My older daughter Kate recently turned 30. She mentioned that she doesn't feel like a grown-up...but what does that mean? I think she is responsible and reliable, knows when and how to act appropriately, makes good decisions (Ha! most of the time), etc. I think she is a grown-up and in those ways, I consider myself "grown-up" also.

The underlying internal debate in her blog seems to be "Am I still going to have fun in life? Am I still going to be spontaneous, energetic, full-of-life, carefree, and happy now that I'm 30?" My answer is a big YES!

Kate, maybe you are wondering how you can get older and still FEEL young...

I think it's quite possible, but you must be intentional in continuing to live your life so that you can always feel young. Consider the advice from your mom, the oldest person in the picture above and a person who doesn't like to feel "old" either...

Sherre's Advice for Staying Young:

1. Be committed to something important. Whether it be children's literacy (picture shows a group of us in Senator Kit Bond's office on Capital Hill to advocate for Early Literacy funding) or going door-to-door to encourage people to get out and vote (Kate) - life is good when you have a cause/purpose greater than yourself.

2. Take care of yourself. I've realized over the last few years that no one else can make the healthy choices I need except for me. Taking care of me needs to be my number one priority if I want to live a good life as I age. Exercising at least 4-5 times per week and healthy eating have really helped me feel better and look better. I'm also investing in my future health this way.

3. Surround yourself with good friends and those who love you. I am so lucky to have a great husband - the love of my life - and wonderful children and several close friends and a host of great colleagues. Great relationships take time and effort (commitment) and are always a give-and-take.

4. Don't just enjoy the moment...Be grateful for all the moments. It is easy to get caught up in a single exciting event and then be deflated after that event is over. Consider that most of us lead the lives of royalty by the standards of 90% of our world's population. I try to remind myself of the opportunities I've had and continue to have in life. I try to be mindful that I'm not just "lucky," but that I've been directed and protected by the people God has placed and will place in my life. Ultimately, I believe that God's intentions are being carried out by every person's actions in this temporary world. And while I may not understand His reasons, I know we are all part of His plan. This faith in God has given me comfort and peace throughout my life.

5. Love yourself...just the way you are and where you are at this point in life. You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to follow the latest styles, but you do have to love who you are. I've worked with too many children who think they have to be perfect or that they aren't smart enough. Those kinds of attitudes are detrimental to any kind of progress in learning as they are to any kind of progress in becoming the person you want to be. Be patient with yourself. Life is a process. No one thing or event defines you or completes you. Keep yourself open to possibilities, but don't let life's events dictate your happiness or define who are. Your choices define who you are.

6. A birthday is just one more day...be grateful for it. It's better than the alternative! Seriously, I know that if I live by my own advice above, I will continue to enjoy life and feel excited about every new day and its possibilities. (Ken and Marianne Estes, Marianne and Bob Fletcher, Jan Webb, Kathy and Jeff Munzinger, and all my friends who inspire me to be a better person...I thank you!)

To my daughter Kate...Happy Birthday! I wish you many more to come!

Change Over Time

Change Over Time - a book by Marie Clay. Complex, but very helpful in studying the process of learning to read. In the Reading Recovery training class I am working with this year, we have talked a lot about change - not only in the children we've worked with, but also in ourselves. It is so gratifying to see each teacher's new understandings blossom.


I have also been changing. Many have begun to notice my trimmer figure. At a recent event, people were saying to me, "Wow! You look GOOD!" Well, let me tell you...Change Isn't Easy! It's Hard Work! I've gone to over 275 Jazzercise sessions in the last year. I've started watching what I eat, counting carbs and checking my blood sugar. I've learned a lot about myself in the process:

• To change old habits, I self-monitored, self-corrected, took advice, and asked hard questions,



• To be motivated to exercise, I found something I like to do - like dancing to music (Jazzercise)-and pushed myself to make it harder everytime (like higher weights, more intense movements, etc.).



• To have enough energy to exercise hard, I learned how to monitor my blood sugar so that it is at least 100 when I want to exercise, otherwise I don't have enough energy. (I learned that from reading)



• To feel better physically, I avoided foods, additives, and environmental triggers that I'm allergic to,



• To lessen stress, I analyzed the things in my life that cause me stress and detract me from being healthy and have made necessary changes,



• To become centered on what's really important, I prayed for God to help me with an attitude adjustment, and...



• To gain control, I changed the only thing I could change - myself.

Change is hard work, but it is the only way you grow. It's a daily challenge. The discomfort you feel can lead to improvement, if you are open to becoming the best you can be. Change over time...we are a work in progress, right?

To my friends and loved ones, I hope I can inspire you as much as you inspire me!

