Thursday, May 16, 2013

What comes first in a recipe for successful schools? The teacher, the leader, or society?

A former teacher candidate student shared this article on facebook today. I've always been at a loss for how to respond when future classroom teachers ask me what the key differences are between countries with great educational achievement, like Finland, and those that are not seeing great success for all, like the United States. While reading this article, my belief that 'great teachers make great schools' was challenged. I will definitely need to re-read this article and maybe invite my colleagues to a happy hour discussion about it... 

What if Finland’s great teachers taught in U.S. schools? http://goo.gl/hLa1b
"In many under-performing nations, I notice, three fallacies of teacher effectiveness prevail...

  • The first belief is that 'the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.'
  • The second fallacy is that 'the most important single factor in improving quality of education is teachers.'  
  • The third fallacy is that 'If any children had three or four great teachers in a row, they would soar academically, regardless of their racial or economic background, while those who have a sequence of weak teachers will fall further and further behind'."  

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Everyone is both a teacher and a learner.

This TED talk by Stanford professor and leading computer scientist, Peter Norvig, reminds us to continue to be both teachers and learners.


Monday, January 14, 2013

Grant Writing for Literacy Leaders


Grant proposal writing tips:

  • Research the funder.  Visit their website, review their IRS 990 (Form 990 is an annual reporting return that certain federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS. It provides information on the filing organization's mission, programs, and finances.)
  •  Make sure your project fits funder’s priorities. If you can’t find enough info through research, call or email the funder for guidance.
  • State your specific request at the beginning of the proposal
  • Allow yourself ample time to write the grant and have others look over it
  • Be clear/concise (avoid “academic” writing)
  • Avoid using terminology/jargon funders may not understand
  • Describe the issue you’re trying to address in a local context (early literacy in MN as opposed to nationwide)
  • Be clear about the impact your project will have
  • Provide quantitative data/results if possible
  • Make sure you can deliver on what you say in the proposal.  If funded, you should submit a report one year after receiving the grant – make sure you can report on progress/results!
  • If funded, send a thank you letter/tax receipt right away, and call to thank the funder.

Links for finding grants: 

Teaching like it's 2999: This teacher blogger describes her process in acquiring a technology grant.

Grant Wrangler: Search for available grants for particular projects


School Grants at Grants Alert: Several specific grants listed including a handful specifically for literacy-related projects


Lowe's Toolbox for Education Grant: Next deadline is February 15th, 2013!


Target Grants: Target Corporation offers grants for field trips and early childhood reading grants along with others. 


Your district's community foundation: Teachers in my district fund projects like artists in residence and boys' book clubs. Links to these grant applications can usually be found somewhere on your district's website. 


Minnesota Reading Association: Grant deadline is February 1st, 2013!


Minnesota Council of Foundations: Although you have to pay a fee to have access to these grants, this link will take to the Minnesota Common Grant Application Form. Even if your grant maker has their own form, this form includes questions you are likely to see on others. 


Scholastic's Grant Resources: Another link to a list of grants


Education Minnesota: Although the deadline for this year has passed, this site has links to tips for writing grants along with 'do's and don'ts' of grant writing.

Monday, November 12, 2012

A Medieval Makeover: how a media center redesign (or any other space for that matter) contributes to the culture of reading in one junior high school

Medieval Makeover Mishaps


https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=165b87bd58&view=att&th=13a1879d80bb900e&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_odG53rZLJbVo15kdvkEcK&sadet=1352732286917&sads=ZZLlqXQay5AAs6aorfSdGMLg2ik As the students at North View Junior High flooded the halls every morning during the first three weeks of school, they walked past my colleague, Anna, the Library Media Specialist and me, the Literacy Coach,  asking the same question over and over again.
“Is the library open, yet??”
It broke our hearts every time to say, “No, sorry. We hope it will be open by the end of the week!”
After a week of this, one regular passerby responded with, “You’re killing me!” Ouch.
Then, the bell would ring, students would head to class, and Anna and I would return to the empty, lifeless Media Center. This is not what we had in mind.
Last spring, Anna and I received a $5000 grant from Lowe’s to complete the North View Knights Medieval Makeover project in our media center. Although there were always handfuls of kids hanging out in the Media Center space, it was primarily a room full of long rows of book shelves with an area of about 20 square tables and chairs. Much to Anna’s chagrin, the table space was rarely used by classes of students and instead, was the location of our monthly staff meetings. The objective of the makeover was to transform the media center into a lively, student-centered, teen-friendly space.
As is to be expected when doing a project like this, we experienced a few setbacks. The extra sides and tops to the book shelves that were supposed to arrive the first week of August showed up on the second day of teacher workshop week—a time when our building custodial staff has about two million other jobs to do. The summer construction in the science labs one floor below resulted in ventilation pipes jutting out of the floor of the Media Center and holes being cut into the pillars that had been newly painted over the summer in bright, fun colors. The new furniture Anna and I had made three trips to purchase from IKEA was now covered in dust from the sheetrock, mudding, and sanding. We started to come to the realization that we may not be able to open the media center on the first day of school. 

