Making a Difference through Book-of-the-Month

Mrs. Phillips reads the
book-of-the-month to the faculty.

When people ask about why Chets Creek is what it is, I know that it is our school culture and results that they are asking about.  Building culture was by intentional  design from the very first vision of the school.  It was the starting point for everything that followed and is partially responsible for the incredible results we have gotten over the years.  Part of that culture building included the design for professional development.  Over the years professional development has taken many different forms.  Some designs have endured over time and continue to bring us together for collegial work.  Those are the ones I am highlighting through this series of blogs about professional development that makes a difference.

Teachers follow along as Principal Phillips

reads the book-of-the-month.

Book-of-the-Month -  The idea for Book-of-the-Month was to choose one children's book every month that could be shared with the faculty who would then share it with the students in their classrooms so that the entire school had a common text for discourse.  This sets the Principal up as the instructional leader for the school.  The Principal introduced the book to the faculty (and nobody can read a children's book better than Susan Phillips!) and then each teacher introduced it to her children.  This practice of introducing monthly books has been continuous through the past fifteen years at Chets Creek,  although it has taken many different forms.

Working in small groups

In the beginning, I think the principal chose books just because they were good books for children, and she was somehow drawn to each of them on a personal level. She chose the very first books to "motivate, encourage and inspire."  They were culture building books. Eventually part of the Principal's presentation each month was a "point paper" that included why she selected the book and ideas for how the book could be used.  Some years the books-of-the-month emphasized vocabulary strategies, writing and reading strategies.  These presentations of strategy work always included an activity to first demonstrate and then practice the strategy so that we felt like the students in the Principal's class.   Even in years when the emphasis has had more of a language arts slant, the Principal has tried to demonstrate principles that could be used across disciplines and across grade levels with the goal of engaging all teachers in the conversation.

Teachers working with book-of-the-month with Principal Phillips.

In the first years, the books were given to the teacher and they belonged to her but it didn't take many years for us to realize that as those books left the building with teachers that left, that we probably weren't being the best steward of our very limited resources.  Now the books go to each classroom and they remain in that classroom, which has helped to build a strong library in each room of good books that can be used as touchstone text. You can imagine how the libraries have built up over time with six to nine quality books added each year for 15 years!  These are books that the teacher knows well because she has studied them as books-of-the-month and that students know because they hear them and see them through the years.  It's easy for a teacher to pick up a BOM to make a point without having to read the entire book because the students are familiar with it.

It has not always been easy for the school to afford to buy books-of-the-month.  The fact that there have always been books each year, even though funds have been so limited, is a testament to the tenacity and creativity of Chets Creek Principals!  In fact, in years where there wasn't a book every month, it is most often due to cost.

Not only have the books been the linchpin for teaching many different strategies and ideas over the years, they have provided us with common ideas that have led to conversation across grade levels and across disciplines that strengthen our relationships which effects our results. It's all woven together.

I could talk about so many of the books that have made a deep and lasting impression on me but I will stick to just three examples so you can see the impact, at least  through my eyes.  I am sure, if asked, each teacher would have her own stories of favorite BOMs and books that have made a difference in her life and in her classroom.

One of our earliest Books-of-the-Month was  Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archembault.  This was not a book that was entirely new to me but not one that I had studied with much depth either. However, it was to become a book that would change many of my assumptions about studying books together with my peers.  Before presenting this book to the faculty, Dr. Stahlman asked the Leadership Team to read the book with the idea that we would discuss it at our following meeting,  (sort of a preview to the faculty presentation) so... I read this picture book about a small Native American boy and his grandfather.  I do not remember the specifics of our book talk at that next meeting but I will never forget the electricity in the room as we discussed what we had read and our interpretations.  I realized that I had missed much of the story including that one of the main characters was blind- which is a major point to understanding the text.  It was the first time that I really truly understood the power of a book talk and how conversations with my peers could change and deepen the way that I interpreted text.  That book talk changed the way that I taught and what I did with book talks in my classroom from that day on.

Several years later, Knots on a Counting Rope was integrated into the kindergarten homework during the month of November when kindergartners celebrate Pow Wow.  The young Native American boy was an Iroquois, one of the tribes that we study.  Teachers read the story aloud several times during the month (now that everyone had the book because it had been a Book-of-the-Month!) and explained to the children that the grandfather in the story had a rope and that he tired a knot in the rope each time he told the young boy a story. The rope represented time. Kinder teachers then sent home a length of rope with each child with information for the parents of how to find a reading of the book on-line. They asked the parents to tie a knot in their child's rope each time they told their own child a story about their family.  The children returned the lengths of rope at the end of the week and shared some of their family stories with each other and with the class. The fact that the work that was born out of this book has endured for 16 years is a testament to its original power as a book-of-the-month!

