daring greatly {chapter 2}

You guys, I LOVE BRENE BROWN. Like admire her so much. I have all her books, have been reading her for years, and I'm so excited to share from Daring Greatly. It's a book I've read over and over and have bought over and over - because I lend them out and obviously it's amazing and so I don't get them back, but whatever! Everyone should have a copy!

Chapter two is all about debunking vulnerability mythes. There are four of them:

1. Vulnerability is a weakness.
2. I don't do vulnerability.
3. Vulnerability means letting it all hang out.
4. We can go it alone.

For the sake of brevity, I'm going to focus on the first, with some implications for teaching practice/living a great life. She begins with, "Vulnerability is a weakness." I love how in her research, she asked people what vulnerability is. Here are some of their responses:

• Asking for help
• Saying no
• Starting my own business
• Saying I love you first and not knowing if it will be reciprocated
• Hearing how much my son wants to make first chair in the orchestra and encouraging him while knowing that is's probably not going to happen
• The first date after my divorce
• Exercising in public, especially when I don't know what I'm doing and I'm out of shape
• Presenting my product/art/writing to the world and getting no response

Then she goes on to ask, "Do these sound like weakness?"

Because that's the thing. It feels vulnerable to do these things. But it looks like strength from the outside. She writes, "But there's no equation where taking risks, braving uncertainty, and opening ourselves up to emotional exposure equals weakness."

Then, in her research, she asked, "How does vulnerability feel?" Check out these responses:

• Not sucking it in anymore.
• It's where courage and fear meet.
• It feels so awkward and scary, but it makes me feel human and alive.
• Sweaty palms and a racing heart.
• Freedom and liberation.
• It feels like fear, every single time.
• Panic, anxiety, fear, and hysteria, followed by freedom, pride, and amazement - then a little more panic.
• Letting go of control.

And the answer that appeared over and over? Naked.

• Vulnerability is like being naked onstage and hoping for applause rather than laughter.
• It's being naked when everyone is fully clothed.
• It feels like the naked dream: You're in the airport and you're stark naked.

Brene writes how we love to see vulnerability in others, but want to mask ours. About the crux of the struggle, she writes,

"I want to experience your vulnerability but I don't want to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is courage in you and inadequacy in me. I'm drawn to your vulnerability but repelled by mine."

So what, how does this all play out in life? Like, in my life?

Let's start with teaching. Vulnerability is opening my classroom door to anyone who wants to come in. Vulnerability is telling my colleague or principals that I don't know how to do something. Vulnerability is telling the kiddo I just yelled at that I was wrong, and I'm sorry. Vulnerability is running a teaching Instagram and Twitter because I want to share my teaching life and connect with others, knowing some will look at it and think I'm full of myself. Vulnerability is letting others lead the way. Vulnerability is leaving a messy classroom and saying to myself, "there will be time tomorrow to clean this up." Vulnerability is going to my social worker, in tears about a student, saying I just don't understand their behavior, and listening as they remind me of how different disabilities play out in a classroom setting. Vulnerability is taking a mental health day. Vulnerability is running a reading and writing workshop, where the teacher has less "control." Vulnerability is moving on from a school that doesn't serve you anymore.  Vulnerability is confronting a colleague about a boundary they crossed.  Vulnerability is making your eighth grade students sit in a circle and share their highs and lows, appreciations, and plans for the weekend. Vulnerability is writing this blog post.

A little more personal? I'm 38 and single. Vulnerability is writing that, right there. We live in a society that shows us what I "should" be at this age, married, with kids. Except it hasn't played out that way for me, yet. Vulnerability is me telling you that I'm okay with that, because I have amazing friends and family in my life, and that I really enjoy my time alone, and that actually, in 2018 I met a bunch of cool guys, and that it just didn't work out for a various set of reasons. Vulnerability is me telling you that I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about it because I'd rather be focused on drawing good things into my life, that if I were to obsess over this silly little fact, I would only draw negative energy. (Vulnerability is me telling you that late 20's-early 30's I WAS all bent out of shape about it.) Vulnerability is me reminding myself, "Well, it only takes one right guy," and reiterating it to my best friends who are also my age and single that same is true for them. Vulnerability is me knowing that parts of this paragraph are justifying this little detail about my life, but I acknowledge that and yet, leave those details here anyways.

From a different angle? Vulnerability is doing the thing that many don't understand and/or approve of. Like, being a consultant with a Multi-Level Marketing Company. The one I love is Arbonne. Vulnerability is asking people every day, "Hey, has a friend told you about Arbonne?" knowing that many people laugh at me behind my back (or maybe even get at me about it to my face.)  Vulnerability is consistently putting myself out there in a way that many don't understand and most judge. Vulnerability is telling myself every day that it's okay to move forward with Arbonne, because although I can only see the first step of this journey, there's a huge staircase ahead of me that have the potential to yield amazing opportunities.

