Today I went into the cafeteria at school to buy a couple of cartons of skim milk. As I passed a table of third graders, a woman reached out and stopped me.

“Are you Mrs. Johnston?” she asked. I stopped and saw that a student I know well, M, was sitting next to the woman. I knew it was M’s birthday, and obviously her mom had come to the school to celebrate by having lunch with her.

M is not in any of my reading groups and so I know her only because I have worked with her teacher the past couple months. It’s her teacher’s first year of teaching, and I go to the classroom twice a week to do reading workshop with her students. I’ve gotten to know all the kids in the class - and M has been particularly eager to participate in class discussions.

When I affirmed that I was indeed Mrs. Johnston, M’s mother went on to tell me about how M loves me so much and about how she had been wanting her mom to meet me for ages. She said that we had obviously been just barely missing each other. She’d come into her daughter’s classroom, and M would say, “Did you see her? She just left.” She would be sure that we had passed in the hallway.

Then M’s mother told me something that I will cherish my entire life. She said, “I never liked to read, and I’ve tried so hard not to pass that feeling along to M. She just loves having you come into her classroom and teach lessons. She’s excited about reading. One day I asked her why she loves you so much, and she told me, ‘Mrs. Johnston INSPIRES me.’”

I am writing this, not to brag because I’m sure that for every student I inspire, there are many more that I don’t inspire. However, someday when I’m too old and feeble to remember stories like this, I can look back and read this and know that my efforts as a teacher really did make a difference for some children. What more can a person ask for than to “inspire” children to read.

Teachers at a high school in California worked with highway patrol officers to stage an elaborate hoax on the students. The officers entered classrooms on a Monday morning to announce the deaths of several students in drunk driving accidents over the weekend.

A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax — a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving.

As seniors prepare for graduation parties Friday, school officials in the largely prosperous San Diego suburb are defending themselves against allegations they went too far.

At school assemblies, some students held up posters that read: “Death is real. Don’t play with our emotions.”

Michelle de Gracia, 16, was in physics class when an officer announced that her missing classmate David, a popular basketball player, had died instantly after being rear-ended by a drunken driver. She said she felt nauseated but was too stunned to cry.

“They got the shock they wanted,” she said.

Some of her classmates became extremely upset, prompting the teacher to tell them immediately it was all staged.

I get angry when I hear of stupid stunts like this perpetuated by people who should know better. It was just a little over a year ago that teachers at a Tennessee school terrified students with a fake gun attack. Teachers go through classes on how to work with children - and I have never heard of lying to kids being a good way to teach them. Things like this shed a bad light on teachers everywhere, and I resent it.

A school guidance counselor even defended this latest hoax. Just read what this idiot said:

“They were traumatized, but we wanted them to be traumatized,” said guidance counselor Lori Tauber, who helped organize the shocking exercise and got dozens of students to participate. “That’s how they get the message.”

I’m appalled. A GUIDANCE COUNSELOR “wanted them to be traumatized.” Amazing. The only message the students got (thanks to this lightweight guidance counselor) was how stupid and unprofessional some educators can be. If I were a parent at that school, my child would be withdrawn immediately, and I would file a lawsuit again Lori Tauber, the school and the school system. There are times that I am ashamed to be a part of public education - and this is one of those times.

Thursday, May 22, 2008 will probably be THE most optimistic day of the year for me. It is the last day of school. The children will come to school until lunchtime, and then they will go home and start their summer vacation. We teachers will have a catered lunch celebration, and then we’ll get started on mountains of paperwork and the down-and-dirty work of getting our classrooms ready for the summer. Still, that last student day is the day when the summer looms ahead with so much possibility.

Time to get the log cabin ready to sell.
Time to get all the boxes unpacked.
Time to straighten up and organize the barn.
Time to drive to my mother’s and visit for a few days - unhurried visiting time.
Time to re-organize the pantry.
Time to go to the farmers market and buy fresh vegetables and fruit.
Time to can those vegetables and fruit - homemade pickles, homemade jams and preserves - homemade apple butter.
Time to relax and read something besides professional literature.
Time to go to the beach with family.
Time to garden.
Time to sunbathe.
Time to invite friends over.

