The Twelve Hour Day

At Chets Creek we do Standard Based Bulletin Boards which means that we present bulletin boards that follow a certain criteria. Each board includes a title, a task that describes what the lesson or string of lessons was about, the standard and four pieces of student work with commentary. The board is a window into instruction. The boards are not "fluff and stuff" so they take time and thought. Not only do you have to make sure that you have work ready for when the seven bulletin boards come due, but you have to design the aesthetics and write about the work which means you have to reflect on your practice. I had been working with my partner on our board for about a week - reading all of the writing folders in the class, helping students select their best work, having writing conferences with all the students (because even though only four papers will be on the board, all 22 will have their work displayed around the board for Open House), thinking about how to display the work, and writing the task and commentaries, but on the due day, everything had to come together. We started very early in the morning, but it took hours to get it right. As I was walking out of the building around 7 pm, the custodian passed me and said, "Yea, you can always tell when it's bulletin board day." Her reference, of course, was that teachers are always in the building late on that day. As I thought about how much my feet hurt after being on them all day, I couldn't help but wonder, is it worth it?

I have been a teacher for well over 30 years and yes, I think it is worth it. If we don't think about what we are doing and how the children are responding - if don't continually think about how to do it better - if we don't take the time to reflect and then act, then how can we continue to improve in our practice? How can we make a difference? Standard-based bulletin boards are just one of the ways that forces us to stop every now and then and reflect on our practice. It also forces us to look at student work. Below is my bulletin board and one of the amazing pieces of work that was completed during our four weeks of pattern books.

Moo-st Wonderful Writing

Who has big fat shoes?Daddy does! He has flip flop shoes.Who has pretty high heels?Mommy does. Her high heels make her look high.Who has click clack shoes?Sister does! Her shoes click and clack.Who has playing shoes?Me! Yes yes! Me!!!!! My shoes are just right!!!!

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...

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!

A Tour Around First Grade

I was roaming the halls this morning - walking through each first grade teacher's room, looking for things I thought you'd find interesting. I am sure I missed many things, but here is a peek inside some of our eight first grade classrooms as we begin the year.

What I have learned about teachers this year, being back in the thick of having a homeroom, is what I've always known. Teachers work really, really hard. Even after all these years I couldn't get my room ready in the 5 pre-planning days that the district pays me for, even though I basically knew what I wanted and where everything should go. It took nine days - long 8 'til 8 days - and even that didn't leave me with the feeling that I had done everything I needed to do. I was also reminded once again that teachers are grossly underpaid. While the District argues over teachers getting their promised pay increase (step), those of us at the top of the pay scale will get the same $500 that we got last year  and the year before and the year before which means no raise for us. Eventually I will get $200 discretionary money for starting my classroom although I already have spent over $800 on my new classroom in this new year. I am not sure that parents or even administrators appreciate what teachers do every day, just because they want to do what is best for the children that walk through their doors, and just because they really love what they do. Somehow no mater where I go or how many years I teach, I am always impressed with the teachers that I call my peers, and especially with those that have such a deep passion for their work - those that I call my friends...

Our First Day! Yee Haw!

It was an amazing day for the students returning to Chets Creek. KK Cherney, our Media Specialist, and her little elves have been at work all summer to pull off this farm-thrilling feat!

Our first day WOW for the children included many farm stations - petting farm animals, seeing tractors - old and new, planting seeds, tasting honey and seeing a self-contained bee hive, eating watermelons and spitting seeds, and listening to a story about Florida produce that came with a little singing. It was really a fun, fun day!

Classroom Makeover 4: The Final Reveal

Welcoming our new class is a bulletin borad outside the classroom. We welcome the children by writing something we know good about each child. This information comes from last year's teacher on a promotion form or if the student is new to the school, it comes from the parent registration information. The parents always stop to see what we have written. Each classroom K-5 has the same type of welcoming board outside their classroom. Welcome New Peeps!

We decided to put our behavior system one of the large bulletin boards at the front of our classroom. Our system was explained to parents at Orientation. The board at the top of the picture below is our chart for "Chicken Change." Below the title is a list of the children in the classroom. Each child can earn a tally mark any time during the day. The idea is to "catch them being good." Twenty tally marks at the end of the week earns the child a chance to go to the Treasure Box which is party favor treats, small candies, and Happy Mean-type treats, mostly sent in by parents. At the bottom of the bulletin board, each child has a library pocket. We can add a green clothespin if the child has to be warned about breaking a rule, a red clothespin and the loss of a privilege for a second offense in the same day and a note or call home for a third offense. The color clip is noted on the calendar on the back of each child's Home-School folder and is used at report card time to base a Behavior Grade.

 The area below is our Guided Reading area. Small groups meet with the teacher and use the leveled sets of readers on the shelf. The teachers' notebook or running records, notes and DRA2 forms are also found in this area. While all of the supplies are kept in this area, a second small group meets in the front of the room.

We always want to use every space. The peek into our closet in the next photo shows a small area where small groups of children meet with a teacher. They all sit on the floor. The floor has a carpet and also houses five tubs, one for each table, where children keep their backpacks and jackets.

Book-of-the-month is a Chets Creek tradition. The principal has already introduced the August-September book.

Everything is ready for the children. Later this week I will be snapping pictures in the eight first grade classrooms at Chets Chets so stay tuned...

Today we were "Cultivating...!"

Today it was back to school. I was so excited that I could hardly sleep. I was up early - probably earlier than I needed to be - but I love the first day back. I always have. Even when I was a teacher in SC and all the teachers in the county dressed in heels and their Sunday best to go listen to the Superintendent's speech, I have loved starting a new year. This year was no different. Our first grade teachers gathered together early in a classroom in their jeans and colored tee-shirts to match the animal that they would be. We chatted and laughed, added Popsicle sticks to our animal masks and practiced our irreverent skit, "Animals Gone Wild". Then it was off to the very farm-themed front lobby to meet and greet all the other grade levels. As we piled into the Dining Room with its farm-y festive decorations, some teams began going through the breakfast line while other teams went to have their pictures made.

Soon the Office and Administration in their rainbow colored overalls, led by the principal in her orange Clemson-colored farmer jeans opened with a Green Acres song and dance. Each grade level in turn presented their skit from Kindergarten's farm-related Nursery Rhymes to farmer charades to a take on a Miley Cyrus concert. WHAT FUN! Next the Principal reviewed our A grade -AYP status with new goals for performance. She also revisited our earliest founding mantra of results, risks and relationships. She brought us right back to those early days when we established so much of what has carried us through these last few years.

We also played games - lots of games. From watermelon seed spitting to three-legged races and building with Tinkertoys, the grade levels competed against each other for prizes... but the point of the activities is not necessarily to win (although that is nice too!) but to build relationships among the team members - to see how teams operate so that they are better able to solve the real problems they will face in the school year. Somewhere in between the games the newest members of Chets Creek were "hazed." Each year the newbies are asked to do something that will help initiate them into the Chets Creek family. This year they had eight minutes to make a pie and then had to find someone brave enough to try it. After they received thumbs up for their creations, they each raised their right hand and took Chets Creeks' irreverent oath, promising to work hard on becoming part of the CCE family.

The Principal ended the morning by reading to us our first farm Book-of-the Month, Otis by Loren Long - a loving, touching story about relationships.

The first day back, or "skit day" as many of the teachers call it, is a day that we all look forward to because it gives each of us a good reason to end summer and commit to the new year! Today was a very good day... the beginning of a very good year.

For more pictures of the day...