So why did I tell you all that stuff? Well, because this:

Because I want to live a life on fire. I want to feel loved and love on others. I want to create amazing possibilities in my future. I want my students to know that I don't know everything about life/ELA but I do love the hell out of them. Same for my colleagues and friends and family. Life is too short to hide. I'm not about that. It's scary, but I'm just going to let is all hang out.

This is a book EVERYONE should have on their shelf, and when you do, you can go on to read about the three other vulnerability myths, too. Tomorrow, check in with Sam about Chapter 3 of this book, Understanding and Combatting Shame.

And before you go, how have you been vulnerable in the past week? Or, how might you like to try and be vulnerable this week? Leave a comment and let's share the love!

Much love,

illinois reading council review

Just came home from the Illinois Reading Council Conference. It was awesome. If I had to sum it up in three words, I'd go with volume, relevance, and giggles. Here's the story...

Reading and writing volume matters
I read Readicide years and years ago, but this was the first time hearing Kelly Gallagher speak. He talked about how we need to repurpose our middle and high school classrooms away from 4 big novels and 4 big papers to something different so that kids are reading and writing in crazy quantities.

His schedule looks like this:
2 min     Book talks
10 min   Reading and Conferring
10 min   Daily writing to launch units
8 min     Mentor Text Study
20 min   Writing Workshop and Conferring
3 min     Debrief and sharing of beautiful words

This was so reaffirming to me. I try and emulate the experts - Gallagher and Penny Kittle (they are co-authoring a book together due out next November!) and so now I have some ideas to tweak my schedule further. If he can do this with 53 minutes, I can definitely get down to biz in 88!

Our district is awesome and sends so many people to IRC, so we had to get a picture with the Selfie Stick:

And then I had him sign my book and I got to sit down and talk to him a bit.

He is seriously such a great teacher, I feel so blessed to have met him!

Authors Speak: Jordan Sonneblick & Laurie Halse Anderson
I had never heard of Jordan and am now super excited to read one of his books. His session was so great - about how your kids who drive you bananas need you to be there for them, and you might even turn them into writers! Jordan spoke these beautiful words, "Your writing feedback needs to be anointing and appointing - writing is a person's soul on paper." So so true, we can't rip our kids to shreds when we look at their writing or go nuts with a red pen. Read for ideas first, hear your writers!

And Laurie Halse Anderson has amazing books, my favorites to date are Speak and Twisted, but I saw a new side of her this time with her historical Thriller Series, Chains, Forge, and Ashes. I had always wondered how she writes books so different - realistic fiction with Speak and Twisted in Young Adult about sexual violence and then historical thrillers centered around slavery, so it was great to hear her stories. What really stuck out to me was when she said something along the lines of "keep pushing to learn about white privilege" if you have been thinking about that lately. (I have.) The current state of our country goes way back, back even further than slavery, back to when people took land from Native Americans. We have a long road ahead to fix the difficulties we face here in 2016, but it can start with books and conversations.

Enchanted, yet again, by Ralph Fletcher
Ralph Fletcher has easily been one of the most impactful researcher-teachers on my career. I would not be who I am as far as a workshop stance without him. So to have him reaffirm what I already know as a writer - that children need to play with writing to develop not only a love for it but also to be effective at it was so wonderful to hear.

We have to make time in our writing workshops for students to have choice and voice, and when our writing workhops work, we are like a hot air balloon flying away with energy. Our students' writer's notebooks should be a playground and hot house for ideas!

So with all the mandates we have from outside our buildings and our state departments, let's remember to keep writing joyful for our students!

Kyleen Beers and Bob Probst
These two are quite comical and super smart, sharing about their books Notice and Note. These books focus on close reading strategies in both fiction and nonfiction. What I am walking away with her is relevance. We have to make the work we do with kids relevant, and one way to do that is through an awesome strategy called Possible Sentences and then using Notice and Wonder.

Next time you're going to read an article with your students, pick out 15 - 20 words and phrases from the article and list them. Have kids, in pairs, write possible sentences that could be in the text. Then, kids share their sentences and teacher scribes them on the board. Next, teacher asks kids to look at one sentence and wonder about it - what questions do you have? what do you wonder? Kids turn and talk and then share out.

These wonderings create relevance for our readers, big time. When we did this exercise, we all wanted to read the article afterward! This pre-reading strategy is so powerful for our readers, highly recommend.

