…changing the world, one reader at a time.
It’s summertime! Sun is shining, ice cream cones are dripping, and young ladies are custom designing 3D rendered products using online computer-aided modeling software. You know, the norm. I was thrilled when Ms. Wilkens asked me to join her to run STAB Tech Camps this summer. Full days of ed tech projects, experiments, and games? […]
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If you’re sharing your reading on social media, use #stabsummerreading so our awesome reading community can stay connected through the summer months. Follow #stabsummerreading to see what your friends, teachers, and other STAB students are reading! Here it is, my middle school friends – the moment you have been waiting for. Are you already bored with […]
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I’m excited to have collaborated with Kim Wilkens to present Foiling Fake News wth Fourth Graders at the Library 2.017 Worldwide Virtual Conference. The theme for the conference was Digital Literacy and Fake News, so our three-week unit with St. Anne’s-Belfield School fourth graders busting fake news online was be a perfect fit. We spoke with […]
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You’ve heard me talk a lot on this blog about Books on Bikes (no really… a lot). It combines my very favorite things: books, exercise, popsicles, and the Charlottesville community. Biking with the Books on Bikes team is the best part of my summer every year, and I’m so excited to be introducing this amazing project to […]
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Last semester, I was lucky enough to work with a talented and driven group of young women on a Quest called So You Want to Learn Guitar? When it came time to start preparing for my next Quest, I had no idea how I would top such a fun, challenging, and rewarding semester. Offer another […]
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The other day, a sixth grader approached me when I was standing at the circulation desk. “Have you read Mountain Dog?” He asked. Students approach me about books like this all the time. It’s my favorite part of the day. Sometimes it’s to talk about how much they loved a book – sometimes it’s to […]
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The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd I gave this book five stars because it is my favorite book in the whole wide world! Emma Pearl Casey lives in a little apartment on top of her family’s cafe and graveyard: The Boneyard Cafe. Emma enjoys giving tours and telling stories in the graveyard to her […]
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Every so often, wandering through the library with my middle school groups, I’ll hear a sound that is music to my ears: students “You have to read this book. It’s so good. I’m obsessed with it.” Peer to peer recommendations are incredibly powerful. No matter how well I know a student or how passionately I […]
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The Scarlet Dragon by Jordan Quinn I give this book five stars. The Scarlet Dragon is a really good book. Lucas and Clara are on a ride with the Queen and King to see a scarlet dragon egg. When it hatches Lucas keeps it as a pet. Soon the dragon gets sick if he does […]
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When I first started working with kids, I was under the naive assumption that parents and teachers had complete power over the opinions of the children that they work with. “My students will always be kind and patient and tolerant,” I thought, “because that is what I will teach them.” Cute, right? Enter: Reality. Children […]
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