America's White Table by Margot Theis Raven is another book that made a lasting impression, not just on me but on an entire faculty and an entire school of children.  "America’s White Table is the story of a little known tradition outside the military of setting a remembrance table to honor the brave men and women who have served in our nation’s armed forces.  The white table has served as a solitary and solemn reminder of the sacrifices made to ensure our freedoms.  On Veteran’s Day Katie and her sisters are asked to set this special white table in honor of her uncle who served in the Vietnam War.  As the girls set the table their Mama explains the significance of each of the items and shares the story of their uncle’s captivity and escape."

As we walked into the presentation for America's White Table on Veteran's Day, the Media Center was completely dark except for a single spotlight in the ceiling that shone down on a small table with a white table cloth.  The ambiance completely quieted the teachers as they took seats in this theatre in the round.  As Principal Susan Phillips began to read this solemn story,  Media Specialist KK Cherney, dressed in black, began to add the symbols to the table.  As Susan closed the story and a bugle began to play Taps, I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. We are a school with many military families with many moms and dads and husbands deployed at any given time, but more than that we are patriots who understand sacrifice.  The faculty was so moved by this book that they asked Mrs. Phillips to present it to every grade level... and she did - to all 1300 students! In the years since that first reading in the week leading up to Veteran's Day the table is set in our lobby and on Veteran's Day Mrs. Phillips repeats the reading of this patriotic BOM for new teachers or anyone that would like to attend. As many times as I have heard this book and seen this powerful demonstration, it still brings tears to my eyes. What are we teaching?  We are teaching patriotism but we are also teaching the power of words to create emotion.

The final book is one of our newest books this year, Mr. Ferris and His Wheel by Kathryn Gibbs Davis that goes with our circus theme.  While I cannot know if it will have the staying power that other favorites have had, it made an explosive impact immediately on our work. With this book came the new strategy of sketch noting.  Sketch noting is an individualized visual technique for taking notes that brings a new meaning to "stop and jot" or "stop and sketch" or just general note taking and writing about reading. It requires you to synthesize so that you can represent an idea. We probably all do it when we take notes ourselves with arrows and asterisks and boxes around important information, but sketch noting encourages those types of organizational sketches and more that brings meaning to text and to our notes.  Many of the reading teachers were first introduced to sketch noting through Reading Council with a demonstration by Reading Coach Melanie Holtsman.  Their reaction was, "Why can't we teach content teachers to do this too. so we are all working together on this idea together?"  Thus was born a strategy that crossed grade levels and content areas and was the perfect BOM strategy.

Karen Meissner's first grade bulletin board featuring sketch noting to a readaloud.

As teachers bought into the idea of how sketch noting could help students organize and remember information, we saw blogs, and standard-based bulletin boards (like the kindergarten board above) and examples of student work shared all over the building such as the second grade examples below.

Second grade examples of sketch noting

This is the impact that so many strategies that have been demonstrated with books-of-the month have had on our work.

Sometimes the books-of-the-month make us feel - laugh or cry.  Sometimes the books help us understand a new concept or strategy through demonstration and practice, but always they give us a common vocabulary and text to discuss our thoughts and reflections.  Books-of-the-month as professional development lifts the level of our work and brings us together. How fortunate I have been to spend the last couple of decades learning with children's literature as the focus!

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!

Other People Who Inspire

I have written about the "stories" of people at Chets Creek who inspire me every day.  I am fortunate to be surrounded by incredible people whose lives impact my heart. I have still another group that have touched me and all of our school community is such special ways...

Liz works with families

Liz Duncan is a National Board Certified Special Education teacher at Chets Creek with a strong moral compass.  Even though she cares about teaching, she cares even more about doing the right thing for the children whose lives touch hers.  Her own personal mission collided with our school mission when several years ago our school recognized an under served population of children in our attendance area.  Our leadership team made a conscious decision to make a difference in the lives of the children in that specific area.  We met with the community's home  owners and agreed on a small space where we could offer tutoring free of service in the community.  Teachers volunteer their time for tutoring.  Of course, as we began to tutor we began to meet families every week bringing and picking up their kids. It didn't take long to realize that the need was so much more than tutoring.  We began to help with small projects (covering windows with plastic to keep out the cold, power washing homes, delivering food, looking for English classes for second language adults, providing clothes and household furniture and goods...), but it was soon evident that we needed a more comprehensive plan to meet the need.  Liz led our efforts and soon worked through church contacts (Beach Church and the Church of Eleven 22) to reach the McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation.  They agreed to become partners in funding a comprehensive program within that community. While that in and of itself is remarkable, it's not the end of the story.  It was just the beginning.

