Scholastic Reading Summit

Yesterday, I attended a Scholastic Reading Summit. I learned a lot from the two guest speakers: Donalyn Miller and Walter Dean Myers. They both spoke about literacy and how critical is it that our students read independently and daily. I was inspired by both of them to continue making sure that my students love to read and read every day, and that they are not 'dependent' on ME to do that.

But here are some other nuggets I learned yesterday:

First, from Donalyn Miller (author of The Book Whisperer and all-around inspirational educator), I learned the importance of sharing many genres with our students. They may not like all of the genres we share, but then again, as she said, they may end up discovering the one they love! Second, book talks have power! They don't have to be rehearsed or perfect, but they should share your excitement about the book. From a fellow participant's tweet at the summit I learned one more thing: If you share one book talk a day, by the end of the year, you will have shared about 180 books a year! And, from Mr. Walter Dean Myers (acclaimed author and National Ambassador of Young People's Literature), I learned that when lack of access to books is an issue in a community or school, we must bring the books to the children. I'm thinking more about this in my own community.

After the great keynotes and sessions, I also bought two books to add to my ever-growing, about-to-topple TBR stacks which now sit around my home waiting for my time and attention.

• Bad Island by Doug TenNapel
• Powerless by Matthew Cody  

As is the case with conferences I attend, it takes me a few days to process. So, I'll post more about this day in the future.

Back to my issue analysis paper and my #bookaday!