e.e. cummings and the Pen Ceremony

When I was in the second grade I was a shy kid with ponytails that sat in the back of the room. My second grade teacher was Mrs. Gilmore.  I was very quiet, very unsure of myself, but Mrs. Gilmore would  come by my desk often, lean close and whisper in my ear, "You can do this.  You just have to believe in yourself."

Mrs. Gilmore introduced my class that year to American poet e.e. cummings. He was famous because of his use of inventive punctuation and the lack of capital letters in traditional places.  Mrs. Gilmore's love for his poetry was contagious and so all of my classmates began to use Mr. Cummings as our writing mentor and adopted his style by writing our names in lowercase letters. During that year, under Mrs. Gilmore's tutelage, my self confidence grew as did my love for Mrs. Gilmore.  I began to believe in myself.

As we graduated to third grade, my friends reverted to writing their names in the traditional way but I continued to write my name in the top right hand corner with lowercase letters just to remind myself of Mrs. Gilmore's words.  Every time I wrote my name, I could feel her gentle hand on my shoulder and the whisper of her soft voice in my head encouraging me to believe in myself. When I went on to college I continued with lowercase letters because I had decided that I wanted to be a teacher, just like Mrs. Gilmore.  As my teaching career gathered in years, I continued writing my name in lowercase letters as a tribute to the dedicated teachers who mentored me and changed me along the way. Today... all these years later...  I still write my name in lowercase letters because I want to be a teacher like Mrs. Gilmore.  I want to inspire students like she once inspired me.  It reminds me that one teacher can change a child's life... because it happened to me.

Over the years I have told this story often when people have asked me why I sign my name in lowercase letters, so many of my colleagues know the story.  Today, much to my surprise, I walked into my last Chets Creek Book-of-the-Month and saw this beautiful painting by talented CCE artist Karen Willett of an e.e. cummings' quote. Our Principal, Susan Phillips, had chosen this month's book selection, Enourmous Smallness, by Matthew Burgess which is the story of e.e.cummings!  Karen's painting is taken from one of the book's illustrations.  The book is the story of Cumming's life from a small child into adulthood.   The book is filled with Cummings' unique poetry.  As Susan, the great storyteller, read the book to the assembled teachers, memories of Mrs. Gilmore reading poetry to us in second grade flooded my mind.  I was touched beyond belief.

When she finished, she laid two pens in front of me, a Chets Creek pen and a Chets Creek Church pen tied together with her trademark Clemson orange ribbon, representing a partnership that has meant so much to me over the years. It was then that I tearfully realized that this was a penning ceremony.   The Pen Ceremony is a fictitious ceremony created for the movie "A Beautiful Mind."  Historically university professors  have used pens to communicate their ideas to others. The giving of one's pen is a symbolic gift to the person being honored for recognition of their wisdom and contribution.  The only other time we have done a Pen Ceremony was when founding Principal Dr. Terri Stahlman left Chets Creek.

The faculty lined up silently and each presented me with a pen.  The pens were as varied and as significant as the teachers presenting them.  From the pen that screams "NO!" that I am suppose to use any time Susan calls to the beautiful engraved Waterford pen from KK Cherney (who couldn't even be there because her husband was having surgery) and the engraved pen from Suzanne Shall who came after everyone else had left (she is the Principal of her own school) with an engraved pen with my signature closing of "With great expectations."  Each and every pen will be cherished because of its significance and people that they represent.  To top it all off the gorgeous box that they gave me to keep the pens in is the very same box fashioned by master craftsman Doug Morgan (Deanna's husband) that we have used to hold all of our prayer requests and celebrations each week during our Monday Morning Prayer Group.  To say the tears flowed like a waterfall is an understatement.  I am not sure anyone ever deserves this kind of honor.

