Celebrate This Week : January 14, 2017.

This week I celebrate
the past and the present
in my “professional development life”

Backstory.
For more than twenty years, I have provided professional development to schools across the country. The bulk of this PD focuses on the foundation knowledge and skills for reading and writing. I called my first integrated phonics, handwriting, spelling workshops “Johnny Can Spell” and it soon became the title of the instructional approach.

My Celebration.
Earlier this week, a little red number one pop up above the message icon on my business Facebook page.  I clicked it open —

Hi Alice! I am an elementary librarian and am looking into having someone from Johnny Can Spell come to our campus and train all our teachers. … Could you send me … a number that I can call and talk to someone about bringing one of your trainers in?  Thank you! [LC]  {I have never met LC.}

I messaged back —

Hi Lauren, Thank you for your interest. You can reach me at (I supplied my email address and my office phone). I personally do all the training through an online and onsite combination. …  I’ll call you. With travel and training this week, it will be easier for me to call you. … My website is www.alicenine.net …  I look forward to hearing from you!  A9

In less than twenty-four hours, LC had left me a voice mail with her phone number and some general information. The next morning, as I ate breakfast, I called LC. {We are in different time zones.} She was unavailable, so I left a message. Within the hour, she returned my call.

When I asked LC how she had heard of me, she said,

“I learned to read and write with Johnny Can Spell.”

In that moment, with those words, LC brought my life commitment full circle. There are no words to describe the joy that filled my heart when I realized she had been taught to read and write by a teacher who had taken my training and used my instructional approach. I rejoiced in the fullness of the circle.

OLW 2017

Come on over and celebrate at Discover Play Build  with Ruth Ayres and others who have linked in to share their celebrations. Thank you, Ruth for inviting us to celebrate. #Celebratelu