The MARC serves Chets students.

Soon it was evident that the program had grown into more than we had imagined and the Wilson Foundation was interested in using the model for city wide expansion.  We needed a teacher liaison to act as our school go-between to make this massive dream come true.  None of us knew if this would work or what a job like this would look like. What would it pay? Would the job have benefits? Could the county negotiate a contract with a non-profit? Even with all the uncertainty Liz was willing to step out in faith and say, "I'm willing. Use me."  Who does that?  Obviously someone who cares deeply and is so committed that she actively listened for the call and then acted.  Certainly, as expected, there have been bumps in the road as the program has grown and changed. but when I think of the children and families that have been helped, whose lives have been changed, it humbles me deeply.  Somewhere along the way Liz even opened her home to "angel baby," a child who needed a family that is with her still. The MARC (McKenzie Academic Resource Center) is an example of full service comprehension programming through a grass roots effort, the dream of a small group of educators to make a difference in the lives of the children that sit in their classrooms.  Liz so inspires me because she wasn't content to sit around and just talk about the need.  She stepped up. She saw the need, and she responded.

We wore purple t-shirts all year to support Miss Pat.

Miss Pat and Ralph Thomas are also part of our Chets family.  They inspire us all.  Ralph is a 70-year old custodian at Chets and is an Amazon of a man who affectionately high fives every kid he sees.  His wife, Miss Pat, is our head custodian.  They came to us after escaping the flooding of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.  They lost everything.  As if one tragedy in a lifetime isn't enough, last year Miss Pat was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer... What I expected was gloom and doom but what I saw was a woman with a smile and an extra skip in her step.  Even on her worst days, she was at school smiling and even dancing her way through the hallways. Check out the faculty's video to lift her spirits. We wroe purple shirts all year to honor Ms. Pat and to remind her to "let the good times roll!" She is now cancer free but she has taught me that when you have faith, nothing, and I do mean nothing, can really keep you down.  She knows that attitude is simply a choice you choose each day. The children (and adults!) in our building know her and love her and have her remarkable example to emulate.  I am so much better because I have watched Miss Pat live her daily life and face her trials with joyous faith and thansgiving.

Karen Morris is another of the remarkable people that call Chets Creek home.  She is a second grade, second career teacher who co-teaches with... her sister!  Together they are two of the most gracious women that I know.  They are always thoughtful and the first to volunteer if there is someone in need.  I have watched them with awe and learn from their example every day.  What I love about Karen is that she saw a need in our school and a way to meet the need and then did something about it.  As a teacher you can't help but notice when a child outgrows his clothes, when the pants are a little too high and the long sleeves barely cover the elbows, when clothes begin to fade and have rips and tears that go unmended.  You know when you have to glue the soles together of a child's tennis shoes that these are often signs that a family is stressed.  Maybe the crisis is temporary or maybe it is chronic, but nonetheless, the child is in need. He can't really learn while he is carrying such a heavy burden. As those things happen, teachers at our school, on a very regular basis go out and buy clothes for needy children or go through their own child's closet to find clothes that no longer fit or sometimes put the word out to other colleagues with kids about the same size.

2015 Clothes Drive at Chets Creek

But Karen decided to do more than just hit and miss.  Instead she decided to organize an annual clothes drive.  Children all grow out of their clothes and often the clothes are still in very good condition, so why not gather all those clothes together in an organized fashion and then redistribute the clothes, allowing families at Chets to come and get what they need? That's exactly what Karen began to do several years ago.  Once a year she organizes a week long clothes drive that ends with a Saturday shopping day.  Karen has corralled  a faithful group of friends and PTA volunteers to sort through all the donated clothes (no small task) and to be there on Saturday. On Saturday morning every table in our over-sized Dining Room is loaded with clothes, divided by size and gender.  There is even a section for household goods and books.  The line of those waiting is out the door!  What I love about Karen is that she didn't just see a problem, but she did something about it that has bettered the lives of so many.

I am sure in every school there are people like these who walk the talk, people who live their lives in such a way that you are somewhat in awe.  Don't get me wrong, they are not perfect people who have perfect lives, and they would be the first to tell you that, but they are people who choose to live their lives with integrity and in service to others.  Can we ask for better role models for our children?

