Teaching...Every Day is Different

Email: teachingedid at gmail dot com Instagram: amber_reads_everything

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

I have finally regained accessed to my account! Hello chums!

[apileofgoodthings11]

Do you know how teachers typically pick books for their classroom libraries and if they regularly weed them? I am thinking back to classroom libraries I regularly saw close to 20 years ago if it makes a difference.

mmmm My classroom library was not very big. I think I had maybe 100-150 books. (This was 2011-2014, and it grew a bit every year.) It started with all the books I had had in high school plus anything from my personal collection that I had received/bought in college that was YA. Then, I would go to the annual Friends of the Library booksale and purchase 20ish books for really cheap. I never weeded them, and my students really wanted me to leave them when I quit teaching, which I did, except for maybe two or three of my absolute favorites. 

My guess is that teachers don’t tend to weed their classroom libraries because they aren’t familiar with the concept? I know I wasn’t until I went to grad school. 

But @teaching-everydayisdifferent currently has a bad-ass classroom library. Maybe she can better answer your questions?

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

Well, I am just seeing this (tumblr often scares me now). I do sometimes weed through my library. To make myself feel better about “getting rid of” a book I have added a Little Free Library in the student parking lot at my school (with administration’s permission). I put the books that do not been touched by students in a long time in the free library and they find a new home somewhere else.

[apileofgoodthings11]

What tips do you have for starting a classroom library?

Off the top of my head, you’ll need three things:

storage space (often bookshelves)

books

a way to keep track of which student has which book

If you don’t already have storage space, I suggest asking friends and family for shelves they don’t need or want anymore and offering to take it off their hands. :) If that yields nada, try hitting up some garage sales.

For books, I liked to raid library book sales. You can get a lot of cheap books there! Ask at your local library when their next sale will be, or check this website: https://www.booksalefinder.com/. You can also get cheap books at Goodwill/thrift stores and garage sales. I was able to supplement my classroom library because I had a large personal collection of YA. A lot of teacher will also put books on an Amazon wish list and ask for donations. 

For keeping track, I know there are apps out there, but I just used a clipboard. (My school wasn’t 1:1 on the technology, and this allowed those students who wanted to check out something to do it without having to interrupt me.) 

This is a super basic primer, but @teaching-everydayisdifferent has a classroom library that is to-die-for, so she might be able to pitch in some more info.

Good luck with your project!

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

You are the best! I agree about going to thrift stores. I have also found that just letting people know that you are interested in starting a library brings a lot of help. There are a lot of people out there that want to help out.

Donors Choose is always a good way to get a nice stack of new books. I have also had success with sharing my amazon wishlist. If you are at a Title 1 School or a school with a high free/reduced lunch you could look into @firstbook which is an amazing resource.

I use the Booksource App which I adore. I keep the app on my phone and just scan them out to students. The clipboard way really does work too.

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

...you really have no choice in this life but to believe with all your heart that you’re extraordinary. You have to hold this conviction against all evidence to the contrary. Living is too sad otherwise.

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, Jeff Zentner

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

Teacher friends! Have you read this yet? The writing is superb and the message is better. Add it to your classroom library! 
https://www.instagram.com/amber_reads_everything/p/BwsaWzOH7hC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13ol7fwog6hz2

[theartofangirling]

no one:

me: here’s a flow chart of 41 lgbtq+ book recommendations, have fun!

disclaimer: this is a very non-comprehensive list since I’m only including books that I’ve read

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

It might be spring break, but I keep thinking back to a book speed dating activity my AP classes did the day before break started. AP Language and Composition life is very structured and formal with analysis and rhetoric, so I used this speed dating time as a way to reintroduce my students to choice in their reading selections. It was loud and slightly chaotic, but it was worth it to see many of them find a book they truly WANTED to read. Time well spent.

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

I look at my empty hands like I should be able to pluck the words out of the air, hold them, inspect them, understand them.

Tin Heart - Shivaun Plozza

[chronicintrovert]

I recently gave your book to an asexual student of mine. She said it was her favorite out of the stack I shared with her. Do you have any recommendations for other YA books I should include in the LGBT Lending Library (which I keep in my classroom)for other asexual students?

That’s so wonderful ! Other ace books:

Summer Bird Blue - Akemi Dawn Bowman

Let’s Talk About Love - Claire Kann

Tash Hearts Tolstoy - Kathryn Ormsbee

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

I actually have all of those book in my library! That is fantastic. Tash is actually the book that opened up conversation with my student.

Does anyone else know of titles I could add to my collection?

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

This was the first year in the history of my teaching that I did not receive any non-food Christmas gifts from current students. A former student came by and gave me a gift and two former students dropped off large amounts of treats.

Not even a card...or a nice email.

I don’t expect things. I don’t teach elementary and the school is socioeconomically diverse, but it still feels weird.

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

Hello! I want to get my teacher a gift but I don’t know what. Is there anything teachers need for the classroom and would appreciate getting that you can think of? Thank you so much!

I would say the easiest thing, that all teachers truly want, is a thoughtful letter. And it is free.

Other options include Starbucks cards, nice pens, plants, and small uplifting signs for the classroom.

Hope this helps!

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

Bottom line: there’s nothing wrong with questioning, and I personally don’t think self-discovery has an expiration date. For some, labels are grounding and give a sense of identity. Others find them too narrow or restrictive. Some might be attracted to one gender identity at one point and a different gender identity at another. A guy who has only ever been attracted to men might find himself attracted to a woman. A girl who has only ever liked boys might find herself falling for her trans female best friend.

None of this is as simple as we want it to be. And I think that should be okay. Being who you are and loving who you love may not be easy, but it’s always worthwhile.

Odd One Out - Nic Stone (Author’s Notes)

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

Me: What does Gatsby mean when he describes Daisy’s voice as full of money?

Student: She’s boujie!

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

How could I be a tourist in my own past?

Darius the Great is Not Okay - Adib Khorram

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

This day has felt like the longest week ever.

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

Gay-Straight Alliance Creating a Sense of Community and Connection | DonorsChoose.org project by Mrs. Loyacano

My students need books and craft supplies to reach out to current middle schoolers. The Gay-Straight Alliance students hope to create an outreach program, so middle school students know they are no...

[teaching-everydayisdifferent]

In the middle of the school day yesterday I received a text from a friend that I rarely talk to. She works at a high school in a very conservative state and she has recently discovered that a few of her students identify as trans. She was asking for recommendations for books she should buy for her classroom library to help her students feel represented. I quickly ran over to my LGBT Lending Library and grabbed a few titles.

This is no way represents all of the trans-centric stories on my shelf, but I thought it was be a good start.

While taking the picture I remembered that I had an extra copy of When the Moon Was Ours at my house...I also had a pile of books that I had reserved for filling free little libraries around my town. Sooooo! I made her a teacher care package! With a book for her trans students, five other books that will help all students feel represented, rainbow swag, and some teaching tolerance materials.

I wish there was a way all teachers could receive FREE books and resources for students who feel underrepresented. I am just happy I could help one.

@teachingtolerance-blog

@macmillanusa

@glsen