I've finally gotten to the point where I'm actually proud of my classroom library. I was going to take pictures today, but there were parents to call and photos to print and posters to hang and bulletin boards to decorate and journals to review and receipts to write and file and... and... and...
UGH. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures on Monday. It was so hectic at the end of the day that when we left I forgot both my laptop charge cord and a stack of journals that I planned to finish grading over the weekend.
Anyway.
For the longest time, I had some serious book-envy. It seemed like everyone else online had read the latest YA stuff. And in #titletalk discussions, people would make lists of books they were going to buy! I don't know how they manage it, because let me tell you, looking at the price on a new book about gives me palpitations from the sticker shock. $30 for a new book?! That's, like, three days of food!
But then I learned that being poor sometimes comes in handy. Like when you're writing grant requests. And over the last few years, I've built up my classroom library slowly and steadily, thanks mostly to the local used bookstores and DonorsChoose. And then this past summer, I got to go to the ALA conference, which was within driving distance.
I took the truck.
Anyway, long story short, I have lots and lots of books now. And I'm ready to do more with them. At the end of the summer, for example, I nabbed a couple of beat-up armchairs at a yard sale, and now they grace that corner of my classroom. I'd love to add a standing lamp but I was told NO. Same thing for rugs. NO. I might be able to get away with a stack of floor cushions, but I don't really have anywhere to put them.
Everything is so damn expensive. $20 a cushion? And don't get me started on how much shelving costs... yikes!
There seems to be a lot more out there for elementary-school classroom libraries. Is it sooo unusual to have one in high school? I want to decorate my walls, but I don't just want a silly "Read! :D" poster. With a worm wearing glasses. You know, a bookworm? HA! *sigh*
What does an ideal high school classroom library look like, anyway?
Image thanks to http://blog.syracuse.com/
Friday, September 30, 2011
Finally
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4 comments:
I moved to junior high this year and my little library corner is the only one in the school (excluding the real library). I have a tiny corner and really sacrificed space, but it was so important to me to have a "library". I bought two bean bag chairs from Walmart online that are shaped like armchairs and I have one of those saucer chairs. I have a rug, one bookcase and two crates of books and magazines.
I'm glad you have a space for them to read. If, they'd let me, I get rid of all my desks, load up on pillows and clipboards, and teach in criss-cross-applesauce formation!
I'm trying to move to getting rid of desks. The tricky point right now is that I don't have enough chairs or pillows.
Also there's a good chance that I'll be moved to a different room next year, and the one I'm in now has a unique setup, so I don't want to get too "settled" right now.
Uggg... I'm so annoyed. I can't access the goodreads inbox from school, and I can't access my blog from home. It freezes up my entire computer so that nothing (including Ctrl Alt Delete) works.
When are you bringing the carnival back? I'm excited about the prospect of being a contributor rather than just an observer.
I know that this is basically the same thing I wrote on my blog... but I wanted to post it over here as well.
I've been invited to someone else's class as a "guest reader." I'm allowed to kick whichever kid is on the couch and sit and read during 5th hour.
I'm also going to be a "celebrity book reviewer" for our book fair. Pretty stoked.
I don't know that I will be bringing back the Carnival. Carol Richie, over at Bellringers, is running one, & I don't really want to compete, yanno? So maybe I'll send in one of my posts for the next one :)
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