More learning experiences
I heard a lot of other great sessions, too: about dyslexia, about content-area writing tips, CRAFTS, the hot new lit for Young Adult, and an awesome presentation from a great friend and colleague about blogging with kids. I can't wait to get my students going on blogs!

Hilarity
In addition to learning so much wonderful information that can be brought back to my classroom on Monday, it's just so fun to be around amazing friends from work. We laughed and had so much fun and geeked out taking selfies with our literacy celebrities. On the way home, we sang songs from Lion King and The Little Mermaid. Who does that? Which brings me to...

Gratitude
So many things to be thankful for:

• A district who gets that ongoing professional development is such a must for our teachers and kids; thank you for sending me to IRC and allowing me to continue my training so my students can continue theirs:

• Friendships built around selfie sticks and reading and writing workshop!

• Cute bags from the conference! (You guys: chevron!)

• "ELA Squad" t-shirts, that were the brainchild of a #D100chat one Tuesday evening. Thanks Cap!

• for teachers who teach with a firm, loving insistence so that our students become readers and writers who can powerfully interpret and interact in such world where news, advertisements, informatoin is usually skewed one way or another.

• for Twitter that allows us to stay connected and continue to learn from one another. Check out the #IRC2016 feed and my twitter feed for more! Let's grow our PLN!

Did you attend IRC? What did you take away?

do hard things.

I've been involved with our local teacher's union for the past two years. This year, I've stepped into the new role of Social Media Chair, so I'm excited to stay connected. Additionally, this year, our co-presidents asked me to give the welcome address to our membership. I said yes, because I knew it would push me. 

They asked me just a few days ago. On the drive home that day, I was thinking about how I could go back and decline, and I could sit in the audience and just be passive and not have to stress. But in my heart and my gut, I knew I wanted to give the speech. So I said to myself, "Okay, just wait and see how you feel in a few hours."

Well, I still felt the same, but I knew I had already said yes, and I've been working on doing what I say I'm going to do, to show integrity through my words and actions and not go back on something. So I just stuck with it. But I was nervous. Up until about noon on the day of (my speech was to be around 2:30) I was fine, I could set the nerves aside and just go about my buisiness. But then from around noon -2:30 (including when I did a practice read with a good friend) I was so nervous. Sweaty palms and racing heart nervous.

But then I got up there and did my thing. When you do the hard things, it's exhilarating. And it's rewarding.

I wanted to share my speech with you and also some of the tweets and texts I got, not because I am trying to brag, but because I want to encourage all of you to do the hard thing. Do them! If it's hard, it's making you grow, and when you do those hard things, you are rewarded in ways you can't imagine.

So, here is the speech, and after, the notes from friends.

Hi there! Welcome back to the 2016-2017 school year! My name is Michelle Brezek; I’m a teacher and Literacy Coach here at Heritage and the Social Media chair for the South Berwyn Education Association. On behalf of the SBEA, it’s such an honor to welcome both returning and new teachers and staff to our amazing school district!

As I was thinking about what I was going to say to you today, I got to thinking about who were are, that is, the teachers in D100. We are passionate and dedicated educators, innovators on a global stage, and sometimes school supply junkies. We are multicultural, bilingual and inclusive of all. We are writers and shoe-tiers, mentors, and coteachers. We are athletes and coaches. We are sometimes or always obsessed with our craft. We are nurses with cough drops and social workers listening ears. We are researchers and problem solvers. We are jokesters, too, we want to have fun! We believe that in teaching and learning, anything is possible, especially when you look at it a different way, perhaps with a different mindset. This year, we will create possibilities and a future that no one has yet to dream, and we’ll be able to do that because of the talent, excitement, and knowledge that returns to our district each year.

Which brings me to you, new teachers. It’s only the opening institute day, and so many of us have yet to meet one another, but I’m sure I can speak for all when I say we are so happy to have you here. We can’t wait to uncover the gifts you will bring to the lives of our students and everyone here in D100.

Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much.” I couldn’t agree more. As the year unfolds and our relationships grow, we will have so much to offer - to our students, to one another, to ourselves. It’s when we are united and working together that our efforts really flourish, with huge returns in student achievement and teacher engagement in the work we love so much.

In the spirit of collaboration and unity, I hope you’ll take me up on this proposal: Open your classroom doors this year. Invite your team over to watch you teach. Get into other classrooms in your building and around the district. I know that it’s easier to not do this, you know, because sub plans are just another thing to do, but I can promise you, you’ll come back to your classroom refreshed with new ideas, new perspectives, and new energy.

