Thank you, Department of Defense Educators!

Great to be with you this week!  As I read Cathy Mere's blog tonight, she shared the following quote - and it reminded me of you all.  Warmest wishes on all your journeys....

From poet Ryunosuke Satoro...
"Individually we are one drop.  Together we are an ocean."

In Honor and Gratitude of AERO 2011 ELA Scholars

Thank you so very much for a glorious week of learning and connecting this week.  As you return to your schools around the world, please know that you have a cheerleader in Colorado.

And, to fuel your work and deepen our connections, here are a few "short and spirited" texts (quotes!) to light your brilliant and caring work:
That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.
The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The unexamined practice is not worth practicing.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

The secret to being a writer is that you have to write. It's not enough to think about writing or to study literature or plan a future life as an author. You really have to lock yourself away, alone, and get to work.

Augusten Burroughs
My first plan of escape having failed, I now determined upon another.
Buffalo Bill
To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.
Leonard Bernstein
Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.
Charles Eames

Big hugs of respect and affection to you all,
Laura :)

In honor of Bonnie Campbell Hill and Carol Wilcox...who constantly steer me to GREAT books...So grateful for you both!

From The Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society


by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment.

Focusing in on Mike Schmoker's FOCUS

LOVE Schmoker's new book Focus - a manifesto. "How we teach is also inseparable from literacy" (p 4). "Board, wide reading is the heart of the language arts" (p 101). "Social studies is the study of the world" (p 161). "Wide, abundant reading is the surest route out of poverty" (p 95). "Write many short, informal pieces and one longer, formal, argumentative or interpretive paper each month" (p 127).

"Literature makes significant life possible...We construct ourselves from novels, poems, and plays as well as from works of history and philosophy" - Mark Edmundson in WHY READ? (2004) and Schmoker's FOCUS (p 93).

Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Teacher Leader Award

 Bonnie Campbell Hill National Literacy Teacher Leader Award

The Children’s Literature Assembly (CLA) will honor two outstanding teacher leaders.  These may include a classroom teacher, literacy coach, or teacher educator dedicated to improving the teaching and learning of reading and writing in real world contexts in grades K – 8.  The US $2,500 grant is intended to be used for professional development (not for materials, except professional books for a book study).  In addition, recipients will receive a coupon for up to $500 of professional books published by Heinemann Publishers.  Applicants must be members of both NCTE and CLA. The grant is supported by Bonnie Campbell Hill and her family. 

Guidelines

Your application materials must include five items:

1. Completed application form. 

A professional development plan (three-page maximum) for the 2011-2012 that outlines why you would be a strong candidate for these monies and your vision for how this support would allow you to improve and enhance teaching and learning for students and/or teachers.  Funds may be used for, but are not limited to, the following examples: attending the Annual IRA Convention, attending the Annual NCTE Conference, attending Teacher’s College Training, or a reputable children’s literature conference, conducting literature-based research with teaching implementation potential (i.e., Kerlan Collection), buying professional books for a book study among colleagues.  Funds may not be used to buy classroom materials.  The plan should address key elements that are listed in the attached rubric.  A specific plan for how the $2,500 and $500 in professional books would be spent must be included.

2. A resume showing professional experience and leadership accomplishments/activities.
3. A letter of recommendation from a supervisor detailing the applicant’s leadership skills, collaborative interactions, effective teaching practices, successful teaching/learning relationships with students and teachers and an understanding of the intentions and/or support of the project detailed by the applicant.
4. A follow up report describing how the award was used and how it helped the recipient carry the ideas forward: Due May 1, 2012.

An electronic copy of the complete application must be submitted to Dr. Nancy J. Johnson, committee chair, by May 15^th, 2011.  An example of the evaluation criteria is included with this letter.  

Announcement of the winners will occur on or before August 21^st, 2011 for the 2011-2012 school year.  The award will be presented at the November NCTE Convention. The recipients of the Bonnie Campbell Hill Literacy Teacher Leader Award are cordially invited to attend the CLA Breakfast where they will be introduced by the Awards Committee.  All conference expenses (transportation, meals, and housing) will be borne by the winner or paid for out of the initial award.  Professional books must be purchased during the 2011-2012 school year by contacting Jeanne Durost, Director of Customer Service, Heinemann Publishing, Phone: 800-225-5800  x1310, Email: jeanne.durost@heinemann.com. The winner must submit a report to the committee about how the funds were used by May 1^st, 2012 with information about what the winner learned and the impact of this project on student learning and professional development.

E-mail application to:  Dr. Nancy J. Johnson at njohnson@sas.edu.sg

Bonnie Campbell Hill National Teacher Leader Literacy Award

_________

Application Form

Name:   ___________________________________________

Home Address: ____________________________________

                            ____________________________________

E- mail: ___________________________________________

Home Phone: ______________________________________

Cell Phone: ________________________________________

Name of school where you teach: _______________________________________________

Address of school: ___________________________________________________________

                                 ___________________________________________________________

School Phone: ______________________________________________

My current position is: _______________________________________

Professional affiliations (WORD, NCTE, IRA):_________________________________

NCTE Membership Number (To join NCTE, visit www.ncte.org)___________________________

CLA Membership expiration date (To join CLA, visit www.childrensliteratureassembly.org)__________

I give my permission for the information submitted to be reviewed by the selection committee.

