Ok. Maybe not on my official plans, but I did find myself binge watching Hoarders while on the couch this week. Why? Fascination with the human condition? Interest in just what people will hold on to (bags of used cat litter stacked from floor to ceiling!? Yipes! It's true!)? I do not know. Either way, I find every episode fascinating.
I work at a school in which some closets could be featured in an episode of Hoarders. "Hoarders: Elementary Edition?" My school was built in 1956 and in opening closets, cabinets and other hidden areas on campus, tells the story of hand-me-downs galore. It's not that anyone has a compulsive need to hoard, but it's that whole..."How and when DID these old binders get shoved on that shelf? Who uses them? Well, I can't throw them away because they aren't mine or...what if I throw them out and then need them again the very next day? You never know when you'll need those 1000 faded Christmas-colored pony beads in the old Folgers can." Seriously.
And this is not special to my school. I can't tell you the number of times I've moved into a new classroom (well, actually, the number is 7) and had to dig through someone's remaining treasures that have been collected and treasured for years. Educators. We do these things.
As I wrapped up my couch jam session with Hoarders, I headed to my site to help dig out some closets to make space for new teachers joining our school this year. Items I found:
1. Box of "Jungle Birds:" pipe cleaners twisted in various shapes with googley-eyes and feathers glued randomly about.
2. Staples inside of a box marked 1961. I'm not kidding.
3. Walkmans! Yes! Walkmans galore!
But the most offensive of all...
BOOKS WITH YELLOW PAGES!!
CRINGE!
After I took a moment to pull down the books, dust them off, sneeze, and blow my nose, the reader in me metaphorically cried a solitary tear that dripped on the cover of one said book, exposing the title, Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Why? Why was this yellowed, dusty book stored for so long? Even if it made its way into the hands of one of my 4th grade reluctant readers' hands, would it excite them? Would they shout, "OMG, girlfriend! This book is like, totally awesome! We should totes read it."? No. And most certainly not with those words. Would this yellowed-page relic build a love of reading for our kids? Maybe no. And it's not Claudia or Jamie Kincaid's fault. Those kids are rockstars.
I think Donalyn Miller is on to something. If you haven't read either The Book Whisperer or Reading in the Wild, stop reading this and go pick up a copy. Read the whole thing. Twice. I'll wait...
Miller states:
"Abundant reading research proves that the following components of an independent reading program increase students' reading achievement and motivation to read:
- Access to books: Students need access to a wide array of reading material at their independent level.
- Reading engagement: Students needs classroom conditions that engage them with reading and foster reading self-efficacy.
- School-wide support: Schools must create a culture of reading that values reading in all subject areas.
- Well-stocked libraries with qualified librarians: School library collections should contain current, well-maintained collections of interesting reading material manned by trained, licensed librarians.
- Student choice: Students need frequent opportunities to select their own reading materials for both personal and academic reasons."
https://bookwhisperer.com/posts-presentations-projects/
Did 'ja catch that? Forget the school library collection part and replace it with books surrounding kids all over campus...classroom libraries, school library, office waiting area, after school programs...all the places!!
Give the kids what they want (or if they don't know what they want, expose them to what you think they may eventually want. Psst...it's not yellow books.)
Think of yourself as a reader. If someone handed you a yellow-paged, dusty, faded chapter book published in 1967, how excited would you be to read it? Our kids are small adults, having tastes and preferences of their own (music, sports, art, food, books, etc.) Expose them to aesthetically pleasing books (the sight of crisp white pages, the smell of glue and cut paper freshly bound together, the feeling of sharp edges of pages)! Kids may not jump at them right away, but it sure is better than treasures found in secret closets.
Consider dumping all old book and replacing them with new, fresh pages. They don't even have to be new titles, but at least updated covers to old classics.
