Question: Does labeling books make it easier for the teacher or for the students? After reading Conferring with Readers this week, this question made me stop and think. Goldberg and Serravallo state that teachers should "try to level as many books as possible". They also suggest that teachers should choose a leveling system and stick with it. Taberski's book On Solid Ground talked about how important it was to label to book, and not the student. That is why I am a firm believer in having different leveled students working with each other. Although sometimes we do not give students enough credit. If teachers have obvious labels on their books, some students may make fun or talk down to the students with the lower leveled books. The flip side to that situation is that the other students may be more encouraging. This may be a rarity. Serravallo and Goldberg gave a great solution to my worries. They suggested that teachers could put the level inside the book rather than on the outside. This enables the teacher to still label the books, but also not having a constant visual reminder of the level of the book. Taberski sums up my skepticism by simply stating that teachers should know the books in their library, but more importantly know their kids. By knowing the books in the classroom library, the teacher will be able to match a book content wise and level wise with each particular students to ensure that the students have just right books. I am still skeptical about labeling books, but it almost seems necessary and a time saver. I do not agree with labeling books on the outside, but inside the cover is a nice compromise.