I know from experience that August will be here much too soon. Around mid-July I will realize that the summer is almost gone, and I’ll panic and start working overtime on trying to complete some summer projects. Two summers ago I spent my summer selling my townhouse and moving in with RT. Last summer RT and I were in the middle of building our new house - and trying to sell his log cabin. And this summer I know I will have to spend a few days getting the log cabin ready to sell - and we WILL sell it this time.

But for now - tomorrow is the last day of school - and the summer stretches out ahead of me filled with hundreds of possibilities. The most optimistic day of the year.

Tomorrow, May 6th, is Teacher Appreciation Day. The kindergarten kids I work with wrote thank you cards for me last week. They were really sweet. Obviously copied from the board, but sweet anyway.

Tomorrow I will likely get some other Teacher Appreciation cards - possibly a gift or two. Typically, though, as a “special area” teacher, I don’t get the gifts that classroom teachers get. And that is good with me. I’m just a 30-minute a day, 4 times a week teacher. I wouldn’t change back to being a classroom teacher for anything in the world.

If you have a child in school, write a Teacher Appreciation card for his/her teacher. Make it specific. What specifically do you appreciate about the teacher. Words are support are what teachers value the most.

April Fools’ Day is my least favorite day of the school year. I’m always happy when the date lands on a weekend. For a teacher, it’s a matter of trying to respond appropriately to “There’s a spider on your back!” over and over and over again. I don’t know why, but that seems to be the prevailing “joke” that kids like to play on teachers.  It’s usually followed by uncontrollable laughter - as though the line was completely original.  And perhaps, for that particular child, it is, which is why I always try to keep a positive attitude about it.

Here’s a poem I found that the kids enjoy reading on this momentous day:

Good Morning, Dear Students
~By Kenn Nesbitt~

“Good morning, dear students,” the principal said,
“Please put down your pencils and go back to bed.
Today we will spend the day playing outside
Then take the whole school on a carnival ride.

“We’ll learn to eat candy while watching TV
then listen to records and swing from a tree.
We’ll also be learning to draw on the walls,
to scream in the classrooms and run in the halls.

“So bring your skateboard, your scooter, your bike.
It’s time to be different and do what you like.
The teachers are going to give you a rest.
You don’t have to study. There won’t be a test.

“And if you’d prefer, for a bit of a change,
feel free to go wild and act really strange.
Go put on a clown suit and dye your hair green,
and copy your face on the Xerox machine.

“Tomorrow, it’s back to the regular grind.
Today, just go crazy. We really don’t mind.
So tear up your homework. We’ll give you an A.
Oh wait. I’m just kidding. It’s April Fools’ Day!”

Are you interested in getting a degree in industrial engineering, business, mechanical engineering, computer engineering or dozens of other subject areas for major or minor areas of concentration?  Kettering University has a leading Co-op program that works closely with students and businesses to place Kettering studens in their freshman year.  That’s right.  There’s no waiting till your junior or senior year to have that co-op experience.  And then you’ll be rotated between the school and your co-op job - alternaing every three months in order to gain practical experience - right from the beginning of your time with Kettering.  So, whether you’re looking for engineering co-op programs or programs in business, Kettering might be the place for you.  Kettering’s Co-op program began in 1919.  That means it has been around long enough to be finely tuned.  The purpose is to combine the theory that’s taught in the classroom with the experience gained in the workplace.

As a matter of fact, U.S. News and World Report has ranked Kettering University as “the #1 University in the nation for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering” in its annual “America’s Best Colleges Guide for 2008″.   That’s an impressive ranking from one of the major magazines in the Unied States! 

Last month I attended the February Institute at Teachers College of Columbia University in New York City.  The week’s topic was the use of touchstone texts to teach reading and writing well.   Here’s a brief summary of what I learned - just hitting the high points.

