The Traffic Cop Test

How much influence do our words carry with the students and teachers around us? More than any of us realize. Susan Ohanian, in an interview at the Education Oasis, recounts the moment she realized just how much impact even seemingly insignificant things we say as teachers have on the families of our students:

When I taught 3rd grade, Jennifer came into class crying because she realized she'd forgotten her house key. This latch-key child was very aware that her mother couldn't miss work; she knew her mother depended on her to go home promptly after school and call. We were both aware of the -30 degree weather outside. I hugged Jennifer, wrote a note to the secretary asking for permission for her to use the phone. "Call Mom and see if she has a solution. Tell her I'll wait here with you until she gets off work if that's necessary."

Jennifer returned with the news that Mom had arranged for her to go to a friend's house after school. I said, "Your mom is terrific" and turned back to classroom business.

The next day Jennifer said, "My mom says 'thank you.'"

"What?"

"For saying she's terrific."

This incident still gives me chills. The classroom is always hectic at the beginning of the day; the school secretary was a dragon and I had to write a subservient, ingratiating note. I could have snapped, "Next time, remember your key" or just "OK, get to work." That such an almost careless remark could have such import made me realize how important all teacher remarks are.

My other proof comes from the Metropolitan Diary section of the New York Times, where every Monday they offer human interest anecdotes about life in the City. After making an (illegal) right turn on a red light, a woman was pulled over by a traffic cop. He handed back her papers, advising her to drive carefully. She blurted out, "Aren't you going to give me a ticket?"

He looked at her. "You were my first grade teacher."

I spent three days listing my students who probably would give me a ticket and those who wouldn't. I think it's not a bad image for teachers to look at every student as a probable traffic cop.

From an interview by Jo Scott-Coe with Susan Ohanian at the Education Oasis (reprinted by permission).

Not a bad exercise for literacy leaders, either - would the teachers you're mentoring, guiding, or evaluating give you a ticket if they had a choice? What about the parent of a student who is challenging you?

This week's Big Fresh has tips for writing effective grants for parent outreach, more on notetaking, and a fun chain of contributions on flexible and portable literacy displays. Enjoy!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

www.choiceliteracy.com

***Free for All***

The Education Oasis is a wonderful on-line resource for teachers, including unbiased professional reviews. I'm a big fan of their monthly calendars with weblinks - this week alone includes birthdates and free web materials from authors Dr. Suess, Patricia MacLachlan, Dav Pilkey, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/calendar/march.htm

There are many small grant opportunities for parent outreach programs - but often you don't hear about them till the deadline is near. And who has any extra time most days to write a grant? We've posted a tipsheet on writing parent outreach grants, including a sample template for designing a generic grant narrative. Once you've created a generic narrative, you can file it away and make minor revisions any time a proposal is needed in a pinch:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/298.cfm

Worried about the "4th Grade Slump" in your school? We've posted the last of our summer two-day institutes for literacy coaches and teachers - this one from Franki Sibberson on "Literacy in Transition" - working with intermediate readers and writers. The focus is on innovative strategies for fostering literacy among children in grades 3-5. Offered in Oregon, Maine, and Ohio (with special guest presenter Karen Szymusiak at the Columbus event). All sessions are limited to 55 participants - registration, housing, and detailed program description is provided at this link:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/302.cfm

***For Members Only***

We've got a chain of connected new features posted this week, demonstrating how adept literacy leaders are at adapting ideas to their needs. Franki Sibberson learned how to use foam boards from her friend Ann Marie Corgill, who taught for a number of years at the Manhattan New School. In this short article with a video example of launching a board with students, Franki talks about how valuable these boards are as portable, flexible anchor charts in reading and writing workshops:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/300.cfm

Jennifer Allen saw a video excerpt of Franki using foam boards with students, and decided they would be helpful in her work as a literacy coach, moving from classroom to classroom. In this brief article with video examples, she talks about how she has toted the boards to different classrooms to demonstrate different types of leads in nonfiction writing over the past few weeks:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/299.cfm

Wisconsin literacy coaches Jennifer Jones and Charity Meyer were inspired by Jennifer Allen's "Literacy Room" to try out "Literacy News" resource boards in their schools. In their article "On Board with Literacy Leadership," they provide helpful tips for starting these boards in your school, as a way to give continuous and timely support to teachers at any level:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/297.cfm

We also have Part II of our six-part series on notetaking. This week we focus on specific strategies for honing notetaking skills over time:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/301.cfm

That's all for this week!