It is truly humbling for me to think that I have effected anyone else's life and believe it or not, it is difficult for me to stand in this type of limelight.  But former Alimacani Principal, Donna Hulsey, once said to me, "Get over yourself.  This is about so much more than you.  When a single teacher is honored, it honors all teachers and the entire teaching profession."  It reminds teachers of why they come to school everyday and why they give so much to so many.  It reminds each of us of the difference that one teacher can make in a child's life.

Today... I think Mrs. Gilmore would be pleased...    

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!

Making a MARC

Today I left the MARC for the last time. I will be retiring at the end of the week.  The MARC was the dream of a small group of educators to do something about a large neighborhood in our attendance area. We simply wanted to make a difference in the lives of the children in that under served geographic area.  We met with the administration of the community and worked out an agreement so that they would let us use a room in their Community Center and we would provide some volunteer tutoring.  Their hope was that the tutoring would hold families in a community that could be somewhat transient. As we got into the community of majority second language families, we realized that the needs were much greater than  mere tutoring.

At about the same time in 2010 a family in our larger community lost their precious daughter to a sudden illness, a beautiful blonde teenager with the heart of an angel.  It was devastating for the family but instead of drowning in their sorrow, they decided to create a living memorial to their faithful, spirited and talented daughter, establishing the McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation. Their mission was to honor McKenzie by inspiring and helping  young people find their purpose in a world of challenges.  Through church connections some of the teachers who had been volunteering at the MARC were put in touch with the Wilsons (Divine intervention?) Today the Foundation funds many diverse projects that all build on McKenzie's passion and honor her life by helping young people realize their full potential. The MARC (McKenzie Academic Resource Center), which now takes up the entire Community Center in our under served area is only one of the many projects that carries McKenzie's name and is proud to represent her faith and spirit. Because of the Foundation and Chets Creek's involvement,  the MARC today is involved in family life in a variety of ways - a preschool program, middle school and high school tutoring, a  weekly Saturday Sunday School-type program, Blessings in a Backpack and a multitude of other social service-type programs.  The Foundation pays for a full time school-to-Center Liaison.  The model has now been replicated in another school community in another part of town.

This year I have been tutoring on the day 4th-5th graders come. As I walked through the Center today, this is what I observed.

Small group Math turoing

A second language student who speaks no English working on
 a new language-based computer program, Imagine Learning,
also being piloted at the school. 

A computer lab where students can get extra practice in  iReady and Achieve 3000,
programs being offered at the school and for homework for extra practice.

Small reading strategy group

Individual tutoring

This is place that once was hardened soil but today nourishes a rich green garden of possibilities.  Seeds were planted that today have begun to bloom and the beautiful colors of McKenzie's butterflies swoop down to brighten every day.  Dreams have become reality.. and the best is yet to come...

Happy Birthday Chets Creek!

Chets Creek adds a candle for each year.
All 18 candles are displayed in the school's lobby.
This year's "The Greatest School on Earth" (right)
was painted by talented  Art teacher, Jen Snead.

Happy Birthday!  Today Chets Creek is 18 years old!    I was watching a video of years past in the lobby with a 5th grader this morning and he said, "Wow!  Do you know I wasn't even born then?"  It was quite sobering to think that every child we are educating today at the Creek wasn't born when the first group of children came over with "Mrs. Fizzle" from three different elementary schools to form that first class in the middle of the school year.  That first group of children are grown now and we have even had second generation children entering Chets Creek. Incredible!

Chets Creek began to build a reputation from those very first days.  I can remember however, that we had very few teachers interviewing at Chets in those early years.  There were rumors that we worked too hard, that teachers were required to work on Saturdays and Sundays, and that the Principal sat in the parking lot with a camera and checked cars coming in and out to make sure teachers came on time and didn't leave early!  Have no idea how those rumors got started but they were so ridiculous.  Instead we were busy building a learning community.  Teachers who didn't feel comfortable being transparent and opening their classroom to others generally self-selected out.  Soon test scores began to verify what we already knew - that something quite extraordinary was happening at this new school. Now we generally have teachers interviewing that say they really want to come to Chets as their first choice because of our reputation with on-going professional development.

