Road trip

10/23/09 A Mind at a Time audio book, given away

Even though I am the only Literacy Coach at my school, I am incredibly fortunate to have five coaching colleagues within my school district. Several times a year, we attend literacy conferences at the University of Maine, 150 miles from Oxford Hills. We're public school employees. We carpool.

These communal trips are a powerful professional development opportunity for me, one that often rivals the high-quality sessions at the University. Five hours of drive-time leads to intense, thought-provoking discussions. These ladies are so smart, I can't help but learn all the way up and down the Maine Turnpike.

Today, Natalie offered to chauffeur Mary and me up to the event. Usually we may have as many as five of us in one car, but on this occasion, for various reasons, we were rather fractured. Regardless, with just the three of us, the "Natmobile" was filled with meaty debate and professional exchanges. My head was swimming. As Lester Laminack (today's conference speaker) would certainly say, "You go, girls!"

I headed to Orono with the intention of donating my copy of Mel Levine's A Mind at a Time to the professional library of The Maine Literacy Partnership. (I could write ten blog posts about it, but the short version is that The Maine Literacy Partnership is the Literacy Coaching brain trust and training organization. It rocks.)

On the ride up, I mentioned my idea of giving away the audio book. Mary -- consummate professional that she is -- jumped at the chance to listen to it first. That's what I love about these ladies. They are determined to be lifelong learners, great at what they do, ready to go above and beyond to support students and teachers.

When Mary is done with it, she'll pass it on, perhaps to the Maine Literacy Partnership. In the meantime, she'll grow from listening to it.

Just as I grow from listening to her. Whew, what a way to end the workweek.