One Key to Happiness

"Ancient philosophers and scientists agree: strong social ties are the KEY to happiness. You need close, long-term relationships; you need to be able to confide in others; you need to belong; you need to get and give support. Studies show that if you have five or more friends with whom to discuss an important matter you’re far more likely to describe yourself as “very happy.”
Not only does having strong relationships make it far more likely that you take joy in life, but studies show that it also lengthens life (incredibly, even more than stopping smoking), boosts immunity, and cuts the risk of depression."

I have always considered myself a happy person, and I often wonder why I am this way. So when one of my daughters was struggling with finding happiness, she shared this website: http://www.happiness-project.com/. I enjoy reading about how others deal with stress and keep life positive. This has been a stressful year personally and professionally, but I am blessed to have a great support system - and count among my strong relationships the wonderful people I work with daily in Title 1 and my school system.

Working with struggling readers and their teachers is a huge blessing to me. My colleagues are always open to finding the best way to teach these children how to read and to constantly work on their teaching approaches with individual students. These are teachers who are willing to go the extra mile and see the potential in every child.

How could I not be happy? I get to help children learn and work with teachers to problem solve every day! That is one key to my happiness - a job that is not easy, but it is so rewarding.

Professional Development or Cupid (aka, Jack Parke)?

Dear Nicole (Parke),

I know you couldn't be with us today, but I just wanted to let you know that the Reading Specialists here in Springfield thought today was almost as good as this darling picture of your new son Jack.
Here were the "Plus" remarks:

• We loved the all-in-one-day approach with time to debrief and reflect deeply at the end of the day.
• We liked the smaller groups - we felt more comfortable .
• There was more time to problem solve around difficult students and teaching approaches
• We were reminded that we are not alone. We share common problems and can share ideas with our colleagues.
• This was a great use of human resources and didn't cost lots of money for travel and other expenses. We utilized and shared our expertise within our department!
• It was inspiring! I have ideas that I can use tomorrow!

Our "Deltas" were constructive:

• Don't pick a week with only 4 days - we do need to be with our students!
• Scheduling was tricky, but most of us were able to work it out.
• Give us more room to write the great things we are observing in each lesson!
• We would love to see other models used in our district: Kindergarten Interventions, more Guided Reading Plus and Comprehension Focus Groups - especially the writing component in the last two.
• We need updating of our Small Literacy Group training - at the beginning of the school year so that we can apply the new learning immediately!

I have to brag on our teachers...they are so smart and full of great, positive thoughts! So...since we weren't able to kiss those sweet chubby cheeks of Jack's today, I guess we did have a great day anyway. As one teacher put it, "I really enjoyed the cluster visits. It was really nice to spend the day learning with new friends. I felt like it was an informal way to learn with little stress (the best way to learn) and great information! I learned a lot!"

For more information on Springfield's version of "Cluster Visits," contact Sherre Marek at smarek@spsmail.org . For a chance to kiss Jack's chubby cheeks, contact nparke@spsmail.org - good luck!

Does Our Brain Have a Switch that Makes Everyone an Einstein?

I subscribe to a free newsletter from the Dana Foundation (http://www.dana.org/). It's called Brain in the News. There's a great variety of interesting articles on current brain research each month - like It's Never Too Late to Grow Your Brain, The Sounds of Shapes Allows Blind People to 'See' Again - you get the idea. The articles are based on scientific research reports and represent a compilation of published research from well-known sources.

The essence of the Title article is questioning whether keeping our minds active can increase problem solving skills.

As teachers and administrators in public schools, we are all looking for the quick fix, silver bullet, stun gun approach to leaving no child left behind. I was particularly drawn to the idea that "challenging your brain can have positive effects." "Brain plasticity" is a big topic among computer software companies (like FastForword - http://www.scilearn.com/) which claim to "strengthen brain processing efficiency for learning and reading success." (Be sure to read carefully through their list of references.)

However, the truth according to other researchers (Cohen, Andreasen, Beeman) is that "extravagant claims about ways of improving your brain on the basis of evidence from MRI machines are likely to be snake oil." So, to those of you thinking we can just press the Easy Button, sorry...it still takes good teaching and good teachers.

The article continues to discuss What Makes Genius? I love the idea that we can all have those moments of inspriation or insight - but "we don't really know what we are seeing when we watch the brain work (on the MRI)...It may be 300 years before we can do things like enhance our creativity...some say in 20 years we can make you smarter, but I'm a pessimist." And I could be dead by then!

The article ends with "There's going to be a lot of snake oil on the market in the decades, if not centuries, before we can come up with any more solid prescriptions to save our highest creative selves from brain rot." So in the meantime...let's work on our teaching skills and help the children that are struggling to read.

Postscript: test your brain out at http://www.brainmetrix.com/ or go to http://www.sharpbrains.com/ to get "high-quality, research based information and guidance to navigate the brain-training and cognitive-fitness market." Or, better still, read a good book!