Bill Bowerman, the Oregon track coach who was one of the founders of Nike, borrowed his wife's waffle iron one morning.  He poured urethane on it, and the famous Nike waffle sole was born.  Anne Sullivan put Helen Keller's hand under water running from a well, and. . .well, you know the rest.
 
Next week at Choice Literacy workshops, I'll welcome everyone, and briefly tell the story of how I first met Joan Moser and Gail Boushey ("The Sisters").  We were introduced years ago at a dreary conference, in the dank concrete staging area behind a meeting room, sitting on cracked orange chairs.  We bonded over the difficulties in navigating that conference, and dreamed of events for teachers one day that were different.  I didn't realize it at the time, but in that moment Choice Literacy workshops were born.
 
The stories of how inspiration comes from small, mundane, and everyday events are powerful.  Branding experts call these "creation stories" - the vivid description of the instant when an idea, product, or community was conceived. The truth is there is a mix of truth and fiction in any good creation story.  Bill Bowerman had pondered the problems of traction and cushioned support in running shoes for years before grabbing that waffle iron; Helen Keller had bits of language and meaning locked inside of her from thousands of experiences that came together at that well (and likely fell apart many times after).  Creation stories are neat packages for messy learning experiences.
 
Students love creation stories - describing the flash of insight you had that made you remix your reading groups, or redo your classroom library to include more nonfiction.  The more you can capture the moment with the sights, smells, sounds, and actual words from conversations at the time, the more impact the tales have.  Students love most the creation stories where another student sparked a big change in a teacher.
 
The stories aren't really about reading groups or nonfiction or waffles or well water, or even how significant the transformation was.  Creation stories remind everyone to pay attention and be open to change, because we just never know when inspiration will hit.  And they fit in so well with how students learn.   As Eudora Welty wrote in her autobiography One Writer's Beginnings, "Childhood's learning is made up of moments.  It isn't steady: it's a pulse."
 
What creation stories will you share with students to launch the routines of your classroom?  What creation stories will you share with your colleagues to explain why your teacher study groups work so well, or the school library schedule is so unusual?  Every creation story is a reminder to be awake and aware of how much power we have to change or be changed by the world around us.   What a lovely way to start the year.

This week we've highlighted some terrific resources from the archives on building relationships with colleagues.  Plus more as always - enjoy!
 

Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy
 

 
Free for All

 
Are you planning orientation events and first meetings for literacy leaders in your school?  We're featuring a couple resources that are perfect for starting conversations about partnerships and mentoring:
 
Making the Partnership Work:  Goals for Mentor Teachers is a checklist of ten tips that will help mentors and apprentices map out potential strengths and problems in fledgling collaborations: 
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/133.cfm
 
A Tale of Two Coaches:  Eight Tips for Building Relationships with Colleagues by Shari Frost packs a punch, with a wealth of practical, humorous and succinct advice for anyone who wants to strengthen their coaching of colleagues:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/742.cfm
 
 
Are your classroom or school pledges for appropriate, respectful behavior becoming rote or quickly ignored by students once recited?  You might enjoy this article from Responsive Classroom.  Making It Real:  Re-Energizing a Behavior Pledge details a case study of a school that spent the first weeks of school focusing on components of the school's behavior pledge, with prompts for discussion used throughout the school:
 
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/newsletter/22_3nl_6.html
 
We hope you'll consider joining us this fall for a Choice Literacy Workshop.    The Choice Literacy Maine Workshops on October 16-17 at the beautiful Samoset Resort on the ocean will feature Jennifer Allen, Gail Boushey & Joan Moser ("The Sisters"), Clare Landrigan & Tammy Mulligan, and Franki Sibberson.  You can download more information and a registration flyer at this link (it's a two-page PDF file):
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/maine2010.pdf
 
 

For Members Only


One of the best ways to build a community of readers early in the year is to do a study of series books and characters together.  Katie DiCesare explains how she launches a series study with her primary students.  This is the first installment in a two-part series:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1220.cfm
 
Here's one of those "so easy, so good!" ideas that make you wonder why everyone doesn't try it.  Trish Prentice stays in touch with the parents of her kindergarten students through a brief daily email with bullet points explaining the day's schedule, and suggestions of classroom events for families to start conversations after school or at the dinner table.  Trish's format is simple and doable, and she even sends the initial email within an hour of the start of the first day of school:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1226.cfm

It's an ongoing challenge in schools with high turnover - how to help new students understand ongoing assignments and expectations.  The challenge is even greater in middle schools with high student loads for teachers.  In this week's video, Katie Doherty helps two new students in her sixth-grade classroom understand the "literary letters" task by using a student draft as a mentor text:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1228.cfm
 
Video Updates:  We continue to repost many videos in new formats and players (with higher resolution and full-screen options).  As we make these improvements, we'll announce them in the newsletter. Here is an updated video you may want to revisit as you set up your classrooms for the start of the school year -
 
Andrea Smith of Dublin, Ohio gives a tour of her fourth-grade classroom, with a focus on nonfiction and the care of unusual pets:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1227.cfm
 
 
That's all for this week!
 

Share this Article

del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Facebook  StumbleUpon  GoogleBookmark  Technorati  Furl

Related Articles

·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy July 17, 2010 Treasures and Junk ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy July 10, 2010 Read Alouds for the First Days of School ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy June 19, 2010 Passionate Learners ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy June 12, 2010 Back to the Beginning ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy June 5, 2010 True Senior Moments ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 29, 2010 What's Worth Saving and Savoring ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 22, 2010 Clever Teachers and Lucky Students ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 15, 2010 A Box of Friends ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 8, 2010 Your Name Here? ·  The Big Fresh from Choice Literacy May 1, 2010 The Place In Between