Pow Wow Memories

Preschooler Courtney Timmons (Bogard)

My very first Pow Wow was with my daughter, Courtney, when she was a preschooler.  She and her sweet little friends sang songs around a paper campfire about "Indians" and prayed with thanksgiving for all their blessings. Parents were invited to join them for a feast that included a paper bag folded into the shape of a turkey.  When it was "carved," the children were delighted to see that it was stuffed with popcorn!

Preschoolers at Alimacni Elementary School

The very next year, in the inaugural year of Alimacani Elementary School, Courtney danced into the courtyard with her kindergarten tribe (led by Linda Zeiler) as  I led my own tribe of preschoolers to celebrate the first Alimacani Pow Wow. As I recall we honored Chief Alimacani at that celebration and each Pow Wow afterwards, as he had once walked on the very ground where the school and children  now stood.   I continued to celebrate Pow Wow with my preschoolers each year as Courtney marched through her years of elementary life.  She graduated to middle school and after a total of ten years, and ten memorable Pow Wows, I moved to Chets Creek... and so did the Pow Wow!

Pow Wow came to Chets Creek with that cute and perky Kindergarten Lead Teacher (surplussed from Alimacani to Chets Creek) Susan Phillips. Susan, Chief Jumping Frog (named after her collection of frogs during the Alimacani multi-track years when her kindergarten class "jumped" from class to class every three weeks!) now leads Chets Creek as its Principal. She brought Pow Wow with her to this new school of Creekers and thus began one of our most endearing traditions.

Chief Jumping Frog and Peaceful Waters

Of course, Creeker teachers weren't satisfied with the traditional generic Pow Wow and so at the insistence of a music teacher, Dan Smith, they began to research and develop more authentic tribes and attire, songs and dances.  In the midst of all that authenticity two of my favorite Native Americans emerged, my daughter-in-law and kindergarten teacher Randi Timmons of the Mighty Iroquois Nation and my sweet granddaughter, Kallyn, of the peaceful Lenape tribe. That's a very special memory!

Randi Timmons and Kallyn

Our beloved JB getting ready to raise the tepee.

What has evolved over the years is a crowning traditional event at Chets Creek that includes a study of traditional music and foods and even a tepee that rises like a phoenix on the eve of Pow Wow thanks to the genius of our beloved James Boyd and KK Cherney and all of her tribe of workers.  Each kinder tribe has the opportunity during the Pow Wow day to spend some time in the tepee with the master storyteller, Peaceful Waters (aka "Miss KK") as she weaves her story of the Three Sisters.  She then passes the "talking stick" and gives each child and adult the opportunity to tell the group why they are thankful.  There are always tears and it's usually an adult who is hit by the pure innocence and raw honesty of the children. One of the most special times for me is the opportunity at the end of the day for the Leadership Team to lay under the tepee and think about our own blessings - and they are many.

Leadership Team counting their blessings inside the tepee.

This year I will be watching Pow Wow with fifth graders who will have their own memories of being a kindergarten Native American to fill their minds as they hear the music and watch the excitement... and as they realize that this is the last Pow Wow that they will experience at Chets Creek.  Last year's K-1 class was my final year with a tribe of kindergarten First Americans - Wise Woman of the Mighty Iroquois Nation,

The Mighty Iroquois Nation

but the snapshots of Pow Wows will live with me forever in my memory.  And each year as we approach Thanksgiving, not only will I be counting my blessings but I will be thinking of the new crop of little kindergartners who will have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  After all that is what the Chets Creek experience is all about.

Speed Dating at School!

I don't know if you've ever done speed dating, but it's not something this married lady of over forty years has ever considered!  However... as the Leadership Team at Chets Creek pondered a fun way to help teachers get to know each other better (we are almost a hundred teachers strong!), Principal Susan Phillips came up with a novel approach to the problem.  She suggested an activity that resembles "speed dating," with more seasoned teachers on one side and newbie teachers on the other.  She gave each side four questions to start the conversations and then rotated every five minutes!  Oh my! Such a joyful hum of conversation sprinkled with bursts of laughter.  Such a fun way to get to know some new staff members!

The Principal even let us ask her questions to close.  She was really honest with her answers so I'm pretty sure lots of teachers learned things they didn't know about her - but... I'll never tell!

