The Book Whisperer

First off, it was AMAZING! The conference was for Chautauqua and Cattaraugus County school librarians and English teachers. The speaker was Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer. Going to this conference was a real pick me up. It motivated, inspired, and made me feel excited about becoming a school librarian. Donalyn's speech was about creating life long readers out of children. To create students who love and are excited to read. She took students who read zero to maybe five books a year and had them reading between 30-90 books by the end of the school year. Her secret...she had her students reading books that interested them and made reading time a top priority. She would find out what book(s) a student loved and would help guide them to another book similar to the one they treasured at their reading level. She created an environment that valued and showcased those who read, being teachers, faculty, and students by creating what was called "Reading Doors." These doors highlighted all kinds of readers and their interests. Teachers would decorate their door with pictures of the materials they read. Whether they read books, magazines, newspaper articles, reviews, blogs, etc. She also created what was called a "Graffiti Wall" in which students would read a book and choose 1 quote, their favorite quote, out of the whole book and write it on the black wallpaper with a silver metallic sharpie pen. This would attract her students and many would check out a book based on the quote. So in a nut shell, it served as a recommendation board. Students also were exposed to many books based not only on recommendations but by displays and frequent book talks (from the librarian and peers). If they liked a book presented or displayed they would write it down on their "To Read List." This way students are keeping a record of what they plan to read after finishing a book. It was a great time saver and kept students reading rather than wondering.

On a professional note, I loved how Donalyn stated that we need to make celebrities out of authors and readers out of children. I was astonished at the effects/benefits of life long reading on test scores, a person's overall success, mood and life happiness. A great research article to read is The Power of Reading. She also stressed on the value Twitter has had on her life. She has used Twitter for professional development, to follow a conference she was unable to attend, as well as getting connected with authors. She said she follows a lot of people on Twitter but if you are to follow one person, it would be John Schmaker. He gives great book reviews and advice. Another idea to put in your back pocket would be to check out "Goodreads" and "Shelfari." Donalyn also introduced us to the newest books available, the ones she rated the best to must haves. She book talked them and had them available for purchasing as well.

Overall, I learned a lot from this excellent experience! Everyone should get connected and start going to these any chance they get!