The Glue That Binds

As I have been reflecting this last month on my years at Chets Creek, I have written about so many of the people who have influenced my life at the Creek -  our Principal Susan Phillips and founding Principal Terri Stahlman, the magic of our Media Specialist KK Cherney, the sparkle and shine of Julie Middleton at our front desk, and some of the faculty that inspire me every day (Elizabeth Conte, Lori Linkous, Karen Morris, Liz Duncan, Lauren Skipper, and our head custodian Ms. Pat), because they don't just observe life, they choose to live the life they have been given with such a difference... but gosh, there are so many others.

Two of those that come to mind are Suzanne Shall and Lourdes Smith, who each in her own way has really provided the glue that keeps everything together. They are the supports that strengthen us and the ones that we turn to with our questions, when we are anxious, and when we are frustrated.  They are also the ones that we want to celebrate with when we've tried something new that works!  Suzanne, who had been our Assistant Principal, left Chets this year to be Principal at her own school (how fortunate are those teachers!) but her influence remains.  Lourdes is our Dean of Students and what these two have in common is their energy, commitment, and dedication.  They hit the road running the minute they walk in the school door. They work hard every minute of every day. They are often the last to leave as the sun goes down and too often with an armload of "stuff" that still has to be done.  They are both super organized and if they tell you they will do something, you can guarantee that it will be done.  If you ask a question, they respond immediately and, considering their jobs, that is miraculous.  They follow up and they do not hide from the difficult assignments. They both can see the big picture but are also just as engaged with the details.  They care about children and speak with parents with respect and ease, but they also really care about teachers.  They remember and hold on to, even though they are now administrators, what it was like to walk in the shoes of a teacher.  They hold teachers accountable for what is expected, but they are also the first to realize when too much is being asked. They both started as teachers at Chets, were both inclusion teachers, left for a while (Lourdes to have a family and Suzanne home to PA for a while to be closer to her family), but both returned to Chets and stepped into Administrative roles. They both have supportive nuclear families who love and adore them and put up with their need to do their job well.


Lourdes Smith clowning around.

It probably is no coincidence that both Suzanne and Lourdes took on the Presidency of Chets' PTA while they had their own little Creekers here.  I will never understand how it was possible for them to juggle the PTA, their administrative jobs and their family, but they did it with an ease and expertise that honestly, amazes me.  Of course, there have been days when each of them looked tired, when you knew they were working too hard and were beaten down, but they never seemed to complain.  There were times when they seemed to be carrying the weight of the world and yet they somehow persevered, as if they knew something the rest of us didn't. Don't get me wrong, they can also both be feisty and have a bold, angry outburst at injustice, but it is just the passion of their commitment, and it's always short lived.

In other ways Lourdes and Suzanne are complete opposites. Suzanne is a tall striking blonde and Lourdes is a petite Cuban who wears heels to be taller than most fifth graders.  Lourdes speaks both English and Spanish with ease.  She is a safe harbor for our Spanish speaking families and their children. I can't imagine what we would do without her.  She is as gifted at talking to the innocent kindergartner as she is to the savvy street-smart fifth grader.  She speaks her mind at the Leadership table, when asked. She's quick to celebrate others and to recognize those that take risks or those that are going "over and above."  Lourdes leads with passion and by example, solidifying relationships everywhere she goes.  She is loved and adored by our staff, by our families and by the children.

Family is a priority.

Suzanne reads to a group of children.

Suzanne on the other hand, rarely waits to be asked her opinion.  She always has a response and she doesn't mind sharing it.  She believes that people should do what they say and they appreciate knowing when they mess up.  Of course, it took her a while to learn that they don't really want to know!  I think she was surprised to learn that lots of folks would rather put on rose colored glasses and pretend everything is okay rather than face the brutal truth! However, she has figured that out now and never backs away from a difficult situation. She's smart. She's brave and she's fun to be around. The thing about Suzanne is that it is really difficult to hurt her feelings.  She is one of those very rare people that can take criticism at face value and not let it seep into her soul.  She recognizes it for what it is.  She hears it, evaluates it and then she jumps to solutions.  Suzanne synthesizes faster than anyone I know.  She usually doesn't mull over problems very long, but is quick to go about fixing them.  It's one of the things that teachers always loved about her.  Suzanne was

so very well respected by us all, but she left at the end of the year last year to run her own school. Not only is she a manager, but she is a teacher, an instructional leader. She left a gaping hole at our Leadership table. Most people thought she was irreplaceable.  However, as it always happens, Chets is full of people who have the potential to lead at that level but just haven't yet had the opportunity.  With her absence you can already see the hole beginning to slowly fill with people who have risen to the challenge and who now begin to fill her shoes.  For me, as much as I know she was ready for this new journey, she is missed as a learner, as an outspoken observer, and as a friend.

