Action+Plan

=Growing our teaching= Recently I was looking through one of my favorite books, //Teaching with Fire//, and came across this poem. It reminded me of the journey we're going on together, a journey to become a school where thinking and thoughtfulness is at the center of what students engage in all day long. We all know that the journey to become the best teacher possible is one that doesn't end; the destination is always "on the other side of the door," and we know that the journey is much more fun when we have colleagues join us: "If you come, too, we can sail tall ships."

I've included a question on the discussion portion of this page about your journey: What in your instruction will you be working on over the next few weeks? I'm not sure if you will think about working on conferring, doing think alouds, increasing student talk/work time, planning with thinking strategies, or what, but I'm very eager to read your thoughts.

Stevi

On the Other Side of the Door
On the other side of the door I can be a different me, As smart and as brave and as funny or strong As a person could want to be. There's nothing too hard for me to do, There's no place I can't explore Because everything can happen On the other side of the door.

On the other side of the door I don't have to go alone. If you come, too, we can sail tall ships And fly where the wind has flown. And wherever we go, it is almost sure We'll find what we're looking for Because everythng can happen On the other side of the door. -- Jeff Moss (From //Teaching with Fire: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Teach//, Sam Intrator & Megan Scribner, editors)