7.03.2021
6.30.2021
Post #3—Book Love
I feel that Buehler and Kittle's opinions about reading instruction align with my own. They both focus on reading books, lots of books. As a librarian, the one thing that kept running through my mind as I read the chapters this week is the fact that teachers at my school do not send students to the library for books. I know teachers have classroom libraries, which is great, but there is no way that they have the selection that the school library has. I'm still new to the school so there is still much for me to learn, but it seems my number one goal for this year is to understand why teachers are not relying on the library for books. There is a disconnect that needs to be found and reconnected. I suspect that the over-emphasis on technology (Chromebooks) is one reason and somehow I have to push back.
I enjoyed reading about Kittle's experiences with students in her classroom. The one thing she does not mention using is the reading and study programs that are prevalent in so many schools today. I recently got a spreadsheet listing the strategies for raising reading scores at my school and it was basically a list of software programs. The document will serve as evidence that the school is invested in improving literacy, yet that is not how I interpreted it. Kittle's methods of having a well-established classroom library, daily one-on-one conferences with students, goals that the students determine, and daily reading logs may seem basic and even "old-school," but I know that they work.
Kittle mentioned having to play by the rules of her school system and I can relate to her admission. I find myself spending a lot of time trying to learn the rules and then navigate around them to do what is best for the students. I get frustrated working at schools where administrators talk about the importance of literacy, yet put money and time into other things. Library budgets are often seen as simply extra school funds rather than needed money to keep the collection current and maintained. Is there anything more important for literacy improvement than books? I always feel like I'm missing something...