Family first.

The truth is that no large school runs successfully without people like Lourdes and Suzanne who really are the glue that binds everything together.  They are hard working and serious but they don't take themselves too seriously. They laugh easily and know how to live in each moment. They are on a mission to make a difference.  They touch teachers daily and they strengthen both the highest flyers, weakest links and all those in between.  They know that they need to stroke their high flyers as much as they need to touch base with the weakest link.  They realize that the weakest link simply needs more support and they make sure that the support is there.  They are the secret weapon in a large school.

A school like Chets Creek is really about the synergy of the whole.  No one person is able to produce results alone.  All of the pieces have to be there and they all have to fit together. It's the leader's role to make sure that happens. To be a great school is one thing but to maintain is something entirely different and as Jim Collins wrote in How the Mighty Fall, high flyers can't begin to believe their own press!  They have to continue to strive and to climb mountains and never stop at the plateaus.  So... here's to the many mountains still to climb!

Leadership

As I was cleaning out some cobwebs in my own mind, preparing for my final opportunity to express some things I want to say, I uncovered several thoughts that have been forming in my mind over the years.  Thoughts are like files.  Some I have been through and used extensively and some I file and never fully develop, so that seed of an idea just languishes in the file over the years, waiting... Now I'm shaking the dust off those seeds so that I can develop these final thoughts.

One thing that pops up again and again throughout the files in my head as I think about my school career, is leadership.  I guess the reason that it is such a recurring theme is because the foundation of a school rests on the leadership of that school.  A school fails or succeeds depending on the direction and guidance of the person in charge.  While in many schools that can be a team, the direction and the strength of successful schools is always equal to the strength of the single leader.
Three powerful leaders stand out for me in my last twenty or so years in Duval County.

The first, I found by accident.  I stayed home after my second child was born.  I just couldn't seem to balance the demands of being a new mom for the second time and the demands of my job, so... I made a choice.  I chose to be a full time mommy. It wasn't a choice that my husband and I planned for so the financial stress was real (the gain in my personal life was pretty real too!), but it was just one of those decisions in life you know in your core is right.  When Courtney was school age, I knew the time was right to return to work, but if I am honest, my heart was not in it.  I decided to go only to the school where my daughter would be entering kindergarten because I thought if she and I went to school together that I wouldn't have to leave a piece of my heart every time I walked out the door.  Alimacani Elementary, a brand new school, was our neighborhood school, so... I dropped off my resume.  They were very courteous but said, "Don't call us.  We'll call you." They were fully staffed for their inaugural year well before I considered returning to teaching...

With Donna Hulsey, circa 1992

I figured that was that, but God has a way of changing reality... and during the summer, I was offered a job at the last minute when a pregnant teacher of preschool handicapped children was ordered to bed rest.  So there I was - my first job in a long while - at my daughter's school.  My principal was Donna Hulsey.  I knew nothing about Mrs. Hulsey at the time, but I quickly found out that she was a rising superstar with a stellar reputation in Duval County. She was a true visionary who was charming and overflowed with charisma.  Teachers had flocked to interview with her and she had the opportunity to pick the very best. Donna  hired a corral of very high acievers to meet her very high expectations.  What an exciting opening and thrilling beginning... During the Hulsey years at Alimacani, the school won every award and became an icon in our county.  What was so inspirational about Donna was that she had such heart for children and she reminded me of all the reasons I had become a teacher in the first place.  She put me back in touch with my dreams, my personal mission and my desire to make a difference. She reminded me of the dedication, the commitment and the passion that was inside me. She modeled the patriotism that had always been a part of my heart and the professionalism that was a natural part of my makeup, She made me a better person as she was a role model for integrity, character, and class.