https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=165b87bd58&view=att&th=13a187af4935e653&attid=0.1&disp=inline&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P_odG53rZLJbVo15kdvkEcK&sadet=1352732733203&sads=gINBDuS2pqb0mTpiwtEweIgw1Hc
After two trips to the hardware store, a re-order of the correct shelf parts, and a day of listening to our IB Coordinator/resident handyman using his power saw to cut shelf tops, we were finally able to put the books back in place. It was starting to look like a library once again. Final touches included hanging framed chalkboards and bulletin boards in the cozy spaces around the room. Our new book display area near the entrance and exit of the Media Center boasted fiction and nonfiction books with the theme of ‘Heroes and Villains.’ Lastly, we invited all staff to write on our chalkboard wall answering the question, “Why read?”

When we were finally able to open the media center at the end of the third week of school, the students came in droves. They literally ran from cozy corner to cozy corner trying out all the new places to sit—from the couches to lounge chairs to the bean bags—in an effort to discover their new favorite spots.
“The new furniture and books are nice! I’ll come here more now because of this stuff,” said 8th grader, Halima.
Another 8th grader, Anita, said, “The new stuff is cool! And the [touch-screen] computer is fun!”
Reese, a 7th grader, said, “There’s a whole bunch of genres and not a lot of ‘kid-books’ like in elementary. I can find books I actually like!”
When the bell rang to warn students they had 4 minutes to get to their first hour classes, a lengthy check-out line formed at the circulation desk.

Creating a culture of reading
As excited as we were about finally being open, we now had a new dilemma. There was only one week left until the kick-off of reading zone time in advisory (one day a week when all teachers and students in our school read for 20 minutes). A key to successful reading zone time is for all students to have in their possession reading material they have chosen for themselves. When our building started this initiative last year, we had three full weeks to organize Media Center visits for approximately 700 students and to have them select a book or magazine to be placed in a bag for their advisory teacher to pick up. Now we had one.
In addition, to prevent students from missing reading zone time because they needed to pick out a new book, we also implemented a weekly departmental rotation. Departments are assigned certain weeks of the school year (about every 7-8 weeks per department) when they are expected to bring all their classes in for 10-15 minutes to return and check-out books. This rotation serves two purposes. First, it takes the pressure off of a single department, usually Language Arts, to always be the ones using instructional time to bring students to the media center. Additionally, it sends the message that reading is important to all teachers and all content areas. Second, it ensures students have weekly opportunities to browse and checkout books—especially important for those who will not choose to come in on their own time.
So, with one week until the kick-off of reading zone and about 65 empty advisory bags, we made a plea to the science department, whose week it was for media center visits, to please be diligent in making their visits and encourage every student to check out at least one book. All four science teachers decided to make their visits on Thursday or Friday of that week.
So, it was all hands on deck! For two days straight, Anna and I mingled with kids, directed them towards the books they wanted, or helped them use the wall-mounted touch-screen monitor to look up a title or author in our online catalog. Two other staff members checked out books and set one per student aside to be placed in the advisory bags.
As I attempted help one student who needed a book, I was striking out. He looked at me patiently as I held up book suggestions and then he beckoned me to follow him saying, “Here, let me show you an example of what I’m looking for.” I think we have a future Library Media Specialist on our hands…
In two days, we checked out 919 books to approximately 700 students. The following week, advisory teachers picked up bags full of books (plus a few extras, just in case) and started our second year of the school-wide reading zone initiative.
After just a few weeks, we are seeing an increased energy around reading and talking about books with peers. It has reaffirmed what we knew intuitively—environment matters! An inviting space designed with kids in mind is an essential part of creating and fostering engagement in reading. We are looking forward to seeing the new ways teachers and students will interact and learn in our new media center environment this year.