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La Biblioteca de Vallodolid
When I was a little girl, my grandfather, John F. Berrent, was a retired guidance counselor who worked as a substitute teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools. When the library was discarding its...
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A Thank You Letter from the Boston Police Department
I absolutely love receiving REAL mail. Mail that’s not advertising anything or informing me of my financial accounts. So, I got a little spark of excitement when I spotted a handwritten envelope in my...
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A Literary Surprise on a Tuesday Night
On Tuesday evening, my phone rang, and it was a number I did not recognize. I usually never pick up for unknown callers, but for some reason, I did. The voice on the other end asked,”Do you accept book...
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A Trip to the National Book Festival
On Saturday, my mom, my husband, and I visited the Library of Congress‘s National Book Festival, held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This post is a brief photoessay about our wonderful day at...
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Boston: Don’t Forget to Vote Today!
I am about to go to my local polling place right now. Tomorrow, any of my students who know the names of the candidates who will be running for mayor in the November election will receive candy. My...
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Shutdown 2013: Interview with a Government Librarian
Kara B. (a.k.a. Bollywood Blogger Filmi Girl) and I have been friends since we attended college together at Berklee back in the early part of the millennium. We were in several bands together, and we...
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Dines Family Book Club October Selection: Bad Land
Bad Land: An American Romance by Jonathan Rahan Ginger poses with Bad Land in the Dines Dining Room. My Review from My Goodreads.com Account This book mirrors the landscape it describes: slow,...
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I want YOU to travel to Greece this April!
In the Spring of 2012, I participated in an amazing program called The Examined Life: Greek Studies in Schools. There were two parts to the program. First, I participated in an online course which...
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Boston’s Mayoral Race 2013 Lesson Plan: Persuasive Campaign Posters
Dear Readers: In order for our students to participate in the historic 2013 election in Boston, I have created a Boston’s Mayoral Race Campaign Poster Lesson Plan that instructs students in how to...
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Middle School Students Accurately Predict Boston’s Next Mayor
Yesterday, students in Academy 2 at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School voted in a Mock Election. Prior to the election, students created campaign posters and completed Voter Registration forms....
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Teaching Is…
To celebration Teacher Appreciation Week, which takes place May 5th through May 9th, the Center for Teaching Quality is encouraging teachers to share their ideas about what teaching is via social...
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Guest Blogging for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
I am so very honored to be featured as a guest blogger for The Standard, the official blog of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Please click on the link below to read my thoughts...
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A Letter to My September 2013 Self: Talks with Teachers May Challenge Week #1
I am currently on medical leave from my job as I prepare for the arrival of my twin daughters. However, I have used some of my time on leave to investigate online resources for teaching, and I was...
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Embodying Literacy: Teaching Reading, Writing, and Public Speaking Through...
As a teacher of reading and writing, I have always required that the scholars in my classes use their eyes, ears, and conversational voices on a daily basis in my classroom. But why have I limited my...
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Goals for Summer: Talks with Teachers May Challenge Week #2
The theme for this week’s Talks with Teachers May Challenge is restoration, which is quite a natural fit for teachers approaching summer vacation. Our project for the week is to share a list of 10 or...
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Rise Out: A Professional Learning Community for Teens
Throughout this school year, my husband and I, both musicians and former members of several Boston-based bands, had the honor of mentoring Alex La Rosa, an 18-year-old songwriter and guitarist, through...
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Reading from the Very Start: Establishing a Literacy Routine with Newborns
My daughters Sofia and Francine were born on June 1st, but their interactions with reading began from early in my pregnancy. Since I am a middle school literacy teacher, the girls often heard me...
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Window “Stopping” for Poetry in Brookline Village
While strolling through Brookline Village this morning, my whole family stopped to admire an awesome display of poetry in the windows of The Children’s Book Shop. Typed poems are printed on large...
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Join Me in Reading for a Cause!
Dear Readers: This morning, via the Goodreads July newsletter, I learned of a very interesting initiative that involves two of my favorite things – reading and social justice. I invite you to join the...
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BPL’s Bibliocycle: The Intersection of Produce and Picture Books
Growing up in the suburbs of Baltimore in the 80′s and 90′s, I visited the local farm stand plenty of times. It was a wooden shack on the side of the road with an awning, vegetables, and fruits. There...
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