Interestingly enough she mentored the next inspiring leader that would enter my life, Dr. Terri Stahlman.  Dr. Stahlman founded Chets Creek Elementary, where I still teach today. When I could have rested and retired at Alimacani, she enticed me with an opportunity to join a young, energetic faculty and a school that had the most advanced professional development in our area. She was a creative, out-of-the-box thinker.  I'm a risk-taker so she became the perfect conduit to help me live beyond anything I had ever imagined I could be.  Terri is energetic, dreams big and has the charisma of a movie star.  She inspires with her words and her actions and is simply bigger than life.  She reacts quickly and fiercely.  She's irreverent, disarmingly direct and candid, and wrapped in a package of both vulnerability and strength at the same time.  In her six short years, Chets became a flagship for a new school reform.  She built a foundation and a philosophy that is as much a part of our story today as it was when she first shared her vision.  She is a true visionary.  She is the one that said to me, "We are blessed and when you are blessed, you have the moral and ethical responsibility to share what you learn."  It's a creed that I have lived by as a coach and as a teacher.  I still love being in Terri's company.  She makes me laugh and reminds me that even when life is sometimes filled with heartbreak, it can also be full of joy.

With  Dr. Terri Stahlman and Susan Phillips at the Eddy Awards, 2003.  I was introduced that night by precious kindergartners, Tanner Stahlman and Miller Phillps.  They stole the show!

And as the circle goes, Terri mentored the baby teacher who grew into the principalship  and has now been my leader for over a decade.  Susan Phillips is young enough to be my daughter.  We share a small South Carolina, somewhat redneck, heritage and the same name (her maiden name is Timmons) although we're not related - to our knowledge - although you never know in SC!  Susan took a high performing school... and maintained (sometimes harder that establishing excellence in the first place!)  She has always had an older and wiser soul beyond her years and even though she was one of the youngest principals in Duval County, her youth and energy were part of the excitement as the school founder passed the torch to this new generation leader.  In times of crisis, Susan has stepped up with honest emotion and creative thinking. She is quick, witty, has a phenomenal memory, is loyal to the end, would never divulge a confidence, and believes in having fun (she also likes weird music - I think it's a generational thing!)  While she may first have a knee-jerk reaction, she thinks before she acts and always responds thoughtfully... and she is rarely wrong.   She has guided us on a steady and sure course through five superintendents and dozens of new curriculum and initiatives without losing our way.  Things all around us have been politically, educationally volatile over the years (one year Susan had  five different direct supervisors!), but Chets Creek has stayed the course, fighting for the same tenets of rigor, relationships and results that were part of our founding principles.  Susan fights the good fight.  She cares deeply about the children (and families) in her care and the people that work in her building... and they all know it! As long as Susan is at the helm of Chets, it will continue its arrow straight mark of excellence.

Each of these women have made schools stronger because they have been at the helm.  They have been visionaries guided by a moral compass. I have never underestimated the power of the principal behind a successful school.  To have had three such inspirational women during my career is a gift beyond words and one that I cherish every day.  May they each continue to inspire and to show those of us who follow, the way.

It's the little things

When I walked into my room this morning on the first day of school, I had a list a mile long of all the last minutes things I needed to do before the kids came in.  As I unlocked my door I glanced over at the bulletin board that highlights our summer reading and noticed all of the rainbow touches for our Wizard of Oz theme. We had worked so hard to put it all together so the children would be excited today and feel like they were walking into a magical place.  As I turned on the light I noticed a hand written note on a pad of hot air balloons, a handmade container with a chocolate bar and a rainbow pen.  The fact that our Principal had taken the time to write a sweet note - just warmed my heart.  Over the weekend she had visited every single class and left every single teacher a note.  We're not a faulty of 20 - We have 70-ish faculty members!  That she would take the time after we had left for the weekend to visit each classroom and write a note - well that absolutely blows me away!

On the first day of school there is always a WOW - something to excite children and just make them want to come back again tomorrow.  The WOW is always related to our theme.  So today we were treated to watching a hot air balloon!  Can you believe it? When we went outside it was lying flat on the ground and we watched as they heated up the air and the balloon.  And the next thing you know, there is our Principal floating away with Dorothy - just like the Wizard!

