Wonderful Teaming With @DonnaDelbasso and Nicole Brown To Discuss Hill Central Collaboration on Day One

Every year after the first day of the Summer Invitational, I think to myself, "Man, I'm fried." Knowing it is only day one, I go into a panic. "There's no way I can keep this pace all summer," I think to myself. Yet somehow I do. The exhaustion arrives because so much of the labor and work arrives from the organization of the program months and months in advance. This year, we're serving over 100 students and 20 teachers with our summer outreach. I feel like I am running a school (that's because I am).

The trick is that I also teach the entire day, as well.

Ah, but it's worth it. Yesterday, Donna Delbasso and Nicole Brown arrived from our partnership in New Haven to discuss the yearlong professional development we collaborated on throughout the 2013-2014 school year. Even though the Supporting Effective Educator Development High Needs school grant ended, the work invested into the literacy program continues. The success of our partnership was a result of vision from the top, excellence on their literacy team, and the investment of teachers to push their students to be their best.

It was a wonderful time sharing our work with the new teachers in our invitational summer institute and to initiate them to what is possible through a team of dedicated writing teachers. Each and every day at the ISI is a mini-conference where teachers leave with materials, ideas, dreams, and new lessons. It is the best way to spread teacher resources and to encourage teachers to apply effective writing practices.

Today is day 2 and we'll see where it goes! We have a lot in store...I just have to remember that egg!