The Summer Slide

This summer I have a looping class which means that the children I taught in kindergarten will loop up with me to first grade. Although there is always some natural attrition- parents separate and divorce and move away, parents are transferred, families move back home- about two-thirds of the class end up staying for the second year. I've looped classes before and one of the things that I have seen over and over is what is now being described by Richard Allington as the "summer slide."  It's simple. Children that don't read over the summer most often fall back a reading level when they are tested at the beginning of the new school year and those that read regularly, often visiting the public library weekly, move ahead a level. As you can imagine, the students that fall back are often those that are already behind.

So this year our Leadership Team thought they'd try to do something about it. Reading Allington's research is all it really took to light a fire under this Team. . Before I knew it, our media specialist had met with the Scholastic rep and designed an online summer reading program. She met with teachers and encouraged them to get kids logging in the last week of school. Several of our children were on the computer logging in the minutes they had read that very night. Of course, as you might expect, the students that were first to log on are also the ones that are already ahead and whose families  already furnish a rich language experience in their daily lives.

The challenge has always been how to encourage the others. Fortunately this program offered handouts in Spanish which helped many of my second language learners understand the expectation.  It even provided a paper version that the students could hand in at the end of the summer for those that don't have computer access. We were fortunate to have the Principal's support so she has offered a "prize" to any student that logs in 1500 minutes during the summer. We have pushed summer school teachers at our school and the two camp leaders that meet at our school to become involved.

Now I need to take responsibility for inspiring my own students and keep them reading throughout the summer.  My goal is to have 100% of the students log in at least once during the summer or to bring me a list of minutes at the end of the summer - no small task. This week I sent a personal post card to every student who has already logged in to congratulate them on their summer reading.  I am hoping to start an exchange with those students to encourage them to not only read, but to write.

I sent a letter to those that haven't logged on yet, urging them to give the program a try and sending them their user name and password again and a log sheet just in case they haven't logged in because they don't have computer access.  Now this will be the third time I have sent this information on how to log in, but I figure if their parents keep seeing it, they might decide that it's important.  And besides most of these students (and their parents) will have to face me again in the fall! I don't know if this extra effort will really pay off but I certainly believe it will. In two weeks I will be sending encouraging emails - instead of using the postal service - and then two weeks after that I thought I'd start sending selfies of me reading at home, in the car, at the beach, to my grand kids, and every other way I can think to read.  I'd do a headstand while reading but I can't do a headstand! I  am hoping the children will begin to send me selfies back of them reading!  Can't wait to see if this eliminates the summer slide in my returning students!

Pow Wow 2013

One of my favorite Chets Creek traditions is Pow Wow because it reminds me of how far we've come.  We've moved from the days of a generic Native American celebration to studying tribes, their part of the country, their foods, clothes and traditions.  Pow Wow is a kindergarten performance with 5th grade woven into the day by their participation and the projects that they do, so that it is a circle activity bringing our children back to the beginning, full circle.

As first graders we are invited to watch the Pow Wow, remembering our days in the spotlight the year before.  When you're in the midst of it, you don't realize the pageantry, the beautiful colors as 200 kindergartners parade into the grounds and form tribal circles in their colorful native costumes.  I love the details, and the parents with their cameras and pride clicking away.  After the ceremony the kindergartners participate in centers for the rest of the day finishing up late in the afternoon.  One of the marvels of the day is a full sized tee pee that will seat an entire kindergarten class and the dynamic "Peaceful Waters" - our own Media Specialist, Miss KK.  KK enthralls everyone that enters the tee pee with her stories.  Of course, they are overwhelmed with just the idea of sitting inside this huge outside tent.  Then as she passes the "talking stick" and asks each child and adult tell the group what they are thankful for,  I am moved to tears every single time.  As the children leave, the Leadership Team and a few other adults lay down on the floor of the tee pee and just take a few minutes to enjoy the peace and quiet before the tee pee comes down at the end of the day.

I am always moved by this ritual.  I have worked in a dozen schools in three different states and I know that it's not like this at other places.  Not only have we designed the most fantastic learning experience for our children, we spend a few minutes reflecting and just enjoying the fruits of our labor.  I feel truly blessed to work in this very special place!

Do we overtest kids?

Recently our county mandated that the Guidance Counselor could no longer be in charge of testing.  So, as a Leadership Team, we began to talk about what the Testing Coordinator job for our very large school entailed and who in our school could pick up that responsibility.  Although I have known for some time that we are testing our children to death, I had no idea that 60 days of our Guidance Counselor's 180 school days involve TESTING - the county's three times a year benchmark testing in Reading, Math and Science to monitor our progress toward FCAT, the week and a half of actual FCAT testing, gifted screenings, annual testing of ELL students, annual testing for Music, Art, and PE, and the list goes on and on.  60 DAYS of testing! All mandated!

