What kind of environment do you learn best in? Over the past few months I've been working with hotels and resorts all over the country, reserving space for the Choice Literacy summer leadership workshops and institutes.

It's a funny thing - when I mentioned to event coordinators that the workshops are for teachers, not one said, "Oh wait - teachers?! We've got a dreary, moldy space in the basement reserved just for people like you." Everyone knew our group would expect the best facilities they had to offer, and that's what we got.

I think we've come to expect so much less than we should when it comes to the "basics" of what anyone needs to learn - adults as well as children. As Shelly Harwayne writes:

The teaching profession has never been honored with any first-class touches. But a quiet room used for staff development can become truly elegant when it contains a tray of cookies, a basket of fresh fruit, a pot of good coffee with real milk. It can be made elegant with the addition of carefully duplicated articles, well-thought-out calendars, and invitations to attend relevant conferences.

(Shelley Harwayne in Going Public Heinemann, 1999)

First-class touches in school-based literacy professional development programs needn't be expensive, but they do demonstrate a sense of care and handcrafting of the learning experience for teachers and children. Small items, seemingly insignificant, can make all the difference in a teacher moving from being intrigued to actually testing out a new idea in his or her classroom.

I've been inspired over the years by the first-class touches of Jennifer Allen, a literacy coach who contributes frequently to Choice Literacy. She transformed an ugly basement room (which was dank and dreary) at her school into a charming "literacy room" chock-full of resources and inviting spaces for teachers. Her advice for literacy leaders looking to add some first-class touches to study groups on a "coach" budget:

*Save room in your budget for small items from the local dollar or office supply store like baskets for books, post-its, inexpensive frames for children's writing or quotes, etc. so that when these needs arise from a study group discussion, you can purchase them for colleagues.

*Materials tied directly to study group themes are a nice surprise gift at any time during the year (i.e., hand-held tape recorders for a fluency group; dry-erase boards and markers for a word study group; colorful individual journals for a writer's notebook group).

*Use bonus points for a small fridge to house a supply of bottled water and light snacks, with a coffee maker on top. This encourages teachers to pause, browse, and chat with colleagues as they look through resources.

*Coffee is great, but bottled water is really appreciated by teachers who are tired and thirsty at the start of late-afternoon meetings.

*Distribute purchase orders for books from the nicest local bookstore at the end of the summer or just before a school break, rather than just asking for lists of books from teachers to requisition. This gets teachers out into the bookstores browsing - a lovely environment for anyone to explore, and the experience inevitably introduces teachers to new books and new ways to display books in their classrooms.

*If you live nearby, host the education technicians (assistants) at your home for a breakfast discussion of needs and goals one morning. Platters of baked goods from a local bakery aren't expensive, and these colleagues can easily be overlooked when it comes to honoring their contribution intellectually and building community.

This week we've got advice from literacy leaders who value the "first-class touch" in everything from classroom design to study group meetings. We've also started posting the registration materials for our summer institutes. Plus more as always. Enjoy!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

www.choiceliteracy.com

***Free for All***

We welcome new contributor Jan Miller Burkins, a literacy coach in Athens, Georgia who will have her book, Coaching for Balance, published by the International Reading Association later this year. Congratulations Jan! In her first contribution, Jan shares an observation form for coaches who want to support, not intimidate, the teachers they visit:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/255.cfm

Choice Literacy is offering two-day institutes for literacy leaders in Maine, Oregon, and Ohio this summer. Jennifer Allen's workshop, Becoming a Literacy Coach, is now open for registration. We have strict enrollment limits for numbers to ensure the workshops are a quality interactive experience - only 55 participants for two-day workshops. You can access all the content, format, and registration details here:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/department22.cfm

***For Members Only***

Classroom management may be the most common issue for new teachers. In this January update to her ongoing series on mentoring new teachers, Ruth Shagoury shares how this month's meeting with new teachers focused on management. The narrative includes a meeting plan and description of how to initiate helpful conversations about the issues:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/256.cfm

The Sisters (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) admit to being reformed "Teacher Shriners" - giving over too much room to the teacher desk (or "shrine" area). In this six-minute classroom design video, they show how minimizing the space for the teacher desk and materials opens up the classroom. The classroom tour also includes design principles for the meeting area and wall displays:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/245.cfm

If you only have dial-up access and can't view videos on the web, you might still enjoy Gail and Joan's design principles for classrooms, a print download from the Choice Literacy archives:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/145.cfm

This week the winter awards season started with the Golden Globes. In the literacy world, there is a new award "kid" on the block - the "CYBILS" are awarded by the on-line children's literature community. Franki Sibberson reveals the nomination process, the books nominated. This booklist is an excellent source of wonderful new books you may have missed in the last few months:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/246.cfm

That's all for this week!