Do you have anything wonderful planned for the holidays? My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary at the end of December, and taking all 27 of their kids, grandkids, and even greatgrandbaby Matthew on a Caribbean cruise to celebrate.

A couple months ago, my ever-subtle mom mentioned casually on the phone, "It's your first cruise, Brenda - you'll find the booklet they send along very helpful." I had to chuckle, because I knew what she was concerned about - up here in the willywags of Maine, clean Bean boots and jeans without holes in them qualify as "business casual" dress. Combine that with my innate lack of any fashion sense, and I think she was afraid our country bumpkin branch of the family would show up looking like lumberjacks at the captain's table. (Hey, we would have worn new plaid shirts and fleece for the occasion!)

Last month brought a couple more hints, until this week mom finally just sent a mass email to everyone - "Don't wait till the last minute to pack - make sure to read the dress code in the guide."

Sure enough, the little booklet has a great checklist on page 6. It not only designates which dinners are "formal" or "informal," but defines exactly what types of dresses and suits fit each category. All in less than a page, with a phrase or two definition of what qualifies as appropriate.

The checklist reminded me how much I appreciate a good list, and how much of a literacy leader's job involves "breaking it down" for others. Whenever I have insomnia because I have too much to do, I get up, and write out a list of the 8-10 things I need to get done over the next week on the project that's keeping me up. Then I can finally go back to sleep. I thought I was the only one with this little quirk, till I discovered a couple teacher friends who have the same habit.

We can remind people of deadlines; we can even use adjectives like "formal" for dress or "formative" for an assessment to explain what is expected. But it doesn't mean our colleagues know what we're talking about, or even where to begin in chunking a big project into manageable smaller tasks. This is especially true for colleagues who are new to the school or district, and have little sense of the local norms.

Of course, we've all seen those ridiculous assessments or observation checklists that are thirteen pages long with 346 items on them. They are a reminder that there is an art to constructing a checklist - providing enough detail that readers have the information they need, but not at a level that overwhelms or insults their intelligence.

One of the best gifts you can give the colleagues you assist is advice on what needs to be done, and when, for a big deadline that looms a month or two down the road. Veteran teachers may not need the help, but novice teachers often really appreciate the concrete simplicity of a good checklist. And if you find the checklist is running onto a second page, with more than a dozen items, you probably haven't broken down the project into small enough chunks. It's a good test for any of us - if we can't break it down into a simple list, how can we expect others new to the task to do it themselves?

This is the last Big Fresh of 2007, before our end of the year two-week break. We'll still have some new postings at the site during this two-week stretch. But we hope you're so busy enjoying your friends and family (with your computers turned off) that you don't have time to read them. Have a wonderful break - we'll be back at the start of the new year!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

www.choiceliteracy.com

Free for All

We've got the best gift money can't buy - a little laughter to brighten your day. The Sisters are featured on our one-minute video bloopers reel. We hope this shot of holiday cheer gives you a chuckle:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/503.cfm

Shari Frost overhears her children discussing what holiday gift they might buy for her - the new "Kindle" e-book reader. This gets her thinking about what new technologies are most useful for reading in schools, and when it's best just to pull out an actual book:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/505.cfm

Join Choice Literacy for our Winter Workshops at the Sand Key Resort in Clearwater, Florida on January 27th, 2008. Workshop topics include literacy coaching and reading assessment with The Sisters and Jennifer Allen:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/454.cfm

For Members Only

We've posted the final video in our three-part series on the "Rule of Three" from Aimee Buckner's 4th grade classroom. In this installment, Aimee confers with students one-on-one who are trying the strategy in their writing:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/506.cfm

Looking for a great activity for a January meeting of new teachers? From the Choice Literacy Archives, Ruth Shagoury provides a staff meeting or study group icebreaker that helps teachers talk about their management strategies. By January, many first-year teachers are developing more confidence about their management skills - and those who aren't may benefit the most from discussing their experiences with colleagues:

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

The Sisters (Joan Moser and Gail Boushey) continue their photo essay design series. This week's feature is on wall displays. If you're planning ahead, early January is often a good time to rethink displays and change them up a bit:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/507.cfm

If you do find yourself with a little time over the winter break to catch up on recent posts from Choice Literacy, the Annotated Archives are a great place to begin sifting through the hundreds of features at the site:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/department27.cfm

That's all for this week - we'll be back on January 5th!