I certainly realize that Guidance Counselors should not shoulder this responsibility because they give up actual counselling and small groups to push paper, but I wonder just who in the school the county thinks has an extra 60 days to unpack, dispense, report, and pack up assessments!  Coaches are non-existent, at least at our school, which means we have already given up the professional development needed to make the testing and results really beneficial to instruction.  We gave them up with class size.  We don't have an Assistant Principal, even though we have over 1200 students, but even if we did, how could he spend 60 days with testing.  Should he just let the school's discipline wait while he packs and unpacks papers?  To think it could be a teacher, who this year added lunch supervision to her responsibilities and gave up all of her common planning and half her planning overall, is not even a consideration.  In a school this size, the testing for a single grade level can completely paper a small office.

Maybe the answer is to take a better look at the ridiculous amount of testing that we are doing in our state and in our county.  It is changing what teachers teach.  It is changing attitudes toward learning in our classrooms.  Children who once loved reading now dread it because we test everything that they read. They can't just read for the thrill of getting into the story of a good book.  Teachers are changing as they are forced to teach in a way that they don't believe is good for children. There are certainly teachers who are holding to their beliefs, but even they are getting beat down.  I do feel fortunate to be in a school where people still believe in the possibiities but as we are asked each year to do more with less, I begin to feel the edges get rough and in some cases begin to unravel, even in this Camelot...  We MUST make our thoughts known... before it is too late...

The ARC

Last Spring a dream came true for many of us that have been at Chets Creek for a long time. "The ARC" is located in the midst of a 1000 trailer park community in our attendance zone. Because there are so many families in such a small concentrated area it was a natural place for us to target. Working with the leadership of the community, our School Leadership Team worked to bring two hours of tutoring every day to the children in our school who live in that community. With leadership from our Media Specialist, KK Cherney and our Interventionist, Liz Duncan (both have been "Chets Creek Teachers of the Year" and are Nationally Board Certified), we have two small rooms in an office building that our teachers have transformed into an oasis. The leadership at the community donated five computers and our county donated another five. Teachers volunteer their time! I am fortunate to be able to go on Tuesdays for two hours. On that day I am joined by three other first grade teachers, Rebecca Roberts, Toni Chant and Maria Mallon and we serve about 15 first graders from the community. Many of them are second language students so we are lucky to have Toni who is fluent in Spanish to greet the parents and talk with them about whatever school problems that they might have. Since we have common first grade homework it is easy for us to work on the homework when children bring it in. We work on spelling words and sight words and have the children practice reading the comprehension passage that they will be tested on at the end of the week.

All of the children can spend some time on either a reading or math computer program. Often the children do not want to leave and a parent will sit down with a child and watch or help him on the computer past the hour tutoring. I have five students from my class who attend regularly. They are not all at-risk students. I am able to individualize what I do with them depending on their needs. I give them extra behavior points the next day for coming. Now other children in the classroom who do not live in the area are asking where the ARC is and how they can get to come!

 

This really is a labor of love for the teachers at our school. Our first grade colleagues who have young children, family responsibilities or classes, who are not able to volunteer, donate books and activities and more than that - encourage the children from their class to come spend time with us. They are supportive and appreciative of those of us who go to represent our grade level. This is simply a win-win all the way around!

March Madness

I'm not sure what "March Madness" means in your part of the world, but at Chets Creek it means that the Principal is coming for a read aloud. Susan Phillips does one of the best read alouds in the building. She was a kindergarten teacher and you can tell the moment she starts to read aloud. She dropped into my class to read the 2001 Chets Creek Book-of-the-month, Apple Batter, yesterday. Not only was the book a delightful story about perseverance that the children LOVED, but the Principal guided my students through a question and answer session to help them think deeper about the characters and the story line.

As a Leadership Team we have identified read aloud as the starting place to deepen our children's comprehension skills in our building. While we want children to think deeply so that they are ready for our state assessment beginning in third grade, comprehension is about so much more than the ability to answer tricky questions on a state assessment! We want our children to fall in love with stories. We want them to beg us to finish reading a story that we have started in class. We want them to sneak books home and read them under the covers after lights out. We want them to speed through breakfast so they can get to school and share the latest adventure with a friend that they read the night before. In other words, we just want them to leave elementary school in love with reading. We believe we can do this by talking about books and choosing books that make children emotional - whether the book makes them excited, happy, sad or boiling mad! That is why Mrs. Phillips is spending time with every single classroom of students. Besides, she really likes spending time with kids! It's one of her favorite things to do!

