The Six Secrets of Change: What the Best Leaders Do to Help Their Organizations Survive and Thrive by Michael Fullan

As an invitation to read this brilliant book, check out Fullan's secrets (He calls them secrets because "they are hard grasp in their deep meaning and are extremely difficult to appreciate and act on in combination."):

1) Love Your Employees

[*Isn't that radical?]

2) Connect Peers with Purpose

3) Capacity Building Prevails

4) Learning Is the Work

5) Transparency Rules

6) Systems Learn

More updates soon! Additional titles profiled over the next few weeks.

Happy Reading :)

Blessings to you and yours in 2010!

University of Colorado School of Education and Secondary Literacy Network

Online Adolescent Literacy Certificate Program, Grades 6-12

Helping teachers develop their skills to teach literacy in the 21^st Century

What is the Adolescent Literacy Certificate, Grades 6-12?

In response to implementation of the Colorado Basic Literacy Act at the secondary level and No Child Left Behind, the University of Colorado Denver (UCD), Front Range BOCES, and the Secondary Literacy Network have developed the Adolescent Literacy Certificate.

This certificate is a series of three graduate level courses specifically geared to the development of middle and high school readers and writers – especially those who are struggling. The classes are thoughtfully designed for teachers of all content areas and those teaching special reading classes.

Teachers may enroll in the certificate program alone or transfer the 9 hours into a masters program. All hours can help fulfill the requirements for the Colorado Reading Teacher Endorsement through the UCD School of Education and Human Development.

The Adolescent Literacy Certificate Program provides middle and high school teachers with a convenient, online format to further develop their literacy teaching skills in order to maximize student growth and achievement. This series of courses uses online resources, proven textbooks, and a collaborative online community to help teachers learn, implement, and reflect on their own teaching practice.

For questions about the certificate program, contact Linda.fiorella@ucdenver.edu Online Instructor

How to Register?

Please e-mail the Office of Continuing and Professional Education at cpe@ucdenver.edu to let us know of your intent to register for the Adolescent Literacy Certificate. We will help you through the process.

Questions? Call us at 303-556-6030.

http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/SchoolOfEducation/Academics/ContinuingEducation/Certificates/Pages/AdolescentLiteracyCertificate.aspx

A Passion for Passion!

Passion is our ground, our island…

Eudora Welty

I have learnt to seek intensity…more of life, a concentrated sense of life…

Nina Berberova, Russian writer

What is passion? It is surely the becoming of a person.

John Boorman, British film director

What makes the engine go? Desire, desire, desire.

Stanley Kunitz, poet

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.

Denis Diderot, French philosopher

Professional Development Learning Opportunities...No Matter Where You Live :)

Many international school educators have asked me about professional development opportunities and degree programs, especially those you can access online. I came across the following list (below) which might prove helpful in these types of searches. If you are looking for a study group or guided course of study, I would first search the multitude of rich offerings from The International Reading Association and The National Council of Teachers of English as well as those offered by publishers such as Heinemann and Stenhouse. Wishing you edifying roads on all your journeys!

worldwidelearn.com

guidetoonlineschools.com

geteducated.com

selfmadescholar.com

learnhub.com

online-education.net

As you read books to your students and with your students, be their literacy mentor…their brain tour guide as you think aloud explaining why and how you work to create meaning as reader and work to share your thinking and be understood as a writer… (Benson, 1997).

1st Philippines ECE Summit

Warmest thanks to the leaders and participants of the Philippines First ECE Summit! It was such a joy to meet you all and to learn from you. I wish you great blessings on the next steps of your journey to making reading and writing and open book for your lucky students :)! Special hugs to Joyce and Maricar!

Formative Assessment

In order for formative assessment to be embedded in practice, it is vital that teachers have children's learning as their priority, not their teaching or the opinions of outside parties.
Shirley Clarke (2003), Enriching Feedback in the Primary Classroom



Formative Assessment consists of the following components:

• The active involvement of students in their own learning;
• Sharing learning goals with students;
• Involving students in self-assessment;
• Effective questioning;
• Providing feedback which leads to students recognizing their next steps and how to take them;
• Adjusting teaching to take account/respond to the results of assessments;
• Confidence that every student can improve (the untapped potential of each child rather than "fixed IQ" belief). Black and William (1998)

If pupils don't learn the way we teach...perhaps we should teach the way they learn.
Eppig (1981)