Library Salon #24 : Classroom conversations

Susan Stires taught writing, reading, language, and children’s literature courses at Bank Street College of Education. She was also a lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a staff developer in New York City schools, following 30 years as an elementary school teacher. Along with a book, With Promise, she is the author of numerous chapters and articles on working with young students for whom literacy is often compromised. In her retirement, she has been providing literacy support at Juniper Hill School for Place-Based Education, which was founded by her daughter, Anne Stires, in 2010.

Mollie Welsh Kruger taught second grade in a Harlem public school for 18 years and five years prior in a Tremont parochial early childhood classroom. Both positions offered insights across cultural experiences and led Mollie to understandings of culturally sustaining pedagogies. While teaching elementary school, professional development opportunities included learning experiences that incorporated art into academic learning and explored the workshop model of writing and reading, which fold into her work at Bank Street. Mollie’s academic interests include children’s literature, students’ funds of knowledge, the Arts in education, and urban education. Currently, she serves as co-chair of the Bank Street College Children’s Book Committee.

Susie Rolander began her teaching life in Sonoma County, CA. She thoroughly enjoyed teaching for eight years in an underprivileged school where 20 different languages were spoken. She taught kindergarten in Spanish in a dual-language program. After her move to New York City, she enrolled in the Bank Street Graduate School of Education to study literacy. For the last 10 years, she has supported learners from grades K–5 at P.S. 234 in downtown Manhattan. Susie became an avid reader later in life and has a passion for sharing this love of books with both children and adults.

Facilitating Conversations on Difficult Topics in the Classroom: Teachers' Stories of Opening Spaces Using Children's Literature

Facilitating Conversations on Difficult
Topics in the Classroom:
Teachers' Stories of Opening Spaces Using
Children's Literature