I stopped grading years ago, and my students work harder and more meaningfully than ever. The Paper Graders has a terrific post to help you #StopGrading. Jonathan Hunt considers the Newbery merits of Jason Reynolds’s two 2016 titles, Ghost and As Brave As You. Comments are also very interesting. Laura Jiminez challenges us to read…
Betsy Bird’s 31 book lists to round out 2016 have caused my own TBR list to explode. Be sure to check out her list of Best Picture Books of 2016. Just in case you don’t have quite enough reading to do, Carrie Gelson’s list of 16 Favorites from 2016 is full of wonderful titles. And…
I am so excited about Teen Librarian Toolbox’s theme for 2017: Social Justice! Check out the social justice themed book display they created with no slogans or headings to announce the topic. College basketball player Bronson Koenig, one of just 40 Native American students playing basketball at D-1 colleges, reported from Standing Rock earlier in…
I’m still putting together my own learning reflections from #NCTE16. Here are other learning reflection posts I’ve enjoyed this week. Inspired by their thinking and learning at #NCTE16, Three Teachers Talk plans to focus their blogging on the four key elements teachers need to make decisions about learning in their classrooms. (I’m also feeling demoralized about…
Jacqueline Woodson shares her answer to the question I keep asking myself, How Do I Comfort My Frightened Son After the Election? Liel Leibovitz urges us to take Trump at face value and assume the worst, as his grandfather did about Hitler in 1930s Vienna: “Refuse to accept what’s going on as the new normal.…
David Remnick’s powerful New Yorker piece, An American Tragedy, considers the full implications of a Trump presidency: “this is surely the way fascism can begin.” John Pavlovitz explains why so many of us are grieving: “It isn’t a political defeat we’re lamenting, it’s a defeat for Humanity.” Jess Lifshitz movingly explores what is at stake for…
I’ve been working my way through the archives of my favorite podcast, Radiolab. This week, my favorite episode was Speedy Beet, about how Beethoven may have intended his symphonies to be played: fast. Very fast. SLJ does some research into banned books and discovers one thing they have in common: many of them feature diverse…
The best thing I’ve read lately is Kathryn Schulz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning feature article about the earthquake that’s going to destroy the Pacific Northwest, The Really Big One. I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to explain to white people why #AllLivesMatter is offensive. The New York Times helped me out with this article. Brian…
Daisy Yellow’s Index Card a Day Creativity Challenge begins on June 1, and themes and prompts for Week 1 are now available. This challenge is a terrific invitation to create something small each day. I’ve done a few warm-ups this week and especially liked Imperfect Circles. If you’d like to invite kids to do the…
This week, I fell down a new Internet rabbit hole: the world of art journaling! Mindful Art Studio’s How to Start an Art Journal has been a helpful place to begin. Also, art journaling as self-care? Yes! See also simple drawing techniques for anxiety. I can vouch for those circles! Balzer Designs examines art journal pages…
the dirigible plum 