_______________________________________                                               _______________

              Signature                                                                                                       Date

Application Requirements Checklist

Please make sure you have completed all of the following requirements and included them in your application materials.

_______ Application Form

_______ Professional Development Plan including a plan for how the $2,500 and the $500 for professional books would be spent

_______ Resume

_______ Letter from a supervisor

An electronic copy of this application packet must be sent electronically to njohnson@sas.edu.sg by May 15^th, 2011.

Bonnie Campbell Hill Teacher Leader Literacy Award

Bonnie Campbell Hill National Teacher Leader Literacy Award

Sample Evaluation Criteria

For Classroom Teachers:

Nominee:  ____________________________

Letters of support and the professional development plan must comment on each of the following criteria as it applies to the applicant.  

Scoring Key:

    0  Not applicable

    1  Weak

    2  Average

    3  Strong

	Average Score
1.  Knowledge of reading and writing instructional strategies
2.  Evidence of effective literacy instruction
3.  Willingness to collaborate and share ideas and methods
4.  Demonstrated leadership skills that impact colleagues
5.  Demonstrated enthusiasm for the field of literacy instruction
6.      Potential of proposal to impact student learning and/or professional development of a learning community

For Teacher Leaders: 

Nominee:  ______________________________

Letters of support and the professional development plan must comment on each of the following criteria as it applies to the applicant.  

Scoring Key:

    0  Not applicable

    1  Weak

    2  Average

    3  Strong

	Average Score
1. Knowledge of content and pedagogy
2.  Demonstrated efforts of working with adult learners
3.  Effective communication skills
4.  Demonstrated collaborative skills
5.  Effective systems thinking – working effectively within a system and developed skills of       advocacy of the system
7.                  6.   Potential of proposal to impact student learning and/or professional development of a learning community

Bonnie Campbell Hill National Teacher Leader Literacy Award

Evaluation Criteria (for use by selection committee)

For Classroom Teachers:

Nominee:  ____________________________

Letters of support and the professional development plan must comment on each of the following criteria as it applies to the applicant.   For each application you read, please use the key below to determine the rating for each of the five areas.  Then average the ratings for each criterion and indicate the average in the box. 

Scoring Key:

    0  Not mentioned

    1  Weak

    2  Average

    3  Strong

	Average Score
1.  Knowledge of reading and writing instructional strategies
2.  Evidence of effective literacy instruction
3.  Willingness to collaborate and share ideas and methods
4.  Demonstrated leadership skills that impact colleagues
5.  Demonstrated enthusiasm for the field of literacy instruction
6.   Potential of proposal to impact student learning and/or professional development of a learning community

For Teacher Leaders: 

Nominee:  ______________________________

Letters of support and the professional development plan must comment on each of the following criteria as it applies to the applicant.   For each application you read, please use the key below to determine the rating for each of the five areas.  Then average the ratings for each criterion and indicate the average in the box. 

Scoring Key:

    0  Not mentioned

    1  Weak

    2  Average

    3  Strong

	Average Score
1. Knowledge of content and pedagogy
2.  Demonstrated efforts of working with adult learners
3.  Effective communication skills
4.  Demonstrated collaborative skills
5.  Effective systems thinking – working effectively within a system and developed skills of       advocacy of the system
6.   Potential of proposal to impact student learning and/or professional development of a learning community

In Celebration of the New Year, An Invitation to Read a Great Book

by a dear friend, Stevi :)

The Six Cs: Creating a Context  That Motivates Students & Nurtures Engagement                                                  Stevi Quate and John McDermott (2009), Clockwatchers Caring Classroom Community                     Checking In and Checking Out Choice                                                               Collaboration Challenge                                                          Celebration

The novel works because it possesses the inexpressible magic where the art of pure storytelling rises above its ancient use and succeeds in explaining to a whole nation how it came to be this way.  There has never been a reader or a writer who could figure out why this happens to only a very few books.  It involves all the eerie mysteries of enchantment itself, the untouchable wizardry that occurs when a story, in all its fragile elegance, speaks to the times in a clear, original voice and answers some strange hungers and demands of the Zeitgeist.

                                                     Pat Conroy in My Reading Life

The Cure at Troy

by Seamus Heaney

Human beings suffer,
They torture one another,
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.

The innocent in gaols
Beat on their bars together.
A hunger-striker's father
Stands in the graveyard dumb.
The police widow in veils
Faints at the funeral home.

History says, don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

There is no passion more rewarding than reading itself. . .it remains the best way to dream and to feel the sheer carnal joy of being fully and openly alive.

                                                     Pat Conroy in My Reading Life