What is a touchstone text?  A touchstone text is a text that a teacher reads with his/her class repeatedly throughout the year.  The teacher and students know the text very well.  The community of readers uses the touchstone text to practice various reading and writing strategies and/or to work on fluency.   For example, “What’s the most important thing about your story you’re working on?  Let’s look at Shortcut by Donald Crews again to see how he showed us what was important in his story.”

When selecting touchstone texts for mini-lessons, the teacher should keep in mind that the best touchstone text is one that has the potential to be used numerous times throughout the school year for MANY different mini-lessons. The teacher’s greatest consideration: “How much can I teach my students about reading or writing using this piece of (touchstone) writing?”  Make sure that the strategies you teach (mini-lessons) are transferable to other reading and writing.  You’re teaching the strategy – not a particular book.

What’s the difference between a touchstone text and a mentor text?  Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably,  a mentor text typically refers to a text that an individual uses while a touchstone text is used by the entire community of learners.

Shared writing from the class can become a touchstone text for the class.

Through the use of touchstone texts, we can get our students to start reading like writers - noting the how the author used words to convey meaning.

A teacher who regularly uses touchstone texts typically keeps a basket of touchstone texts nearby to use when he/she confers with students.  However, we learned of one teacher who used a single text, When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant, as the only touchstone text for an entire school year.  She used it for teaching both reading and writing strategies. 

Use the connections that children make when they’re reading as a springboard for their own writing.  E.G. “Reading Shortcut made me think about trains, but I don’t have a story about trains.  However, it also made me think about a time when I did something I shouldn’t have done. I can write about that.”

Use strategies you know and can name from touchstone texts to help with other books and with own reading and writing.  It is important for children to know the language of reading and writing.  They should be able to identify by name the strategies they’re using (inferring, questioning, making connections, synthesizing, etc.)

Readers have work to do before reading a book: title, front and back covers, author’s notes, dedication. Use these to make predictions and to drive conversation (accountable talk) before reading.

Here is an activity to use with a touchsone text.  I’ve personally used this activity with five different reading groups over the past two weeks (first through fifth grades), and I also had my faculty do it last week when I did a presentation about using touchstone texts.  The activity has several purposes:   (a) to relate the text (narrative, informational, expository) to poetry;  (b) to determine important information, main idea; (c) to foster accountable talk among students; and (d) to practice expression and fluency.

Touchstone Text Activity

(1) Before reading the touchstone text again, give each child a sticky note with the instructions to write down the one line or phrase from the touchstone text that made the biggest impression on him/her (an “ah!” “oh!” or “aha!” moment) – a sentence or phrase that stood out.  They write the exact words from the text.

(2) Read the story to the class again.

(3) Have children “turn and talk” to a neighbor about their line, how it affected them, and how the author accomplished that effect.

(4) Then have the children stand in a circle around the room and read their lines. The first child reads the title of the book and the book’s author. Then he/she says: “a poem by _______(class name)” and then reads his/her line/phrase. Continue around the circle with each child reading his/her chosen line/phrase.

(5) You can then write the poem on chart paper to display in the room. It becomes a poem of the book.

I’m very excited about the potential of using touchstone texts in my teaching of reading and writing.

I was at Teachers College of Columbia University in NYC this past week for their February Institute for teachers.  When I was packing for the trip, I had my laptop in its carrying bag and ready to go when I decided that I didn’t want to deal with a laptop in the airport or have to carry it with me everywhere - especially since the room where we would be staying didn’t have internet access.  So I left my laptop at home.  I would take notes the old fashioned way - with pen and paper. 

I found it fascinating, though, to see the number of laptops in the sessions I attended.  “School” has sure changed since the last time I took a university class four years ago.  Laptops were everywhere, and I watched as other students took notes, created charts and otherwise used their laptops efficiently and effectively to organize and save the information from each class session.   More than once I wished that I had brought my own laptop so I could make my notes more complete. 

One laptop user sat beside me during one session and glanced over at my notebook in which I was writing my notes by hand.  “Does that really work for you?” she asked me skeptically. 