Notice the detail in this year's candle
with a nod to the Principal's championship team,
 Clemson Tigers.

After five years the county promoted our founding Principal.  I'm sure people wondered if Chets would be able to maintain - was the school's success due to a single charismatic leader? Some internally may have wondered that too!  Thankfully the county promoted a teacher from within who was familiar with, and had had a pivotal role in, establishing the culture and community.  She was able to continue what had been started - business as usual - which is as hard as establishing the initial foundation. While many schools that opened around the same time that we did have had six, seven, even eight principals in these 18 years, we have had only two.  That stability has been our strength.

As test scores came in this year, Chets Creek ranked second in our large county (behind the gifted magnet) and 36st in the state, but what has been built here is so much more than test scores. We have established a true learning community where children, as well as adults, work together and lean on each other for support. Regardless of the winds of change, we have stood steadfast in what we believe is right for children.  Because we have always had strong test scores, thank goodness, we have been allowed much autonomy in charting our own course.

For 18 year Chets Creek has maintained a solid reputation as an outstanding school, inside and out. What a celebration!  Happy Birthday, Chets Creek.  Just as teacher leaders have continued to exceed the expectations, may they continue to rise to exceed the expectations for the next 18 years!

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!

"Miss Julie" - Sparkle and Shine

Haven't you always heard people say that they can tell a lot about a school when they walk through the door?  I didn't really believe that until I had the opportunity to travel all over the state and visit some of the finest schools in Florida.  Surprisingly, it is so true.  You can walk in the door and walk ten steps to the front office and you can feel the culture and character of a school.

Can you tell that Miss Julie loves pink?

At Chets Creek, it's "Miss Julie" (Julie Middleton) that greets visitors to our school in the front office and she is truly the sparkle and shine!  She represents all that I hope people feel when they walk into our school.  I love Miss Julie!  In fact, everyone loves Miss Julie. She always has a smile for everyone, laughs often and never seems to get ruffled. She's happy! Joy just oozes from of her pores.

Julie came to Chets Creek about 13 years ago when her second child, Jacob entered our school.  She volunteered to be a Room Mom and was quickly drafted to the PTA.  She was so active that it seemed that she was a full time employee almost from the beginning.  She assimilated into the busy hub of  Creek life as if she belonged here.  At Chets Creek, when you become that involved and are that good, you get a job offer.  Julie was a natural and so she was quickly offered the job at the front desk!  It takes someone very special to handle the busy-ness, the roller coaster of emotions, and the all  encompassing duties and details of the front desk.  Julie accepted (probably without knowing what she was really getting herself into!) and has been there every since!  I can't imagine walking into school in the mornings and not being greeted by Julie's warmth.  She looks at you and smiles... and any negativity or stress you might feel just melts away.

Julie with her other family

Being at the front counter in a school with 1300 students and about a hundred staff might be the most difficult job in the school, but you would think it was easy if you watched Julie. She handles it all - late arrivals and early dismissals, children that don't get picked up, taking temperatures, checking for head lice, soothing a crying child, dispensing all the medicine, handling all the substitutes and leave forms, dealing with angry parents and complaints, emergencies, enrolling new students, work orders, working hand-in-hand with the PTA, calling parents in difficult situations,... and I could go on and on.  She answers every question, even the really stupid questions without rolling her eyes, and usually with a genuine smile on her face. She knows the name of every child and which parents are attached to which child. If you want to know... anything, Julie is the person to ask.  It's not only that but Julie is the embodiment of "walking the talk" because she cares so deeply for children, for the faculty and for our Creek families. She develops relationships with them all.   It's not unusual for children to come in the mornings and stop to give Miss Julie a hug or for there to be children that she has taken a special interest in (usually because they are so very difficult and needy) that are "helping" her at her desk.  They each trust her and confide things they wouldn't tell another soul. Julie is just so easy to talk to about anything. She has her fingers in every single detail of Chets Creek.  I am sure every school has memorable people that color the fabric of their school, but Julie IS Chets Creek and really defines who we are, how people see us, and who I hope we will always be.