In addition to collaboration, dream those big dreams, but don’t stop there. Don’t save a hope or a dream in your head or your heart for one day, some day. Tell your friends about them! Write them down! Tweet it out to the world! It’s when we enroll others in our hopes and dreams that they become so powerful we’re able to manifest them into our lives and the lives of our students.

Let’s make this the year we are all open to something new. Let’s look at things in a new light and consider different perspectives. Let’s dream new possibilities, declare them to be true, and then take action to achieve them. Together we can make this our best year yet!

It's so not easy to do the hard thing. Colleen, thank you for capturing the moment for me and always being one of my biggest cheerleaders!

These friends are always in my corner, it's a big part of the reason I can say yes to the scary, hard things:

   

And two texts from two of the other Literacy Coaches in the district. Has anyone told you recently that they are proud of you? I mean, perhaps your parents have, and while that is amazing and rewarding, the feeling you get when a colleague or friend or even a significant other tells you that will blow your mind! And a request for your speech to be published? I am so thankful for such a supportive community here in my district!

It's a new school year. I'm in a new building - I'm back at the middle school! I'm teaching a 7th-8th grade ELA class and an 8th grade section of Challenge Based Learning. I'm also a homeroom teacher to some awesome 6th graders and have I have some coaching periods too.

I'm once again out of my comfort zone, working with new people and actually team leader, too, which I haven't done before, and I don't even realize the things I'm missing. But I'm doing the hard things, so I know I'm growing.

What are the hard things you're setting yourself up for this year?

Leave a comment and let's keep the conversation going!

One last thank you, to our keynote yesterday, Dave Stuart for an awesome speech, about writing, about teaching, and about keeping life in balance. "Do hard things" was all him, applied easily to my life, and I'm sure, all my reader's lives, too!

what teachers make with #d100bloggerpd

Good morning! The BigTime Blogging Challenge carries on and I am here today to write though about a topic different from the prompt. I'm so thankful to work in such a forward-thinking district where there are a bunch of teacher bloggers! We have all banded together to do some projects, including today's post which is one in a series of posts about Taylor Mali's book What Teachers Make. I bring you content and commentary on chapters seven, eight, and nine.

Surely you know of Taylor because of his classic spoken word poetry... and if not, you're in for a treat!

This went on to create a book that is subtitled In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World, and although I am slightly biased, I couldn't agree more!

Let's get to it!

Vignette 7: Keeping your eye out for the teachable moment
First, take a look at the poem that goes with this vignette:

So beautiful. Let me teach like the first snow falling. My, how I love that line. And so, when we launched this book study, we actually we so lucky to have a Twitter Chat with Taylor Mali, and I remembered this beautiful string of words, and mentioned it to him, but times-are-a-changing, and so is teaching:

As teachers, sometimes it is okay to be doing the mini-lesson, demonstrating for students, as we *are the best readers, writers, and mathematicians in the classroom. But even more important is to set students off to do that difficult work, to be patient problem solvers who don't get stuck, who persevere and learn through doing.

Yes, that's true, but all that aside, from a writer's eye and heart - Let me teach like the first snow falling - just exquisite.

Vignette 8: In praise of thoughtful uncertainty
Another poem to share with this little chapter:

You know when you read something and you just gloss over it, not really taking much away? I must have done that last time I read this chapter, because after going back and *rereading and *rewatching this poem, I love it more than I ever have, because it reminds us of our purpose in education.

Some people say that schools are meant to create compliant citizens, and I think, depending on the way that you're teaching, whether or not you are encouraging your students to question things, whether or not your students have choices and can direct their learning in some ways, whether or not the classroom is run by one teacher or by an entire class of students plus one teacher - I'm trapped in a run on sentence but what I'm trying to say is that classrooms where students have voice and choice are classrooms where students are being taught to be citizens who don't just fall for anything and speak with conviction of thoughts. I think we need to empower all our students to be engaged with and knowledgeable of their world, rather than just taking everything for fact.

Vignette 9: Encountering Genius
"Teachers shouldn't make the mistake of always thinking they are the smartest person in the room." Preach.
As a Literacy Coach, I always keep this front and center, because the teachers I am privileged to work with are so smart on so many different levels. Each person brings years of experiences, not just education related, but life related. And so it is for our students as well, that sometimes, like Taylor experienced, our students are just smarter than us, and their way of thinking is luminous and we should let them shine in their moment, to help the greater good of our classroom family.

If you like what you've read here, grab a copy of Taylor Mali's book What Teachers Make, and definitely watch all his spoken word poetry on You Tube. You can also check out a post I wrote a few years ago after I saw him here in Chicago. In this post, I shared my favorite five poems of his!