At the first of this school year I was asked to be on a committee to study R.T.I. and come up with an implementation plan for our school system.  Quite frankly, I wasn’t thrilled to be on the committee because it meant I would miss working with my students for a day each month when the committee met.  Plus, anytime a teacher is part of a committee or attends any type of inservice, then that teacher is responsible for bringing back information to the school or providing training on the topic.  Simply put, it meant more work for me. However, R.T.I. is a topic of interest to me, and I wanted to learn more.  So I said yes.

The committee consists of principals, reading specialists, teachers, tech coaches, curriculum specialists and others.  It has been an interesting ride.  We already have two schools that use the R.T.I. model, and more will follow suit next year.  By the following year, it will likely be system policy - especially since it appears that it will become state/national policy.

Since I’m the only representative from my school and only one of two reading specialists on the committee, I’m frequently asked for information about R.T.I. and what’s in store for us in the coming year(s).  So I’ve developed what I call a “quick and dirty” primer on R.T.I.  By necessity, this primer leaves out a LOT of information.  However, it hits the highlights for anyone who isn’t sure what R.T.I. is and what it could mean to a school or school system.

The purpose of R.T.I. (Response To Intervention - or as our school system has decided we prefer, Response To Instruction)  is to identify struggling learners as early as possible in order to put interventions in place to help the learner get up to speed.   Previously we used the “discrepancy” model which meant that a child must have a wide enough discrepancy between his/her ability and his/her performance before official intervention (i.e. special ed) could take place.  The R.T.I. models holds that the earlier children are identified and interventions are in place, the fewer children will fall through the cracks, and the fewer children will end up in special education.

Of course, even in the discrepancy model,  educators don’t always wait until that required level of discrepancy is reached before making interventions.  Good teachers recognize when a child is struggling, and they make sure that the child receives the interventions needed as soon as possible.  Teachers seek help from teacher assistants, parent helpers, curriculum specialists and others who might be able to provide the needed help.

R.T.I. can be configured in many ways.  We have decided on the three tier model.  Tier One consists of interventions that the classroom teacher will implement within the classroom.  Tier Two might include utilizing the reading specialist, other special area teachers, parent helpers and/or teacher assistants to work with the child on specific areas of need.  Tier Three would mostly consist of referring the child to Student Support Services (aka Special Education).

How do we decide which students need intervention?  This is done as result of a universal screening, which is one of the main components of the R.T.I. model.  A universal screening is given to all children regularly to monitor their progress.  A helpful metaphor is that a universal screening is a thermometer.  It shows that there’s a temperature - something is wrong - but it doesn’t inform us about what is wrong or what is needed to get better.  When a child has a temperature, then we use our knowledge and other assessments and strategies to make him/her well.   

In our school system, we’ve chosen AIMWEB as our universal screening.  We selected it over DIBELS and others because it has  reading, math and spelling components.  It is also cost effective when compared to other screening tools.

That’s it in a nutshell - just hitting the high points with enormous amounts of information missing.  However, if you’re interested in learning more, you’re in luck because there is an abundance of other information available on the topic.  Our school system has found two books that have been helpful to us.  One is No Quick Fix and the other is The RTI Guide: Developing and Implementing a Model in Your Schools:

If you search R.T.I. at Amazon, you’ll find dozens of books on the topic.  You can also Google it and find good information online. 

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems in one of my favorite children’s books. It was a Caldecott winner a few years ago - and it very much deserved to win. Absolutely wonderful illustrations. The background of each page is an old black and white photograph. However, there are illustrations of Trixie, the little girl who loves her Knuffle Bunny, and Trixie’s family on the old photographs. Very clever. The story is also very heart-warming. It’s a story most children can easily connect with. Trixie and her dad goes to the laundromat (great lesson on that vocabulary word), and accidentally leave Trixie’s Knuffle Bunny there. I believe this is a book that every early reader should have in his/her personal library.

Willems has just published a follow-up book called Knuffle Bunny Too in which Trixie goes to school only to find that another child has a Knuffle Bunny, too.