I asked Julie recently why she stays at Chets.  Her son is gone now - a college student - and she is so incredibly talented, she could certainly earn more money - much more money - doing something important somewhere else.  I wasn't surprised when she said that she stays because of the relationships she's made.  It's hard to explain but that's the thing about Chets Creek.  It seeps into your heart and becomes more than people at work who you care deeply about.  It becomes your extended family.

It's all about relationships!

Making a Difference through Book Studies

I am often asked what makes Chets Creek so special.  "Special" can be defined many ways but when I think about what is special, one of the things I think about is our professional development.

Book Studies - One of the things that has always set Chets apart is the way the administrators and teachers have embraced book study as one arm of professional development. The first school wide book study, Improving Schools from Within by Roland Barth, was completed  before the school even opened.   The school actually pulled students and faculty from three different elementary schools in the area.  In the fall preceding its opening in January, the faculty gathered together each week at one of the schools and began reading and studying Barth's ideas. Barth's book is a foundational "how to" book for administrators and teacher leaders on how to make a difference, a blueprint for school reform.  Barth sets up the steps for how to create change or how to lay the building blocks for a new foundation.  From his work emerged the foundational vision, mission and core values for Chets Creek Elementary that were to become the cornerstone for all that was to follow. As teachers left those meetings and talked about what they were doing, you could see the sparkle in their eyes.  They were inspired!  So, from the very beginning,  Chets was able to dream the impossible dream and then create the type of school culture that is rare in public schools but that was to become the hallmark of its success.    What an appropriate beginning!

The following year was my first year at Chets.  Like all new teachers at CCE, I was given Barth's book at my Chets' orientation.  I had already been teaching for nearly twenty years in seven different elementary schools in four different states, so I recognized immediately how different Barth's ideas were from anything I had ever experienced as a teacher.   For the first fifteen years, Dr. Stahlman and then Mrs. Phillips, started all new teachers at Chets with the gift of that book because they wanted new teachers to understand that they were stepping into a culture that thrived on collegiality.  They wanted the newbies to understand that they were walking into... a family... on a mission to make a difference in the lives of children.  As time went on, the book became unnecessary, because the culture itself provided the lessons.

By the next year, the county had adopted the America's Choice School Reform Design.  How much of the book study agenda in those first years was part of the America's Choice Design and how much of it was Dr. Stahlman is hard to tell.  The Design was based on state-of-the-art research, but its implementation was by a Principal who was innovative, creative and an out-of-the-box thinker, so while America's Choice may have laid the foundation, Dr. Stahlman took their ideas and ran.  Book Studies became a staple in the pantry of professional development ideas. Susan Phillips had carried that same torch as she took over the helm but has added her own torch of flaming red hair, fun and passion.

Lucy Calkins' The Art of Teaching Writing was the first book study that I remember during my first year at Chets.  The Leadership Team, or at least most of it, began meeting as soon as the book came out, with Dr. Stahlman facilitating the conversation and always asking the hard questions. We met at Starbucks and I'm pretty sure it was off the clock. Dr. Stahlman bought the books and gave them to each of the six to eight of us that were interested in meeting (a practice that continues to  this day - if you enroll in a book study, the book is a gift for you to keep and mark up as you like!) I had never had anyone give me a professional book!  I was in awe... and totally hooked on this community of learners!  We were all so anxious to get our hands on this new book and to start reading and studying.  We had so many questions.  As we began reading and meeting, our conversations were full of excitement, curiosity, and... how to embed these practices at Chets.  For me, this discourse about educational issues, reform and design with my colleagues was invigorating.  I couldn't stop my mind from bubbling over.  I could barely wait to share what I was learning through my reading. One of the added benefits of meeting together was that as we met, fellowshipped and shared our questions, fears and dreams,... we also became friends.  I  don't think we finished that entire book (it's a l-o-o-o-n-g book! ) but I do think we were all changed by that experience, because we realized that as we sat together and talked about the ideas of what we were reading, the learning deepened, questions were answered, the fog of misconception cleared and the impossible became possible. As we began to trust each other, we weren't afraid to show our vulnerabilities, confusions, and fears. We were able to argue, debate and we actually learned to listen.  It sounds so cliche now to think that the book study was an "aha" experience... but for me,  it was.

