead of asking me. Peer recommendations weigh much more heavily among middle school students, after all.
In my classroom, this binder has cultivated a positive peer pressure to read. In fact, the year I started this, I had specific titles I simply couldn't keep on my bookshelf (despite the fact that I had four copies of each title) because students couldn't wait to get their hands on whatever their peers were reading.
My top readers are usually the ones to start the recommendation pages, and sometimes it becomes a friendly competition to see who can finish a book first (my only requirement) so they can fill out the form. It's a great early finisher activity as well.
My reluctant readers also enjoy being able to add their signatures to pages when they finished books. I think, in a way, it's like a brag book for my students to show off what they were reading.
An additional bonus for the middle school classrooms is that this binder allows students to share their recommendations with peers in other classes as well.
As a teacher, I've used this binder to help me see which books I need to add to my classroom library as well as which titles I need to add to my summer reading list so I can stay current with what my students read.
I think it's true of all ELA teachers that sharing book recommendations with students gives us that warm fuzzy feeling we all love. But what do we do to motivate those reluctant readers in our classrooms?
I pride myself on winning over my reluctant readers with a multitude of strategies I've implemented in my classroom, one of which being today's tip: a Novel Recommendation Binder. This tip seriously took me about 15 minutes to throw together but has made a lasting impression in my classroom.
In my classroom, I keep a binder in my classroom library for all of my students to access at their leisure. Inside, I keep a stack of blank Novel Recommendation forms.
On the top half of the form, students write the title of the book, author, genre, short summary, and a brief description of who they think would enjoy it. The bottom half of the form is left blank with the subtitle "Recommended By" above the space. Any student who also recommends that book can simply sign their name on the page, which is sorted alphabetically by the student who completes the form (you can use alphabet binder tabs to help here). If a student needs to choose a new book, he or she will often grab the binder and see what their friends recommend instead of asking me. Peer recommendations weigh much more heavily among middle school students, after all.
In my classroom, this binder has cultivated a positive peer pressure to read. In fact, the year I started this, I had specific titles I simply couldn't keep on my bookshelf (despite the fact that I had four copies of each title) because students couldn't wait to get their hands on whatever their peers were reading.
My top readers are usually the ones to start the recommendation pages, and sometimes it becomes a friendly competition to see who can finish a book first (my only requirement) so they can fill out the form. It's a great early finisher activity as well.
My reluctant readers also enjoy being able to add their signatures to pages when they finished books. I think, in a way, it's like a brag book for my students to show off what they were reading.
An additional bonus for the middle school classrooms is that this binder allows students to share their recommendations with peers in other classes as well.
As a teacher, I've used this binder to help me see which books I need to add to my classroom library as well as which titles I need to add to my summer reading list so I can stay current with what my students read.
Back to Life
We're home safely from our trip to Louisiana. It was an 18-hour drive because we had to tow my car behind the box truck, which slowed us down quite a bit. Michael (Joel's brother) and I took turns driving Joel's pickup behind the box truck, and I can honestly say that there were times it felt like the trip would never end. As usual, Joel was a trooper and drove the whole time without complaining once. I was pretty good until Michael asked me to take over for the last 3 hours of the trip... so close yet so far away. By the time we got home and crashed into bed, the sun was already up for the day.
Now that our stuff is in storage and I'm caught up on sleep, I swear I'm going to get back into my blogging routine. You should see how many tabs I have open right now... I have so many posts to read!
In addition to getting back to blogging, I need to continue applying for jobs here. I don't know how the application process is in other states, but here in Illinois, the applications are all online and include multiple essays. It feels like a giant waste of time to put so much thought into the application to know that I am just one of thousands of applicants (literally) seeking each opening. I know no one ever reads those things, but the perfectionist in me spends way too much time writing and editing these essays. And I know it's the law, but it's annoying that districts post openings when they already know who is filling them. Quit wasting my time!
So, as I wait and hope someone will offer me an interview, I'm going to work on organizing my digital files (I don't keep anything in hard copy) by CCSS. I think it will help me be more prepared for whatever grade level I may teach because I will easily see what I have for each standard. I have SO many files from over the years. It will be good to go through them all and revise as needed.
Keep your fingers crossed for me that I land a job!
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