Me: Do you have a class library?
Mrs. Walker: No. However, whenever I find an article related to math, such as a story about NASA's space missions, I bring it to class and read it to the students. The students always ask me, "Why do we need to know this?" and I tell them, "Because you need math for EVERYTHING!" In the case of the NASA article, I told them that scientists had to use math to calculate the rover landings on Mars.
Me: Does your school or do you designate a time for silent reading in the classroom? If so, how often and how long is this reading time?
Mrs. Walker: Our school doesn't have a designated "school-wide" reading time. I try to get the students to read as much as possible in the classroom (i.e. read problems aloud), since many of them are poor readers. I also have students practice TAKS test questions (word problems) during class. I usually give them two minutes to answer as many word problems as they can, so I guess you could call that a designated reading time.
Me: Do you have a class library? If so, approximately how many and what types of books does it have?
Mrs. Canuteson: I do not have a classroom library. I do have reference books for student use, but no supplemental reading material.
Me: Do you have a specific time for sustained silent (supplemental or textbook) reading in the classroom? If so, how often and how long is the reading time?
Mrs. Canuteson: On the Pre-AP level, I do not incorporate class time for silent reading. Sometimes in regular biology classes they do, but many times the students do not use that time wisely, so we rarely do that. It would be great to build into our syllabus time for classroom reading of an outside book. Maybe we can consider that for next year!