We knew immediately that we wanted to take that same book study experience to the teachers, so we offered an elective book study of that same book.  Dr. Stahlman purchased the books and  we set up a schedule to meet off the clock.  I think about 20 teachers signed up for that first elective book study.  This experience mirrored that first excitement.  We learned so much from each other. You could walk through the hallways and see the implementation of the ideas from the book study - workshop models,conferring,  peer review of writing, partner work, examples of writing everywhere... as those reading and working through the book took the lead.  As for me, going through the book a second time only enhanced my experience and helped me deepen my understanding.  My first time through was about "big picture," but the second time through was about the nuts and bolts.  Dr. Stahlman really wanted to reward those first teachers who took a risk, our early adopters, so instead of a final meeting, she surprised the group  with a half day substitute and had us take the group to a local Book Store with a $20 gift certificate for each teacher to pick out a few books for her classroom.  I don't know if it was the gift certificate or piling into cars and heading for the bookstore with a half day out of the classroom that was the most fun, but it was so unexpected and... thrilling!  Teachers were almost giddy with the suspense and excitement.  For me, I think it was just the idea of being appreciated that meant so much.

After those first experiences, book studies have continued in many different forms through the years.  Now we try really hard to make sure we offer book studies before, after and during school "on the clock" to show our respect for a teacher's time.  I guess we average about two-three book studies a year and have offered them in Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Technology, and Leadership.  Sometimes, grade levels have asked to study a book during their grade level time or sometimes Council Groups (which are vertical subject leadership groups) have requested to study a specific book during their scheduled time together. The Leadership Team selects a book to study every year.  Sometimes we all study the same or different books during our Early Release time.  The money has gotten much tighter over the years to buy books, but basically, if a group is willing to meet, read and work through a book, it is provided... somehow!  Time is also at a premium with so many new mandates, but we have stayed true to what we know works and teachers have continued to respond.  Below is a list of some of the books we have studied over the past few years.  This is not an exhaustive list, but as at look at it, I have to admit it is pretty impressive. It does give you an idea of how professional development has been spiced up by providing what teachers need and what they ask for over time.

Culture/Community Building 
Insidethe Magic Kingdom, Tom Connellan

The End of Molasses Classes, Ron Clark
Revved, Harry Paul & Ross Reck

How Full is Your Bucket, Tom Rath and Donald Clifton

Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles

FISH!  and FISH! Sticks, Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen

Who Moved My Cheese, Spencer Johnson

Leadership 
Improving Schools from Within, Roland Barth

Results Now, Mike Schmocker

Shaping School Culture, Terrance Deal

Standards for Our Schools, Marc Tucker and Judy Codding

Professional Learning Communities at Work, Richard DuFour
School Leadership That Works, Marzano

The Teaching Gap, Jim Stigler

Masterful Coaching, Robert Hargrove

Leverage Leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo

A WholeNew Mind, Daniel Pink

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell

TheDisney Way, Bill Capodagli & Lynn Jackson

The Radical Leap, Steve Farber

New Work Habits For A Radically Changing World, Price Pritchett

The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, John Maxwell

The Heart of a Leader, Ken Blanchard

Developing the Leaders Around You, John Maxwell

Good to Great and Great by Choice, Jim Collins
How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins

