My husband Dave and I had our biggest belly laugh of the week when we were watching the news report Tuesday morning about the JetBlue attendant who got into an argument with a passenger.  In case you missed the story, apparently a passenger got out of her seat while the airplane was still taxiing.  The flight attendant told the woman to sit back down.  She refused, opened the overhead bin, and her luggage bonked the flight attendant on the head.  They swore at each other. After 20 years of the indignities of taking care of crabby, unreasonable customers, the guy had enough.  He hit a button to activate the emergency chute, grabbed a beer off his service cart, yelled a few choice words over the public address system, and slid off the plane into life as a folk hero for flight attendants.
 
(Okay, before I get 100 emails chiding me for making light of the incident, I realize this is a serious matter.  Someone on the ground could have been injured by the chute, air rage is a terrible thing, lawsuits will be filed. . .sorry.  Just had to take a break to crack up AGAIN at the image of this guy in his little blue uniform clutching his beer, whooshing down a huge yellow slide!)
 
People quit their jobs every day - sometimes with high drama, more often quietly with no fanfare.  But what made this incident so memorable was the guy's signature and flourish.  That chute unfurling ("See, I really do know about the safety features on this plane!") is the signature; and that lone can of beer ("Take that!") is the perfect flourish.
 
Classrooms and schools go from good to great to truly memorable when they have distinctive signatures and flourishes.  My most memorable teacher from elementary school was my fifth-grade teacher Mrs. Thompson.  Her signature every year was the amazing play we put on for the school and local community.  Her flourish?  She had many flourishes, but my favorite was the string of cartwheels she would do across the front of the room when we all aced a spelling test.  She was nearly 60 years old, trim in her little designer suits and pants, and those gymnastics were something to behold.
 
What's your classroom or school signature? When someone is asked to tell the one special thing you do in your classroom or school for readers and writers, what do they say?  There are all kinds of possibilities in literacy.  In some schools, you can ask any person (from a kindergartner to the custodian) what they are reading and they have an answer.   The schools that are most memorable have at least one signature event (a collaboration with seniors; harvesting the organic garden) and many flourishes.  Choice Literacy has professional video as a signature; unique gifts for members and conference attendees as a flourish.  A good test for a school signature or flourish is how common it is.  If almost every other school or classroom around is doing it, you're really not talking about a signature or flourish (or at least one that anyone will find memorable).
 
This week we have resources for building community early in the school year, plus more as always.  Enjoy!
 

Brenda Power
Editor, Choice Literacy

 
Free for All

 
One of my favorite blogs, Two Writing Teachers, has compiled a terrific round-up of their favorite practical back-to-school posts and suggestions:
 
http://bit.ly/bPd9l5
 
From the Choice Literacy Archives, some tips on boosting attendance at teacher study groups in your school:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/103.cfm
 
Choice Literacy Contributors Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek asked teachers to complete a cool task - listing the "10 Picture Books You Can't Live Without."  The "jog" through the web with the compiled lists is at this link:
 
http://bit.ly/951PLV
 
A hearty welcome to our newest Choice Literacy site license members from Bayport and Elmira, New York; Hillsboro, Oregon; Guntersville, Alabama; Wausau, Wisconsin; South Hadley, Massachusetts; Salem, Virginia; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Hulbert and Anadarko, Oklahoma; Yerington, Nevada; Warren, Ohio; Seymour, Connecticut; Monroe, North Carolina; Rosebud, South Dakota;  and our renewing members from Chesterfield, Missouri; Zionsville, South Bend, and Logansport, Indiana; Bismark and Fargo, North Dakota; Dublin and Upper Arlington, Ohio; Northfield, Massachusetts; McLean, Virginia; St. John, New Brunswick (Canada); and Essex Junction, Vermont. More information and a registration form for our affordable site license program is available at this link:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/department63.cfm
 
 For Members Only
 

Do you ever feel awkward at Parent Night?  Is your solution just to talk faster in hopes it will make the evening pass more quickly? Trish Prentice finally found a Parent Night format she could enjoy by letting moms and dads take the lead.  It began with less presentation, and more time for parents to share their hopes for their children:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1244.cfm
 
Building community or working on literacy skills in the first weeks of school is a false choice for most teachers - there are creative ways to do both.  Katie Doherty uses the Paul Fleischman book Seedfolks to link literature to a "getting to know you" activity with her middle school students:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1245.cfm
 
We also continue our video series from last week with Katie Doherty.  Her middle school students use "The Wrath of Guess Jeans" to explore issues of conformity in middle school.  This week's installment includes oral response and a write-around. This is the second installment in a three-part video series, with a catch-up link if you missed Part I:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1246.cfm
 
We have a video bonus this week.  Quick Takes are one or two minute interviews with Choice Literacy Contributors where they address specific classroom issues.  In Book Hogs, Franki Sibberson explains how she deals with those students who are always the first grab and stow away new books as soon as they are presented to the class:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1241.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 if you work with young English language learners -
 
Ruth Shagoury confers with Larisa, a six-year-old Russian who is in the "silent period" of language acquisition:
 
http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/1247.cfm
 
 
That's all for this week!
 
 

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