Listen to a piece of the story to see just what the Principal is doing during OUR March madness!

Join a Blog Challenge

At the end of last year our Leadership Team noticed that many of our blogging teachers had really stopped posting altogether or had posted fewer times as the year had gone along. What had started as a new, fun, creative idea the years before had begun to fizzle. Not only that, but while teachers had done a pretty good job of putting photographs up of the children in their classroom during big events, it seemed that they were missing the variety and deeper lessons that could be shared through blogging. I remember making the comment at that time that I wanted to send something to teachers every week when I returned to the classroom full time so it would give them some ideas of what to blog about. Of course, while my intention was good, as I returned to the classroom full time I got stuck in the quagmire of things that eat up a teacher's time. I haven't delivered on my intent. Our technology mentor, Melanie Holtsman, had heard that little seed of an idea and, as it so often happens, had let the idea germinate until she had a plan for how it could be implemented. One of the things that I love about our Leadership group is that someone can present a problem or even an idea of how we might do something better and someone else will pick up on it and run. So... Melanie has come up with a blogging challenge. Of course, she always thinks bigger than I do so she has opened it up to anyone that wants to take the challenge! To read all the details, check out her blog. As for me, watch for my blog each week to meet the challenge. You'll know it's a blogging challenge because it will be labeled fallblogchallenge2010.

How the Mighty Fall

One of the books that our Principal Susan Phillips read over the summer and discussed the first day of school was a Jim Collins' book, How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In. I've been a real Jim Collins' fan every since our Leadership Team studied Good to Great several years ago. Even though the book is a study of great companies, so much of the work seems applicable to a school setting. I think of all the books that our Leadership Team has studied, Good to Great is the one that we quote the most often. I couldn't wait to get my hands on How the Mighty Fall. While it is certainly a darker book than Good to Great, it gave me plenty of ideas to ponder.

One of the things that struck me about this book is how great companies began to fall when they moved away from their core values. That is not to say that companies didn't need to change with the times but it was those core values - for us returning again and again to risks, relationships and results - that have to remain at the center of decisions even when success floods the air we breath. I was amazed at how Collins described great companies that began to believe that they were too great and to become undisciplined. Even in the face of data that would indicate they were in trouble, they stood steadfast in their denial. They had the "we're just too great for that to be true" attitude. When I look at the success that we have had at Chets Creek I understand how that can happen. It would be easy to begin to believe that we are invincible and can do no wrong but it is at the cusp of that attitude that a fall can begin. We must always be willing to be brutally honest with ourselves and to listen openly to the criticism. It's too easy to ignore the criticism and just say that our teachers are spoiled and they just don't know what it's like in other places. That is an excuse. That is denial. That can be the beginning of a fall.

The other part of this book that grabbed me was Collin's discussion of the type of leaders that made the real difference. It was not the charismatic, dynamic innovator that comes in on the white horse to rescue the fall, but it was the home grown successor that had the company's DNA in his bones that was the hero. It was the humble leader that listened and did not get defensive that was able to make a difference. It was the one that wanted to create a company where workers could retire and be proud and encourage their children to follow them in their work, instead of the one that was looking for a step up to the next great job that made the difference - the kind of self-sacrificing leader that was willing to lay it all on the line simply to make a better place. When I think of Chets Creek from its charismatic founder, followed by a creative manager, I have to wonder how our next successor will be chosen. In the most successful companies, who were able to turn around adversity, that person came from within the company and was nurtured and trained for the job much like our founder groomed her replacement. Are we doing that now at Chets Creek? Do we have the next wave of leadership working to be ready when the time comes? And even if we have that next Leadership Team ready, will our District, who has the final decision, have the wisdom to value our forethought and planning? I guess... only time will tell...

Greater Than Yourslef

This year's Leadership book study is Greater Than Yourself by Steve Farber. In usual Farber-style the book is a parable that tells the story of a philosophy called GTY, Greater Than Yourself. It's a quick read. It reminded me a lot of Jim Collins' Level 5 Leader - the self actualized leader with self confidence so intact that he didn't have to claim credit for himself - the leader who easily gives up the limelight to build up others. GYT includes three tenets: Expand Yourself, Give Yourself and Replicate Yourself.

