Cornerstone School Review?! Did we really choose this date?!! Where's all the student work?!! I know all those samples are here somewhere!! Leadership Team Meetings!! Visitors for 4 days in our building!!! Where should we put them? Is the teachers' lunch room available?!! Serve lunch? Who knows a caterer who takes purchase orders? Snacks? Coffee?

In the rush and anxiety attached to all that precedes the annual site review, we often need to remind ourselves of the overarching purpose that guides the Review Team: "to contribute, to inform, and shape a professional dialogue in every Cornerstone school." Ultimately this process should further professional dialogue and improve student learning and achievement in literacy.

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What is it about a peach pit or a piece of bark that could make someone cry, you might ask? If you don't have a clue and didn't have the opportunity to attend the session on crafting writing at the Summer Institute, then you will want to read on.

It was a hot July morning at the Summer Institute as Becky McKay introduced us to the wonders of "The Private Eye." With our jewelers' loupes in hand and a specimen from nature that we had selected, Becky asked us to look closely, look differently at our treasures. A few minutes before, she had modeled her own process for observation and writing using a peach pit.

Now, she wanted us to be the writers, the poets. Many participants mumbled that they weren't writers and certainly not poets. However, Becky made it look so easy that we were ready to give it a try.

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