Be sure to stop back for the #d100bloggerPD next Tuesday for Theresa's review of chapters 10, 11, and 12.

And none of this would be possible without such inspiring work from Taylor Mali - Thank you for Twitter chatting with us and following our blog study!

Hey all y'all! It's the BigTime Blogging Challenge. I'm writing every day in July to celebrate my blog's three year anniversary! Join me - write your post, link it up with mine, leave some love for blogging friends in the form of comments!

BigTime Blogging Challenge friends, hope you enjoyed today's post and I'm looking forward to reading yours!

An InLinkz Link-up

currently april

I'm late, but it's go time! Thanks to Farley for hosting this partay!

Listening to Taylor Swift

'Cause, baby, I could build a castle
Out of all the bricks they threw at me
And every day is like a battle
But every night with us is like a dream

I'm in love with Taylor's new song. Looked for the Vevo to no avail, but check it out on iTunes!

Please take my hand and

Please take me dancing and

please leave me stranded

It's so romantic

Loving Spring Break
I've been on spring break this past week, had parents in town, was confirmed Catholic at an amazing church, have had time to just chill and relax, and will be going to Lake Geneva this weekend (went already) to the spa. The breaks we get were meant for teachers - we need to get away and have time to recoup so we can be our best selves at work. I am so thankful for this much-needed time to myself!

Thinking about my friends at Two Writing Teachers
Have you been to their blog? Well, in March, there's a writing challenge and everyone writes every day for the whole month. It was my third year participating, and this year, even more students and teachers joined from my school. Although I didn't write every day, I did half the time, and also welcomes a fresh new crop of teachers and students to the challenge. Then, yesterday as we ended, Kathleen Sokolowski wrote an awesome poem about her experience, and I've taken a stanza to share with you:

Here's to us. 
Who teach from a place

of authenticity,

Who don't require of students

what we won't try ourselves.

Who know writing isn't

really about rubrics and grades

but communicating and creating,

Who know writing is life-work.

Here's to us who've 

walked the walk 

each day

in March.

So so good. I know I write about a lot of nonsense here, but it's because I love writing so much, and want to walk the walk I expect my students to. (And also, the blogs I love the most are the blogs where I get to know the writer, personally!)

Wanting to go to the Outer Banks this summer
When I moved to Chicago in '09, I would occasionally see stickers on the backs of cars with "OBX" on them. I had no idea what this was. Fast forward to now, and I have a few friends there right now (last week) and another friend who goes every summer. I want to go there, where those little beach fences stand, and tall grasses grow beside them and blow in the wind, and waves crash on the shore. I actually want to go there with my writing friends and spend a week tanning and writing. So, who's in?

Yes, this.

Needing summer weather
Dear Chicago,
I'm over your moodiness. Snow then sun then cold and hail. Enough already. Spring, it's time for you to make your grand entrance!
Love, Michelle

Whatever: I'm moderating a Twitter Chat!
Are you guys on Twitter? Well, if you are, save the date: Tuesday, April 19th @ 8pm CST. Together with my AP, Jean Suchy, we will be moderating a discussion on Content Area Literacy! We tweet under the #D100chat, check out the feed and we have a twitter chat tonight, too. It's all about ELL strategies!

That's it! Much love, friends!

#hacklearning: the book nook

Problem: Kids aren't reading.
Hack: Flood your classroom and school with books via The Book Nook.

You've all heard the research - kids not reading or wanting to read is nothing new. We all know that studies show the lower the income level, the fewer books around - in student homes, and in many cases where school funding is based on property taxes, in schools too. How then, can we get kids reading if we don't have books?

The Hack: Create a Book Nook that gives free books to everyone.

Picture your favorite bookstore.... Comfy arm chairs, tables where you can work, and soft music playing in the background. And, the best part? You're surrounded by all the books you love - the picture books, the YA Lit, maybe some great books on ways to eat cleaner and some trashy gossip columns with our fave celebs on teh cover. There's a fireplace roaring in the corner, and they're serving up your favorite Peppermint Mocha.

This is a Book Nook, only in our school's version, the books are free to take... not to buy or to check out and return, but to take for as long as the students would like.

As a Literacy Coach who has experience in two different districts, and with two different philosophies, I can say that without a doubt, the schools that flood their campuses with books see students through to that Readerly Life that our Reading Worskhop idols describe to us. Perhaps your principals don't hand out $1500 in classroom books to every teacher on your campus (TY D100!), but that doesn't mean you can't get lots of books in the hands of all of the students in your class or school.

As they mentioned in the book, your first instinct might be to think that you don't have the space for A Book Nook. Don't go there just yet. Start in your classroom. Do you have bookshelves? Great! Let's work on getting more books on them.

