For Teachers

Boolean searching is built on a method of symbolic logic developed by George Boole, a 19th century English mathematician.



In our work at the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, we regularly come across public school educators who believe that they are not supposed to talk about religion in the classroom. On the contrary, we feel that teachers can and should teach about religion.

The New York Public Library has loads of resources available just for kids. From storytelling to searching, nothing is left to the imagination when using our resources. 

Transparency: See-through. Clear. Unambiguous.

We often keep learning a secret and expect students to read our minds. Why do we make our expectations murky and ambiguous (and then grade them!)

Ancient History, Middle Ages, Industrial Revolution... Does history homework make you feel like you are in the Dark Ages? Well be enlightened by the library's resources!

The definition for literacy I accepted was based on all the research I struggled through.
It is: competency in different contexts. This definition allowed me to understand the concepts of multiple literacies. But such a broad understanding of the complicated ideas seems like a cop out to some other teachers I’ve talked with.

A few months ago I began thinking about the earliest books I remember reading and the first librarian I remember. The librarian was an older gentleman named Paige Ellisor. One book in particular stands out in my memory as a favorite. I recently began searching for a copy of that book, to read it again after over thirty years, and to try and see why I found it so memorable.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with my friend Patrick, who is also a librarian. We were catching up about our summer activities and plans for the school year, and in the course of the conversation, he asked about my mother. She's a teacher in Arizona, where they start back to school in mid-August (so much earlier than the NYC kids, who are just getting back today!) so I shared some funny stories she had been telling me about her first few weeks of first grade. If you're at all familiar with the comically literal tendencies of Amelia Bedelia, just multiply that by 25 and that seems to be the situation for the first month in a first grade classroom.

It’s that time of the year. Kids sharpen their pencils, pick up the backpack, and head off to school. Here are a few tips to get your child ready for the new school year.

How many times do you hear students in your classroom or library say, “I can’t”? Doesn’t that phrase make you cringe? I always tell students, "Don’t say that because you can,” and help them figure out ways to reach their goals.

In their comprehensive and invaluable book, Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding and Engagement, Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis posit 8 tenets of good reading. 

Monday, June 21, 2010 HomeworkNYC presented “Meeting of the Minds: Youth, Social Media, and Education” a panel discussion with guest speaker danah boyd.

Summerreading.org has launched a great interactive website that allows everyone, young or old to participate in summer reading!

Since the 1890s libraries around the U.S. have encouraged readers to join summer reading programs.  The programs eventually developed similar practices where libraries distributed paper book logs to readers, to track their summer reading.  Readers would often receive small toys, stickers, school supplies, book bags or other small items as incentives for participating. 

SOMETHING NEW IN SUMMER READING 2010
At the end of summer 2009 NYPL set out to find ways that our online summer reading presence could give a bigger boost to our summer reading program. We conducted focus groups to see how we could capture the public’s interest online.  Our users were clear about what they wanted. They wanted gaming and social networking elements.  Logging-and-reviewing books was not enough.  They wanted fun!
We needed a major redesign of summerreading.org to make the fun happen.  Brooklyn Public and Queens Library, our partners in the project, were also in agreement. The fact that three separate large institutions agreed to 

Teaching Research skills to 6th graders was one of my more daunting tasks and one with which I struggled the most.  When I realized that my frustration level (why weren’t they getting this?) matched my students’ (Why is she making us do this?) I knew I was doing something, if not everything, wrong.

Leading with the Punchline

I’m going to lead with the punchline, which isn’t really to a joke -- more to a poignant, endearing story about student wisdom, and how much we can learn from listening. And the power of the Literature Circle.

Harlem Kids Add Their Voices: Keep Our Libraries Open!

Kids from the local school Promise Academy wrote these letters and more to voice their support for their local branch here on 124th street.   Our children's Librarian Leah Zilbergeld made this poster for everyone to see that kids love and need the library in their lives. 

Please don't shut down the library.  We need it to get our knowledge and people need computers because they print books and to go online to connect to an Internet!
 

Because if you shut down the library how will we read and survive and get new books and 

30% of a Given Class of Students is “Silent”

Imagine the alienation those 30%  of students in a given classroom must be feeling. One third of a class! Imagine too, the effect that has on your classroom instruction: you are missing out on those chances to get feedback, measure comprehension and make adjustments.