Expand Yourself reminded me of advice I used to give my daughter. You will attract the opposite sex when you stop thinking about who you will attract and concentrate instead on being a better you. It's being good in your own skin that's attractive. Farber insists that you need to continue to learn. In this step he suggests that you take inventory of what you do well and then choose someone to share your talents.

Give Yourself means to give to that project without expecting anything in return. Of course, he goes on to explain that you really do get lots in return. This step to me is all about relationships and being able to share with abandon - without worrying if it will make the other person looks better. It's the total philosophy at Chets that we are transparent and that we have a moral and ethical obligation to share what we are fortunate enough to learn. It's the difference in being at a school with teachers that collaborate to make the whole better instead of being with a group of teachers that complete because they have to be top dog. In that type of school, teachers don't share because they want to be better than the next person so they share none of their "secrets.". In a school like Chets, everyone shares because they want everyone to be better.

Finally, Replicate Yourself. Find and train your replacement. It's sort of the way you feel about your children. You so want them to out-achieve you.

There's really nothing about this philosophy that I don't believe and try to live. I guess it's just the idea of intentionally identifying a project that puts me off a little. It seems a little arrogant to decide that you are so good at something and then choose somebody that's not to "fix." I figure I've been Melanie Holtsman's GTY project for quite a while now. She knows so much more about technology than I do and she gives time to teaching me almost every single day and she certainly expects nothing in return! Who else could have gotten me to try Twitter and have me thinking about Facebook?!! I guess it's just the part about ever being better than she is at technology that has me rolling in the floor! Nevertheless, this is an interesting book and something to think about...

New Concept for Leadership Team

It's the Friday before the first day that teachers come back and I spent most of the day at school noodling around with our new concept for leadership. I was joined by 20 other teachers who took time from their last day off to come and meet!

Last year we continued a tradition at Chets Creek that has served us well with a Leadership Team that met once a week. The Team was led by the Principal and made up of the Standards Coach, Technologist, Media Specialist, Guidance Counselor and a handful of lead teachers. In previous years the Leadership Team had really been the engine that soared student achievement ahead. They were the brains - the guiding force - the group that dreamed the impossible dreams and then made them a reality. We debated issues and brainstormed possibilities. Nothing seemed impossible. While we continued that same workable formula last year, with many of the same dynamic people that had so inspired us in previous years, last year the formula just didn't work. Maybe we simply got stuck in a rut. People came to the table as usual, but without that sparkle that had been so characteristic in the past. Maybe we lost focus on our common mission or maybe the vision began to fog. I'm not really sure but the electricity in the room dwindled to a smooth, but lackluster current. We slowly evolved into a management team without the zest, depth and joy that had once characterized our meetings. The diversified leadership at Chets is not characterized by a single charismatic leader but about the synergy of the group and, in my opinion, the group simply lost its deep connection. Give us credit for realizing that we needed to make a change. Don't get me wrong. We had a great year. We are still an "A" school with our 4th graders leading the charge and making substantial gains on our state's test. We are only one of a small a handful of schools within our county that made AYP, but I think we realized that something just wasn't as good as it could be and we've never been satisfied with good when we know we can be great! We have always wanted more and expected more of ourselves than others may have believed was possible.

Jim Collins says that in order to go from good to great that you have to be brutally honest. It is only by admitting and realizing where you are, that you can really make changes. I think as a Leadership group we did that hard work and imagined something different for ourselves. So... this year we have added layers of professional learning/leadership groups that will inform and lead different parts of our work. We will divide and conquer. There is an Administrative Council that includes the Principal, Standards Coach, Technologist, Media Specialist, Literacy Coach, Behavior Specialist, and Guidance Counselor. This group will be our Management Team which will be assisted by our long standing Shared Decision Making Team made up of Team Leaders selected by each grade level but the real work of moving student achievement ahead will be done by three Curriculum Councils - Literacy, Math and Science. Each of the three groups will have a grade level representative. Each group will meet once a month and then the entire Council will meet on the fourth week. This is vertical articulation by subject that has been missing in the past. The hope is that we can use our time wisely in addressing the specific needs and dreams of each curriculum group.

Will this new alignment work? Will it help us reach that last 5% of kids so that we can truly reach 100%? I don't know. We organized at the end of last year and then met for the first time today. These groups include many people who have served on the Leadership Team for years but also many new people who will have to find their confidence and their voice to make a difference but it builds layers of leadership opportunities for many of the teachers who are ready for that responsibility at our very large school.

That's what I love about the beginning of school - new plans, new ideas, new alignments.