Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Work Smarter Not Harder

I need more time!  Don't we all feel like this sometimes?

 
 
It feels as if the minute hand on the clock is spinning wildly out of control and the to-do list keeps growing.  What's a girl to do?  Reevaluate, prioritize and control the TYPE A monster living within.  For me, this means looking at ways I can empower my students AND check off some things on my to-do list. 
 
One of the things I most like to do is read all the new fiction titles that come into the library.  This lets me book talk, make recommendations and be honest when a student asks, "Have you read this book?"  But this has been a crazy year and I still have a stack I need to get through and I really want to get them out in the hands of my kiddos.
 
Here's my (maybe) bright idea for this year.  I wrapped some of the titles up in construction paper.  I put a number on each one and a code for the genre type in the corner.  Here's what they looked like. (I know--very high tech!)
 
 

 
 
Here's my pitch to kiddos.  They get to be the FIRST person to read a new book (which is a BIG deal).  They get to take it home over Spring Break (in addition to their regular book check out).  The only thing they have to do is read the book over Spring Break and get ready to videotape a book talk about the book they read. 
 
To make it seem even MORE exclusive (wink wink), I limited it to 3 participants per class. 
 
Worked like a charm!  Now I can't wait to hear about these books when we return in April.

No comments:

Post a Comment