There’s a lot of conversation about which books students should be reading these days and how many—but too little, perhaps, about how to make their actual experiences with books in the classroom better.

Today’s guest is Kate Roberts, a former middle school ELA teacher who now works with teachers all over the country to strengthen the reading that takes place in their classrooms. This conversation goes a lot of places: considering the many paradoxes ELA teachers have to balance with books in their classrooms; discussing strategies and mindsets that can elevate those reading experiences; and imagining what a better vision of reading might be for this current moment.

To follow Kate’s work, the best place is https://www.kateandmaggie.com—and here are links to both of Kate’s books that were discussed in this episode:

* The Heart of Fiction: Reading for Character, Theme and Craft

* A Novel Approach: Whole-Class Novels, Student-Centered Teaching, and Choice

Thanks, as always, to Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; and Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, Garden.

* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com, and on Instagram @banduncivilized.

* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com, and on Instagram @djsynchro.

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