Kistner's Kollection

If you are in the classroom, you know what the pressure is like.  It is like a four-letter word pressure.  It is constant, every three weeks Test and Test, over and over.  The questions fly at you.  Do your students get it?  Are they ready, will they know?  How can you help them more, how can you work more to help them score higher?  What are you doing that helps them score higher?   It's all about Testing, must have extreme instructional time higher scores and banners.    This is the biggest obstacle - Time to read, principal buy-in to support students actually reading.  This is like concentrating on one smart student  instead of the whole school.  It is like working out one muscle group and ignoring the others.  We are looking at ONE score, one passing, one banner to fulfill our feelings of success.  To stop the pressure, of failure, we think we must work harder, and find better ways to help students pass a test.  I am asking you to step back, look at the whole studen

Sweet!!  Texas School Library Journal posted a blip about my program in the library on page 84.  So excited to be a real librarian now.  I love being in the room.  Favorite part of work, is when kids come in and say, "Hey, do you know that book, or have this book about ___"  and I can go find one for them.  It makes my heart dance a little!  Super smiles.  I love that students are really reading things for my library Rounds project.  This Friday, I had 12 pizzas to order, because students had completed 12 (8 books each) Rounds.  They love coming to pick up the pizzas and share with their friends, and they normally come back and get more books to read because NOW they are hooked into a series or reading for fun.  It isn't for the great pizza, it is the idea of sharing.  I love it.  So far since September 15 when I launched it, we have over 28 Rounds completed and that makes more than 224 books read, discussed, & written about.  I know most of these are 7th grade gr