All we have to do is curate a collection of books to put in use for students in your classroom or school. Have you tried these options?

• Reach out to your family and friends for donations to start.
• Utilize the power of facebook and search for groups in your city. For example, in my neighborhood of Chicago, there is a group called Bucktown Community News. Just two weeks ago I posted asking for donations for our Family Literacy Night, and got at least a dozen replies! For your Book Nook, post to your neighbors asking for donations of books. Barnes and Gonzales recommend that you don't get super specific - share grade level expectations, but then take everything. You can sort through and keep what you want, donate the rest! 
• Similar Idea: Post an ad on Craig's List.
• Check out yard sales, used book stores, and the public library.
• Write or call local businesses asking for donations - books that they have purchased for you or a check for teachers to purchase books they need. 
• Make it a homework assignment to your students: Find a book to donate to The Book Nook!

After you get a good collection of books to start, then begin to build your Book Nook. Barnes and Gonzales recommend creating a team, including students if you're in a middle or high school, to help manage this space and put in the work to keep things orderly and running smoothly. This team of students can reach out to the larger student body to help brand this Book Nook - maybe you want to call it your Little Lending Library or something else way more creative than that. Student input will build buy-in!

You'll need to find a space for this Book Nook, but think outside of the box! What school has an extra little nook around, unused? Not many, if I had to guess. So, think about large closets, or even a hallway that could be reimagined.

Barnes and Gonzales go on to describe full implementation in the chapter, and also how to overcome obstacles. Pick up a copy of their book if you love this idea as much as I do, and plus, you're going to learn about the other 9 hacks as well. Until then, get a preview of them by way of the #D100bloggerPD posts:

Introduction: Kristen

Hack 1: Meet Me in the Cloud - Marilyn

Hack 2: Pineapple Charts - Leah

Hack 3: Teacher Quiet Zones - Ginny

Hack 4: Track Records - Annie

Hack 5: Student Tech Gurus - Angela

Hack 6: Marigold Committees - Colleen

Hack 7: The In-Class Flip - Theresa

Hack 8: The Book Nook - Here and Now! :-)

Hack 9: The Glass Classroom - Kayla
Hack 10: The 360 Spreadsheet - Coming Soon!

Be sure to follow our blogging group on twitter, by searching our hashtag #D100BloggerPD. If you like what you've read here, follow my blog via facebook, Instagram, or Bloglovin!

And... check back next Monday for Kayla's post about Hack 9: The Glass Classroom.

Later, Hackers!

conflict & appreciation... a Move Your Bus book study

Hi everyone! Welcome back to BigTime Literacy for #D100BloggerPD's next post on Move Your Bus! The series is winding down now...getting close to the end. Today I'm here with a reflection on two chapters: 27 - Go right to the source when there is a problem and 28 - Show appreciation.

Chapter 27 is all about how when you have a problem with someone, you should go right to the source to hash it out, rather than burdening everyone around you with the problem. I'd like to take a different angle on the chapter:

During the past few years, I've learned this lesson over and over in my relationships - the relationship I had with my ex-boyfriend, the ones I have with my friends and family, and also with my colleagues.

What I mean by "accepting" something is this: let's say a situation happens that you do not like and would not want to happen again. Sometimes we just let it slide and hope it doesn't happen again, or accept it. While it's easier to deal with problems like this in the short term, this take on conflict can be problematic for a few reasons:

1. You have to carry around the stress of the situation, which might cause you to want to talk to another person about it (like Clark says, burden someone else on your staff with the problem).

2. By not confronting it, you send a message that the behavior or the situation or whatever happened is okay, which lets people believe that you don't have any boundaries as far as that is concerned, which makes it seem like it's okay to do...maybe even again.

I'm so lucky to have this great friend, one of my best, who taught me how to address conflict. Since meeting her, living with her, and teaching with her, I'm so much more direct with the things that bother me. And, I also prefer to address conflict in person, because via email, messages get confused and it may not be interpreted the way in which you mean.

So, I agree with Ron Clark - If you've got an issue with someone, go to them, talk to them. He suggests beginning with how it made you feel, and also leading with, "I respect you, and I wanted to come to you directly instead of mentioning this to anyone else" (p. 145).

And you know what the best part of this is? That once you've had the conversation, it's done. You feel relief (no matter how hard it was to initiate the conversation), there's no holding grudges, and no one has to wonder whether or not you're upset, because when you're a person who is direct with conflict, you let others know when there is an issue.

I am the kind of person who thinks about gratitude and appreciation naturally. It's always been important to me to tell my friends and family how thankful I am for them, and that has transferred to work as well. 