What an amazing day it has been!  There really is no place like Chets!

Cart Girl Rides Again!

I am sure all schools have traditions that make them special, but one of my favorite traditions at the Creek is "cart girl."  Cart  Girl is usually the Principal or Vice Principal and sometimes a Coach who takes a grocery cart of snacks to each room during Teacher Planning at the most frantic time - for us, that's Thursday afternoon/ night - right before Friday Orientation for Parents and Students.  You're tired and hot.  You're frantic to get everything finished and in walks someone just to cheer you up. 

I will never forget my first experience at the Creek with someone actually bringing me a snack and asking how it was going and what I needed when I was just about to the point of exhaustion getting my room ready.  I remember thinking - Oh my gosh!  This school really cares about ME!

I know what it is like in the Front Office this week.  Parents are enrolling.  Most have just gotten their class assignments and all those that want a class change are calling.  There are hundreds of decisions to be made.  It is a madhouse up there! No Administrator has time to stop and check on how everyone is doing, but that is exactly what happens. I really do work in a magical place! 

Testing Rant

I have already ranted about the excess amount of testing in our county at the beginning of this school year for our youngest learners.  In our sixth week of school this year, our district finally revised its testing calendar and dropped the Science, Music, Art and PE pre and post tests that they had originally required of Kindergartners.  They also dropped the Reading, Math, and Science tests they had originally required at the end of each nine weeks and only required post tests in Reading in Math.  Hallelujah! However, they added  post tests for the computer programs we have been using... when we were able to get to the computer lab, as we worked around the computer testing program (we have one lab for 1300 students!)  To say this year was full of disorganized chaotic testing is an understatement.  The amount of hours of instruction lost to a ridiculous testing schedule is disgraceful.

Lucy Calkins made a statement about testing being the Titanic of the Common Core, and I think she is right. I'm not sure how testing got tied to the Common Core because there is nothing in our new standards that require the type of testing that is being done today.  Certainly we need to understand where our students are at any given time so that we know how and what to instruct, but it seems we've just gotten into testing, as if by simply testing students, they can improve!  We miss the point entirely.  Assessment completes the prescriptive cycle of identifying through assessment, writing a prescription, selecting the appropriate resources to instruct, instructing, and then assessing again to identify the new targets.  Testing without engaging appropriate instruction is simply wasteful. It's malpractice.

As I was leaving school this afternoon, I caught this picture outside the Test Administrator's Office.  Fifty-eight boxes were taped and labeled, ready to go to the District's Testing Office.  That's not the state required high stakes test that was given in the Spring but 58 boxes of required county tests given to our K-5 students at the end of the year.  These will be used for performance pay for teachers, eventually, although the inaccuracies are mind boggling.  I know that the intent is to move the county forward, but it just seems like the implementation has been boggled at every turn.  We were fortunate to have a Test Administrator who was able to shoulder the enormous time and responsibility of organizing the distribution and administration of such a massive testing schedule (I guess you could say her part time job was being the only Assistant Principal at our very large school!)  Her talent and perseverance were noticed and appreciated by all.

As for my school, we tried, as we always do, to carve a course through the mine field and to just keep doing what we know works.  We gave the assessments that we absolutely had to give, although it is difficult to trust the results of a new test - we were not able to depend on it for anything.  We did the best we could in a "red" school (meaning we do not have the technology infrastructure that we need to support the expectations of computerized testing) and tried to soothe the hysteria of high performing teachers  who often were on the verge of tears knowing how hard they had worked and how much they wanted to prove it. The principal continued to work on relationships and easing the stress and pain, instead of playing into the panic.  She continued to assure our faculty that if we continued to keep our eyes on our students, we would prevail... and we have.

With a population that is changing (our second language and free/reduced numbers continue to climb) our results continue to remain high (we had the highest writing scores in the county!)  Our teachers are collegial and continue to depend on each other.  We are not always in charge of our own fate, but we are in charge of our destiny. We continue to see through the fog into the eyes of the children.  Now that is leadership.