Mission Possible, Ken Blanchard and Terry Waghorn

Zebra’s and Cheetahs, Michael Burt and Colby Jubenville
Greater Than Yourself, Steve Farber

Shine, Larry Thompson

Blink, Malcom Gladwell

Mindset, Carol Dweck

Math
Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics, Li Ping Ma

Young Mathematicians at Work: Addition and Subtraction, Catherine Twomey Fosnot

Young Mathematicians at Work: Multiplication and Division, Catherine Twomey Fosnot

Young Mathematicians at Work: Fractions, Decimals and Percents, Catherine Twomey Fosnot

Teaching Mathematics Developmentally in the Elementary and Middle School Grades, Van de Walle

Number Talks, Sherry Parrish

Literacy 

First Grade Writers, Stephanie Parsons

Second Grade Writers, Stephanie Parsons

Craft Lessons – Teaching Writing, Ralph Fletcher

The Art of Teaching Writing, Lucy Calkins

The Art of Teaching Reading, Lucy Calkins

Mosaic of Thought, Ellin Keene

The Fluent Reader, Timothy Rasinski

Growing Readers, Kathy Collins

Classrooms that Work, They Can All Read and Write, Patricia Cunningham

Literature Circles and Response, Bonnie Campbell

Literature Circles Voice and Choice in the Student Centered Classroom, Harvey Daniels

Nonfiction Matters, Stephanie Harvey
Is That a Fact? Tony Stead

I Read It But I Don’t Get It, Chris Tovani

Guiding Readers and Writers, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell

When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do, Kylene Beers

About the Authors, Katie Wood Ray

Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction, Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown 
Creating Robust Vocabulary, Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown

Is That a Fact? Tony Stead

On Solid Ground, Sharon Taberski

Reading With Meaning, Debbie Miller

Words, Words, Words, Janet Allen
Words Their Way, Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton, Johnson

Wondrous Words, Katie Wood Ray

Strategies That Work: Teaching Comprehension to Enhance Understanding, Stephanie Harvey

Learning to Learn in a Second Language, Pauline Gibbons

Units of Study for Reading and Writing, Lucy Calkins

Fallingin Love with Close Reading, Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts

Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning, Pauline Gibbons

Pathways to the Common Core, Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth, Christopher Lehman
What Really Matters: Response to Invtervetion, Richard Allington

Science 
Understanding by Design, Jay McTighe, Grant Wiggins

Inquire Within:  Implementing Inquiry-Based Science Standards, Douglas Lewellyn

Primary Science: Taking the Plunge, Wayne Harlen

Inquiring into Inquiry Learning and Teaching in Science, Jim Minstrell
Nurturing Inquiry:  Real Science for the Elementary Classroom, Charles R. Pearce

Science Workshop:  Reading, Writing and Thinking Like a Scientist, Wendy Saul

Science for All Americans, F. James Rutherford

Active Assessment for Active Science:  A Guide for Elementary School Teachers, George Hein

Teaching Science with Interactive Notebooks, Kellie Marcarelli

Science Notebooks: Writing About Inquiry, Brain Campbell and Lori Fulton

Technology 
Web 2.0New Tools, New Schools Gwen Solomon & Lynne Schrum

Web Literacy for Educators Alan November

Integrating Literacy and Technology Susan Taffe & Carolyn Gwinn

Leading 21^st Century Schools, Lynne Schrum and Barbara Levin
Connected from the Start, Kathy Cassidy
 

Teachers meet together over the summer to work
on vocabulary activities after reading Bringing Words to Life.

The results of Book Studies have been profound.  For instance, after studying Beck and MeKeown's vocabulary work Bringing Words to Life, a group of six kindergarten teachers spent the summer writing vocabulary activities based on the book to be used with the read aloud stories they would read the following year to their children.  They continue to use these vocabulary activities today and now sell them on Teachers Pay Teachers as "Star Vocabulary" and donate the proceeds to the charity, Promise to Kate.

