Below is some dialog regarding school year reading successes and planned summer training for reading teachers between a teacher and the school office:

Subject: Summer Training Dates

Hi J. !

Summer Training dates for G. Elementary School are June 14-18 at M. Elementary.

I am excited about the prospect of additional professional development. As the memo stated, it IS all about teacher expertise in the delivery of our reading program. I will not be attending the meeting in M. concerning this because we are hosting a two day training for Mc. and M. summer school teachers as well as six G. teachers that I hope to have as lead teachers per grade level next year and that will begin to set up model classrooms. B. will conduct the first day of training and C. A. from ERI will conduct the second day. Please know that I WILL be writing for the PD money!

I wish there were words to sum up this school year - but there really aren't. Yesterday was quite an emotional day as we held our last grade level data meetings for the year and I listened to several "nay-sayers" give testimony to the progress of their students this year. The tissues came out though when a highly respected teacher of over 25 years (that had come to me almost on a daily basis this year worried about whether her students were going to be ok with this program or not) wept as she told me that for the first time in her career she knew HOW to teach children to read and that she felt like a reading teacher. If someone had told me six weeks in to the school year that our second grade teachers were going to call me out in to their hall like they did day before yesterday and do a choreographed dance number to "Get Ready" (by the Four Tops-I think) that was full of our Direct Instruction prompts like Get Ready, Eyes on Me and Individual Turn, I would have thought they had lost their minds!

Teachers have never understood the nuts and bolts of teaching children HOW to read. Thank God, we are getting closer.

We've still got a long journey, but I believe we have covered significant mileage in the right direction.

Much gratitude to you for the opportunity, A.

Subject: RE: Summer Training Dates

Thank you so much, A. We are also very emotional as the data and the reports like yours are coming in. We have called Washington twice already! Your teachers are restating what we believed from the beginning. All teachers want to do the best for their students - they just haven't known the best practices in the past. It is thrilling to think that we really can make a difference with all children.

Hope to see you soon,

J.

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