Good evening ladies and gents and Happy Friday! Today was the last day of SoMIRAC---the State of Maryland International Reading Association Conference---and I have truly enjoyed myself. I saw some great speakers, met a few authors that were new to me and, of course, had fun collecting free samples from all the vendors. My principal gave me another mission however....to buy multiple copies of To Understand for our school. I wanted you all to know that it took me multiple trips to the Heinemann booth to actually be there when there were books available! The sales reps kept having to order extra copies and having them Fed Ex'ed to the hotel and I every time I stopped by, they were sold out. Finally, this morning pretty close to noon, I stopped by and was able to get the last five copies available. A rather harassed sales rep said to me, "Geez, I can't keep this book on the shelf! Everyone is asking me about the book and saying that there is a great listserv group with unbelievable discussions. Everyone is wanting to know if I knew how to get on the listserv!" I was so proud for all of us when I said "Yes, I know about that listserv ...the discussions have been great and here's how you get on it!" Seems like we are developing a really great reputation...do you realize we have all become "intellectuals!" :-) Remember how we have discussed literacy leadership in some of our previous posts? I think our group as a collective are really acting as intellectual role models. Whether or not you are actively posting...you are modeling the life of an intellectual. Now we just need to talk about our experiences with our students and keep talking about them with colleagues! One other thing that struck me was how many people seem to be craving this kind of professional dialogue. People heard about our listserv and want to be a part of it or at least witness it. We want to share our learning with others...and need it to truly understand. Doesn't this have implications for those of us in formal or informal leadership roles? How do we meet this need for teachers that are ready for it and how do we model the joy that comes from these learning experiences with colleagues that aren't quite there yet? Anyway...just wanted you all to know that you are all becoming "famous!" :-) Jennifer
**************Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851) _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
