12 tips for building a beautiful classroom library

“How do you get all of these beautiful books?” Before answering that question, I wanted to share a quick story that will give you a better idea of how my classroom philosophy and library has grown over time... In 2015-16, I decided to make the “loop” from a middle school to a high school in the … Continue reading 12 tips for building a beautiful classroom library →

Best-Selling Author Jason Reynolds, Parnassus Books and Project LIT promote reading at Lipscomb University

Lipscomb University’s College of Education, in partnership with Parnassus Books, hosted award-winning, bestselling author Jason Reynolds as part of the Lipscomb Literacy: Building Equity & Engagement series on April 10. The visit saw widespread support and participation from area schools with around 600 middle school and high school students in attendance to hear Reynolds talk … Continue reading Best-Selling Author Jason Reynolds, Parnassus Books and Project LIT promote reading at Lipscomb University →

How do you measure the impact of an author visit?

In urban school districts, money is always tight. Teachers across the country, from Nashville to the Bronx, Denver to D.C., are repeatedly told that there’s no room in the budget for new books or field trips. Author visits? Forget about it. (It’s funny, though, that there always seems to be room for test-prep programs and “turnaround” consultants who are … Continue reading How do you measure the impact of an author visit? →

Project LIT in the press

I wanted to thank Education Dive for highlighting the work of Project LIT Community. We started as, really, a classroom project. I teach at Maplewood High School in Nashville, and in the fall of 2016, I had a group of sophomores I had taught the year before. There was an article that summer in The … Continue reading Project LIT in the press →

Sunday 7: Project LIT Summit, Kwame’s “Rebound,” Black History Month & more

This week’s edition of the “Sunday 7” includes several book recommendations and an exciting Project LIT announcement. Before we begin, however, be sure read this beautiful blog post by my friend, Julia Torres. Julia touches on the impact of Nic Stone’s (#BookBeyonce) recent life-changing visit to Montbello and what it takes to help students develop … Continue reading Sunday 7: Project LIT Summit, Kwame’s “Rebound,” Black History Month & more →

Sunday 7: ACT “secrets,” access to relevant books, Nic Stone thank-you letters & more

Let’s get right into this week’s Sunday 7… 1. The “secret” to improving ACT scores To prepare for the ACT this spring, my high school juniors recently completed an English practice test. We decided to chunk the test over three class periods, which meant that each day I set a timer for 15 minutes and … Continue reading Sunday 7: ACT “secrets,” access to relevant books, Nic Stone thank-you letters & more →

Sunday 7: Reflections from our Project LIT Book Club, featuring best-selling author Nic Stone

There’s a lot I will eventually write about Friday’s Project LIT Book Club. Eventually, I’ll share the full journey, which in many ways begins in 2014, when my current juniors were in eighth grade, so that you can better understand how and why best-selling author and amazing human Nic Stone ended up at Maplewood High … Continue reading Sunday 7: Reflections from our Project LIT Book Club, featuring best-selling author Nic Stone →

The Sunday 7: Classroom libraries, advice for new teachers, book recs & more

Happy Sunday, everyone! Let’s get right into it… 1. The importance of classroom libraries Thanks to everyone for reading and sharing Friday’s blog post, which included three classroom stories from the past week. One of my friends, Brittany Gendron (@readwritethrive) said it best in a Twitter post earlier this morning: “There are no silver bullets, … Continue reading The Sunday 7: Classroom libraries, advice for new teachers, book recs & more →

Friday Reflections: Why I Teach

As we close out the week, I wanted to share three quick stories from my classroom. Let’s start with Tyasia, one of my wonderful freshmen. It was Thursday, and we had just finished our daily read aloud of Dear Martin when she pulled out her phone. “Tyasia, put that away.” “No, I want to show … Continue reading Friday Reflections: Why I Teach →

The Sunday Seven: Snow week reflections, independent reading, book club tips & more

Let's get right into this week's "Sunday Seven." 1. "Snow" week reflections What happens when Nashville schools are closed all week due to three inches of snow? Caring, committed educators take time to connect and collaborate online and in person. On Wednesday, we organized a special edition of our #ProjectLITchat on Twitter, and dozens of teachers and … Continue reading The Sunday Seven: Snow week reflections, independent reading, book club tips & more →