Another example - After the faculty studied Fish! the Principal opened the Chets Creek Crab Shack in Pike Place's Fish Market-style and served fried fish, gift certificates, laughter and fun to remind teachers in the middle of the year to "choose their attitude, play, make the students' day and to be present in the moment!" This became an annual event and is a much-anticipated stress reliever each year.  It reminds us about the joy every day in teaching!

Welcome to the Chets Creek Crab Shack!

And a final example - Several groups studied Richard Allingtons'  What Really Matters: Response to Intervention when we were trying to figure out the RtI process.  We were able to take the tangled, flawed system that was being imposed on us and to develop a better in-school system that made sense and that got results.  Understanding the research and how all the pieces fit together made a profound difference in our work and we were able to give the system what it mandated but to also really do what was best for our children.

I could go on and on about how different books have made a difference in our quality of life, our decisions, and our teaching at Chets, but you get the picture.  Ask any teacher at the Creek about her own experiences.  They are as individual and unique as the teachers themselves.

So why is this particular form of professional development so powerful?  I am sure there are professional lists of reasons, but these are the benefits that I see from my own personal experience.
1.  Book Studies introduce new knowledge and push learning.  Teachers learn from teachers and through dialog. Teachers teach each other, explore new ideas and noodle new possibilities when they have the time and a vehicle for spending time together.
2. Book Studies offer long term, embedded opportunities for practice.  Each teacher has a room full of children to practice and refine new ideas and if things don't work, a  teacher can always come back next week and share her experience and reflections - and ask for suggestions.
3.  Book Studies promote natural accountability.  If all the participants agree to try something, it's hard to just blow that off, when you continue to see and meet with those same folks!
4. Book Studies naturally help teachers develop collegiality.  After talking together and meeting in each other's rooms, teachers are more likely to visit each other when they have questions at other times, or are looking for someone to bounce off a new idea, or just need a stress reliever. Teachers begin to feel safe - to be risk takers.
5. Book studies offer teachers a way to form professional and personal relationships and friendships.  Teachers share both professional and personal ideas, problems and solutions that lead to conversations and relationships outside of the Book Study.

The biggest deterrent to Book Study is teacher apathy. All teachers have times in their lives when they simply cannot take on one more thing, which is understandable, but every teacher also needs to commit to times that they continue to develop their skills, not just by adding points for re-certification but by making a commitment to engage, learn and improve as a professional. When a teacher thinks they no longer need to learn, in my opinion,  it is time to leave the profession!  That's what Book Study offers - a relevant topic with people that will hold you accountable. If teachers are not signing up for book studies, there is a reason.  Examine the reasons before bashing teachers - maybe it's the presenter, the timing, the topic, crushing paperwork, too much going on...  It's not a teacher problem, it's a culture problem.

My advice for administrators and instructional leaders:
1. Buying the book for each  teacher to participate in a book study is a necessary perk.
2. Listening to what teachers want to study and balancing that with what you think they need to study is just plain common sense if you want engagement.
3. Model your expectations by being an often and enthusiastic participant in any book study.  Never go unprepared.  There's nothing that makes teachers perk up more than when the Principal becomes a learner in the trenches beside them!
4. Make sure teachers can earn re-certification points for doing the study. Unfortunately, it's a rather novel idea to have relevant work for professional development re-certification, so surprise them!   Make sure you do the paperwork to give the teacher maximum benefit for their efforts!
5.  Notice and praise implementation of book study ideas often!  Teachers, just like our students, never get tired of hearing what they are doing something right.

I feel very blessed to have had the experience of working at a school where book studies have always been available.  I have loved the idea of picking and choosing my own course of development.  After all, I do consider myself a professional and having the learning right here, so available, makes it easier for me to realize my personal goal of continuing to improve my practice.  I have learned so much from my colleagues and have grown to respect their time, talent and wisdom. There is nowhere I have learned more than right here with the people who are walking the talk.