There is a Siletz Indian proverb that captures why so many of us love teaching - One who learns from one who is learning drinks from a running stream. We read and write and stay current on best practices so that our students can "drink from a running stream."

Mary Catherine Bateson, daughter of famed anthropologist Margaret Mead, notes that living and learning are always intertwined, which is what gives life zest:

Rarely is it possible to study all the instructions to a game before beginning to play, or to memorize the manual before turning on the computer. We can carry on the process of learning in everything we do, like a mother balancing her child on one hip as she goes about her work with the other hand or uses it to open the door of the unknown. Learning and living, we become ambidextrous.

Mary Catherine Bateson in Peripheral Visions: Learning Along the Way. 1994. New York: Harper Collins.

This week we've got a raft of articles floating down that running stream - from five-year-olds teaching their teacher about their synthesis strategies, to advice on building more reflective time into your day. Enjoy!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

www.choiceliteracy.com

***Free for All***

From the Choice Literacy archives, "We Are All Shamu" considers the work of exotic animal trainers as a metaphor for the unconscious teaching and learning in school professional development settings every day:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/195.cfm

"Mr. Goodson, I think my neighbor skinned his dog!" a student sobbed. This was the start of a not-typical class period in Todd Goodson's middle school classroom. And so begins his remarkable short essay "Teaching in the Time of Dogs," reflecting on what students teach us every day, no matter what we've planned to teach them. The essay is available to view at the National Writing Project's website, and would be a fun and provocative opening reading for a study group or faculty meeting:

http://www.writingproject.org/cs/nwpp/print/nwpr/1979

Enrollment in our summer workshops for K-6 literacy leaders continues to be brisk. You can download workshop descriptions, locations, and registration information at this link:

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

***For Members Only***

Debbie Miller writes about the importance of reflection in teaching, and her own misgivings about finding the time for thinking about her learning, in her new essay "Putting Ourselves in Our Teaching":

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/316.cfm

Many teachers find late spring is a good time to tackle a study of synthesis, one of the most complex strategies to teach. But how do you begin with young learners? Andie Cunningham uses the "bull's-eye" written response developed by Debbie Miller, along with a "waves" alternative which provides a choice to students. This five-minute video includes Andie's explanation of the task, as well as her conference with Anna, a young Vietnamese student:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/327.cfm

We've posted the last feature in our six-part series on notetaking. We close out the series with advice on setting notetaking goals:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/329.cfm

That's all for this week - next week we begin a new series on closure activities for spring and summer with colleagues and teachers.