Silent Night

On a cold, wet night 400 miles from home I joined other families as they awkwardly approached the school patio of my granddaughter's school.  It was too dark to make out faces or expressions.  In the shadow of the school building, we gathered  for a candlelight vigil in support of the 26 lost in the Connecticut school shooting.  The young principal, about the age of my own children, opened with a few sentences and then turned it over  to a mom who said she just felt like she had to do something and had asked the Principal to hold the vigil.  Her husband's voice broke as he tried to express what was in each of our hearts.  We tried to light candles but the whipping wind snatched the glow quickly as each candle was lit, much like the lives of the 26 were snatched in the horror of gunfire last week.

Even as the candles extinguished we stood without leaving.  We wanted to leave... but just seemed glued to our spots, hoping to complete some sort of unfinished business that we couldn't even put into words.  Finally a parent suggested that we sing Silent Night. We did. The Principal suggested another moment of silence before we dispersed.  Even in the hard chill of the night it was hard to leave.  I think we had each come because we wanted to do more, but we just didn't know what to do.  We left slowly, heartbroken...

My life is surrounded by teachers - my peers, of course, but also my husband, son and daughter, my daughter-in-law, my sister, niece and nephew.  I can't even think about what it would have been like to get that call that any one of them would not be coming home.  I do not doubt that each of them would have protected the children in their care at all costs...  and my family would never have been the same.  My first grandchild attends public school.  It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about her in a building with gunfire, and I can't imagine losing her to such a senseless act of insanity.

I can't change the events of the past.  I don't really want to go to a school with metal detectors and bars on the windows, being afraid of every stranger that walks the hallway.  On the other hand, I want to do everything I can to make sure that the children are safe.  I don't know what the political debate will be or what it will bring, but I know that I must find my voice and advocate on the side of the children - always on the side of the children.  I plan to make sure that my children feel safe and protected and that they know I will be there for them, no matter what.  I plan to make sure parents know that I will protect their child and care about their child, in the same way that I know someone is protecting and caring for my own precious grandchild, so far away.  I have always believed that the children that step through my door come by Divine appointment, so I will continue to pray for God's guidance as I walk this path with my children.  I will rededicate my days to making, not only their academics stronger, but their minds stronger, so that they do not find themselves so desolate and mentally sick that they have a need to strike out - that they are strong enough to understand those that are suffering and reach out before the moment of despair.  And... in every step I take from this moment, I will always remember... the 26.

What's new in Kindergarten?

If you haven't already seen it, you need to check out Lucy Calkins' new curricular units for Readers' and Writer's Workshop which are correlated to the Common Core Standards  (which Kindergarten is suppose to be using this year in our county!)

Did I mention that they are an on-line resource and can be downloaded? For only $10 each? And they are grade specific? Amazing!  You can't see me, but I am dancing with delight!

Not only do the units incorporate all of the teaching that we have gleamed over the years from actually visiting Teachers' College for their Summer Institutes, but it also links together Lucy's Units of Study for Primary Writing, Fountas and Pinnell's Phonics Lessons and Baer's Words Their Way! As I have been reading the monthly units, I realize that at Chets Creek we will have to move into the first grade units before the end of the kindergarten year to account for the fact that Florida has universal Voluntary  Pre-kindergarten.  Our students are coming to us with more experiences so we can breeze through some of the earlier units more quickly, but this will be interesting work for our Reading Council this year.  This will become our Reading and Writing Pacing Guide.  Can't wait to see what each of the grade level Reading Leads think about this new resource.  If you get a chance, let me know what you think about the units.

The Assessment Period

This is our second week in school. We are busy assessing our first graders. In my classroom we have just finished giving the DRA2 so that we have a reading level for each child. The children chose books today for their individual reading bins - 6 that are "just right" books, 2 that are challenge bocks and 2 that are "easy cheesy" and will begin Monday taking one of the books home to read each night for homework. Tomorrow we will begin the state's F.A.I.R. testing that is on-line and will also begin some of our "home grown" assessment that includes additional testing in fluency, phonics and vocabulary. We have also completed our "home grown" Math Diagnostic which took several days of Math time. All this assessment will help us work with children exactly where they are so that we don't loose valuable instructional time.

As a school we are doing the same kind of assessment. Our Leadership Team has met each week and today our Curriculum Leadership Council (picture to the left) met for the first time this year, which includes a teacher representing each grade level in each academic discipline. We discussed roles and responsibilities and reviewed data from last year. We discussed the work to be done as we decide on our goals for our School Improvement Plan. It's a year full of hope and excitement. Looks like a good crop this year!