As Clark mentions in Move Your Bus, there are many ways that people feel appreciated. Have you ever read Gary Chapman's Five Love Languages? This chapter totally reminds me of that - how Ron Clark says that some staff would like a note or just a compliment on their work to feel appreciated, yet others might feel most appreciated by a gift of some sort. There are three other love languages, which have been adapted to a book called The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, but this is important information to have because we all feel most appreciated differently.

What I know for sure is this: While the salary a staff at a particular school district makes is important, people (myself included) will continue to work in a place that may not pay the highest wages if they feel appreciated by their colleagues and their supervisors. People like to come to work and feel good, and if that means $5K less than a district nearby, they will continue to come, because they know they are an important and valued member of the organization.

Well, that's all for me today. On Monday, be sure to check out my friend Annie's post over at her blog, Show Your Thinking. She'll wrap up the last two chapters, Enjoy the Ride, and the conclusion.

And be sure to come back next month, as the #D100BloggerPD group will be sharing about our new book: Hacking Education: 10 quick fixes for every school!

tribute to primary

This month, the #compelledtribe is sharing posts in tribute to a teacher of our choice. This prompt came at the perfect time, as a week or so ago, I had to help out with sub coverage in a first grade classroom. Today, I'd like to give tribute to all the primary teachers out there, who do such wonderful work each day!

I don't want to take anything away from intermediate, middle, and high school teachers - all of us work very hard to study and teach our content, build relationships with students, plan amazing lessons, and provide feedback to help our students grow. But have you ever spent a whole day in a primary classroom? More particularly, a kinder or a first grade classroom? Primary teaching isn't just singing songs and playing in centers. It's hard work that takes loads of planning, organization, and structure!

Primary teachers, you are a special bunch! Your students show up with a range of abilities in kinder and all grow in their learning in different ways. They are so small and can't really be independent for much time at all, so I'd like to recognize all the work that goes into planning engaging instruction for them.

Kinder and first grade teachers are the first official teachers (parents are first, #amIright?) of reading... very important work going on with this age range! In our literacy block, you teach your students to be independent with authentic activities so that you can be freed up to provide guided reading that meets each child's needs. You study and prepare lessons that are differentiated and really hit exactly what each child needs. You prepare word study within guided reading, and for explicit instruction of sight words. All of this is after you've  worked with books, and taken anecdotal notes on what the children can do. And all of that happens while the rest of your class works independently for 10-20 minutes at a time. Seriously, it's amazing work that you do!

Our Kinders are writing personal narratives, complete with pictures and labels, and making their way to sentences. Firsties are writing Teaching Books about all kinds of topics, books that are planned out in advance and polished beautifully. While their final drafts aren't perfect, each one is each child's best work, which will be added to a portfolio for reflection later. And don't forget about celebrations! Our writers always get to share their work with their peers, which really amps up their engagement!

And don't even get me started on math. I have no idea how you teach math conceptually children who are five and six, but you all know exactly how and deliver instruction to them in a meaningful way. Jamie Duncan, your passion and knowledge inspires me so much!

Not only all of this, but our Dual Language and Bilingual teachers do so in two languages as well! I know it takes time to plan and prepare for both languages, but building two languages is so important in recognizing the gifts that our students bring to our classrooms. Thank you for studying best practices and trying out new and modified ways of delivering instruction that will best support our learners. 

And academics aside, you do so much to support their social and emotional needs at this age - give them band-aids, wipe their tears, and tie their shoes. You use class pets for classroom management and give them a hug when they miss their parents. You help them learn the importance of taking turns, and sharing, and listening. You read them stories that they can "live through" so they can learn from them about compassion, empathy, and self-control. You build them up when they're down and also teach them important life lessons when they're not being their best selves. It's a short 9 months that you spend with your students, but your lessons and impressions are lasting.

It's February, a month celebrating love and friendship, and I simply adore the work you do each day. Thank you for your tireless dedication to our students...they are so lucky to have you!

Have you sent some love to a colleague lately? It's the perfect time to do so! Hit them up (I sound so middle school, don't I?) on Twitter, with a note in their mailbox, or a hug when you pass them in the hall. Lift others up, and your heart will be full along with them!

reinvigorated!

WRITE your story.

SHARE your link.

GIVE some love via comments.

Friends, I've been missing my blog but haven't exactly felt like writing lately. I don't know why - what's up with this slump? I checked my stats in January - only 4 posts. What is that? I think about writing all the time - and for my One Little Word, I even set my February goal to write a little bit every day. THe little card is on my fridge, so there's no reason why I wouldn't see it. (Hello, food? I see it like 25 times a day!) So what's my deal? 

