#BuildYourStack Event with NCTE and Dublin City Schools

On Saturday, NCTE and Dublin Schools partnered for a #BuildYourStack™ event for area teachers. It was a great morning --such good energy and so many good books! The day kicked off with Lynsey Burkins, chair of NCTE's Build Your Stack™ Committee talking a bit about Build Your Stack™, independent reading, and classroom libraries.  Gretchen Taylor spoke about the impact NCTE has had on her and then 6 teachers shared their go-to professional books in the quick, high energy BYS format.  There was time for visiting with friends, coffee and book shopping before the level-specific sessions began.

As part of the opening session, we learned about 6 professional books --go to books for these teachers. I was familiar with some of the books, but not all of them so I started to add a few books to my list right away during this opening session.  The books included were: Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby, A Novel Approach by Kate Roberts, 35 Dumb Things Well-Intended People Say: Surprising Things We Say That Widen the Diversity Gap by Maura Cullen, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond, The New Teacher Book by Linda Christensen, and Game Changers by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp.

The best thing about days like this is how people come together to make it happen.  So many people pulling together to create a great day of learning for teachers. Literacy coaches, teachers, administrators, NCTE staff and students all played a part in making the day what it was. So many people planning, sharing books, setting up, etc. We are lucky to have supportive administrators who helped with the planning and participated in the event.  The day was high energy and positive because so much happened behind the scenes with so many people committed to making this a what it was for participants.

The bulk of the morning was spent in level-specific sessions (elementary, middle, secondary) hearing about books that we might want to add to our classroom libraries. In a little over an hour, teachers heard about many books from teachers and students who loved them.  We were introduced to new books and new authors as we built our stack of to-be-read books.  And of course, there was books shopping! Beth from Selections was there with the best and newest books for our classroom libraries.

It was a great day of good learning, good friends and good books!  I am hoping (hint hint) that this group plans to do this annually.  It was such a great way to spend a Saturday morning in May! Thanks to NCTE and Dublin City Schools and all the people who contributed their time to make this happen.  To learn more about Build Your Stack™ and to read more blog posts by NCTE members that will help you build your summer reading stack, visit NCTE's Build Your Stack™ page and Build Your Stack™blog posts.  You can also follow the #BuildYourStack hashtag on social media,

And don't forget to look for the Build Your Stack™stage in the Exhibit Hall at NCTE19 (November in Baltimore)!  If you were there last year, you know that it was the place to be to learn about new books throughout convention!  Planning is underway for another year of great sessions to help you Build Your Stack™!