It's all about me!

I am getting ready to make a change - a big change. For the past 10 years I have split my day - spending half being a Special Education inclusion teacher and half a day as a Literacy Coach. When Dr. Terri Stahlman first designed this job to lure me to Chets Creek, I thought I was the luckiest teacher in the world - and I was! To be able to have a foot in the classroom and at the same time to have a foot in the professional development field was just too perfect. Over the years, I have sometimes felt like I was actually doing two full time jobs and that I was being pulled too thin in too many directions, but for the most part I have absolutely LOVED every minute of both jobs. I will always love my time in the classroom because I believe it is what I was called to do, but the chance to influence teachers and even to help direct the course of a school has been an unexpected thrill. I am also really proud of the teachers who over the years have chosen to walk this learning journey with me.

Ten years later, many things have intersected to change the direction of what I think I should be doing. The teachers who ten years ago were new and, oh so young, have now matured and are strong teachers in their own right, many who have unbelievable leadership ability. While I have tried to find opportunities for each of them to lead, many of them have now come to that place where they are ready to spread their wings - some of them are ready for much more than the few opportunities that I can arrange. Today Chets Creek attracts teachers who are risk takers, who are willing to think outside of the box and who are deep thinkers of our work. So many of these teachers are ready to lead in a substantial way and I sometimes feel like I am the stumbling block. With me standing in the doorway, it must be hard for them to ever imagine - to ever see beyond - to see that they will have their chance. It is time for me to step aside - you know that whole idea of training someone to be better than yourself - and let them use their skills in leading, training, and coaching. I'll always be there, of course, to support from the sidelines, but it is time for them to shine. They have been trained for a time such as this...

And so...I will not be in an official coaching role next year. Instead I have decided to return to my roots, to the classroom that has been the most satisfying part of my career. Next year I will be trying a new twist on an old idea -something different - something that I have never actually done before. I will be co-teaching in an inclusion classroom where I will also provide the Special Education services. The advantage will be the opportunity to stay with the same students for the entire day. Being a half time Special Education teacher always leaves me with the feeling that I need to do more. On most days, I leave feeling guilty that I have not done enough. However, I haven't been a full-time homeroom teacher for many, many years, and have never played the role of the homeroom teacher and the Special Education teacher at the same time... but there is something that just feels right about this.

Of course, I walk this new road with some fear and trepidation. I think it might be easier to simply sit on my reputation and regally wait for retirement! I think this truly is the road less traveled (and I figure there are probably plenty of reasons for that!) I will lose much of the flexibility that I have come to enjoy such as not having to find a substitute or write sub plans. While I totally enjoyed the control I had with having a class of my own, I didn't really miss much about being a homeroom teacher, except the control I had, when I became an inclusion teacher 13 years ago - such as having to keep a receipt book (they finally took mine away because they said I just didn't take it seriously enough!), and taking up money for everything from lunch, school pictures, tee-shirts to every fund-raiser in the world. I doubt I'll be very good at taking attendance on the computer by 10:00 each morning (I often get distracted with teaching!) and I was never able to get all the forms at the beginning of the year to the right people. Having watched other teachers struggle with the computerized grade book this year, I doubt that's something I will entirely celebrate and enjoy. I'm not much for making books out of pumpkins, designing wreaths, packing Spring baskets for the silent auction and all of the other homeroom-type expectations (although I've always loved the traditions as long as I didn't have to do them!), and I'm pretty boring in a skit! It's the thought of co-teaching with someone that I really like and who has a heart for children, especially those that struggle, that more than makes up for any anxieties that I may have about the homeroom role.

All in all, I think it will be a really good move for me. It's time. I guess I will have to prove once again that I can really teach or maybe I'm just proving that to myself! I do think I will feel more satisfied at the end of each day- knowing I have given all that I have and knowing that I'm making a difference. Having one of the lead roles in the classroom instead of a supporting role is much more responsibility but also much more satifying. I really think I will welcome each new day with a smile. I think I will laugh a whole lot more. And I think I will dance. The clout may be gone, but the heart will be pumping away and I guess that's what I've decided is really what I want it to be all about.