Has it ever happened to you that you end up in the company of people who love the same things as you? Like, let's say you love Golden Doodles, and then you run into someone or a few people who have them? Like at a street fest? And then you get so happy and excited because here's another person who loves what you love? That's what happened to me today. Except with my teacher writer friends. My Writing Tribe, if you will :-)

It was in my first edcamp session, (teacher institute day today) I went to a session called Writing Collaboration. Wasn't sure what we were going to do, but that sounds awesome, right? I went with my little writing posse from my building (the three of us) and then we met up with about five other teachers and another Literacy Coach, Leah. And it was great to sit and talk writing for 30 minutes. We even came up with a hashtag for our district for us teacher writers:

And then, I met with the #D100BloggerCrew to plan our next jigsaw book study on our blogs. I finally put faces to names of all the bloggers I've been collaborating with on Twitter and our blogs, and it was so awesome. Loved meeting you Ginny, Theresa, and Angela...finally! :-)

And now I'm sitting in Starbucks. Mocha at my side, snow falling down outside, soft music and the whirl of the milk foaming machine behind me, and I couldn't be happier. I'm back.

So thank you - Thank you to Mary who tagged me on her Words Their Way post last night, and the Hiawatha Teacher Writers, and to the #D100BloggerCrew, and to Amanda and Bonnie who said yes to the Slice of Life challenge next month. (You too, Mary... Holding you to that!) Thank you all for brining me back to my writing life!

Any Tiger Bloggers writing tonight?

An InLinkz Link-up

Move your bus!

Hi everyone! So I'm really excited today to share about Move Your Bus by Ron Clark. Our district is an amazing place to be: we're very into social media and even have a #D100bloggerPD group - a bunch of teacher - bloggers sharing with our PLNs. Today I bring you chapters 8 - 10 of Move Your Bus!

I came to know Ron Clark like 10 years ago when The Essential 55 came out. I loved it - his ideas about teaching and learning and teaching kids to be good people were very inspiring. Now he's out with another equally amazing book that is more focused on the organization as a whole. He talks about how all the people in our schools operate under different personas: The Runners, Joggers, Walkers, Riders, and Drivers and how by knowing all of your people, you can accelerate your school (bus) towards success rapidly!

This post is going to cover:

Chapter 8: Say Hello

Chapter 9: Sit with the Runners

Chapter 10: Ask for Help

Let's get to it!

Say Hello
You know, it seems like a little thing, but saying hello makes such a big difference. To me, this is all about, as Ron Clark mentions, seeing the other people in the room. Everyone wants to know that they're seen, everyone wants to know that they're important. Saying hello when you first run into someone is such an easy and meaningful way to do so!

Starts with Hello!

Sit with the Runners
Have you ever thought that you are starting to look like your best friend or your significant other? Have you ever wondered that you were turning into the people you spend the most time with? Well that's the point in chapter 9 - Sit with the Runners. The Runners are identified as passionate, happy, driven people, so it only makes sense that we would want to sit with them. While being in their presence, we are naturally uplifted. The people we sit with, hang out with, spend our time with - those are the people who have influence over us!

This chapter reminds me of a blog post I read early in the school year - Find Your Marigolds. Colleen, that was you who shared that, or was it Miss G? Anyways, It's all about how when gardening, its helpful to plant Marigolds next to your other crops because they ward off pests and other harmful weeds. The same can be true in teaching - we have to find our Marigolds, those Runners, those teachers who inspire, motivate, and problem solve with us, rather than spend our time with others who might complain, resist change, and focus too much time and energy on the negative. Who is a runner in your life that uplifts you?


Ask for Help
"Sometimes it's great to ask for direction, for help, or for clarity. It's not seen as a weakness. Instead, it makes it clear that you care enough about a project or a task to be sure you get it right." Chew on those words a bit....it makes it clear that you care enough about a project or task to be sure you get it right. In chapter 10, Clark discusses how asking for help is actually a sign of strength, rather than weakness, which is what many people think.

When I began as a Literacy Coach a few years ago, I was new to elementary and primary reading. I could tell you tons of stuff about intermediate and middle school readers, but primary? No clue. I always went to our primary experts, and I still do when I want to bounce ideas or get feedback, or ask for clarification. Let it be known that doing this takes so much vulnerability, which makes it a strength, not a weakness.

So, what can we take away from these three chapters? Say hello to your colleagues. Sit with the Runners and naturally be uplifted! Ask for help when you need it - we all do our best when work together!

Be sure to stop by Theresa's blog, Learn Teach, Grow on Wednesday for our next post - she'll be sharing about chapters 11 and 12!