"I realized what we are doing is working when students started asking to bring their books outside with them at recess," said Binz, a K-6 reading and writing teacher at Appleton's Franklin Elementary School. "Now, when we talk about writing and books, there's a buzz of excitement - and not just from the teaching staff. Students can't wait to get their hands on new books and discuss what they have read."

Binz and Brown, a literacy coach at Milwaukee's Morgandale School, are among more than 100 educators in 24 states to receive either $2,000 or $5,000 NEA Learning & Leadership Grants to fund their buzz-raising projects. Both Binz and Brown are receiving $5,000.

The grants support collaborative efforts to develop project-based learning and break-the-mold innovations that significantly improve achievement for underserved students. The money enables educators to participate in high-quality professional development and then share their knowledge with colleagues.

Appleton: In-depth study groups

Binz partnered with a group of self-described "reading fanatics" to form in-depth study groups that meet during lunch and after school to organize half-day reading workshops. The goal is to help students read independently, understand and discuss books, and become lifelong readers.

"We're a group of people who love to read about teaching reading," Binz said. "Most people would say we're very prolific readers ourselves, in general. We're always asking each other, 'Have you read this? Oh, you have to read this!'"

Binz and other members of the group, including Rebecca Fleischman, Tiffany Nienow, Lou Ann Perry and Lois Zamzow, have self-funded trips to New York to attend the Reading and Writing Institute at the Teacher's College at Columbia University, which helped them develop their reading workshop format. The group routinely shares its findings with Franklin School staff and attends local, regional and national conferences.

"If no one gives you money and you feel passionate about something, you find a way to do it," Binz said. "Luckily, we have this grant to help us this year."

Binz, like educators across the state, has sadly become accustomed to stretched resources. As a reading specialist, her position could easily find its way to the chopping block each budget review. She has applied for smaller local grants in the past, but the NEA Learning & Leadership Grant is the largest she's ever won.

"In my position, I spend most of my time with children who are struggling, and about 40% with one teacher a year to help improve his or her reading and writing instruction methods," Binz said. "With this grant, we'll be able to observe someone teaching the reading workshop and then come back and process the different components and practice writing the lessons."

Throughout the year, Binz will make follow-up phone calls to the NEA, and a full report is due next December.

"Our district expects us to measure how we've used the program to improve instructional levels," Binz said. "There are so many diverse needs in a classroom - this is a program to help teachers focus on how to get their students engaged in wanting to learn."

One of the best ways to engage students is to give them a choice in what they read, Binz said.

"The 3rd graders like to have reading choices that excite them," Binz said. "We need to find the types of books that children want to read - both new series, such as Henry Winkler's "Zipzer" and "Ready Freddie!", and the tried-and-true classics."

Brown and his group set out to fill a hole they saw in the way they taught writing, and improve 3rd- and 5th-grade reading scores.

"We met as a staff and agreed we really didn't have a good idea of what writers do," Brown said. "Students would groan when it was time for the lesson to start because they were basically getting drilled on the five-paragraph essay. We weren't connecting with them."

Brown called in professional help – David Trembley, a retired part-time English teacher at MATC.

"He knows writing, and we know kids," Brown said. "It's the perfect fit. When we can get students' reading and writing skills to improve, their overall academics improve because they are able to think more clearly."

Brown, along with group members Ida Campos, Jane Paul, Karen Rehorst Porras and Irma Villegas, are working with Trembley in 10 demonstration lessons on writing theory – determining what it means to think and act like a writer. Student improvement is measured through writing samples, and results are shared with other teacher study groups.

"It's such a unique approach," Brown said. "He demonstrates technique to teachers with kids as a live audience. Students may have to describe something using their five senses, or they may have to write about how the moon is made out of blue cheese or just anything that gets them thinking. Sometimes the kids get so excited they won't let him out the door without listening to what they have written."

Like Binz, Brown also lives under the cloud that his position could be cut.

"Across the state, but certainly in Milwaukee, we've gone to a skeleton crew," said Brown, a former 1st-grade teacher. "A literacy coach position is something MPS started about five years ago. We work with teachers to help them improve their teaching methods because heavy-duty research shows that improving teaching improves learning. But some schools have cut the position back to half-time or less."

The grant cannot be used for salary, so teachers are volunteering their time to participate. Brown said he's thrilled to receive the grant, but there is a certain amount of angst involved in having to apply for grants.

"On one hand, the school gets to tailor its requests so grants are good," he said. "But on the other hand, if the state and federal governments would fund schools adequately, think of the time we could spend teaching, instead of applying for grants. There is constant pressure every year in Milwaukee to find money. You can't throw your hands up and say, 'I give up.'"

How to apply

All practicing public school K-12 teachers, education support professionals, and higher education faculty and staff are eligible to apply for Innovation Grants and Learning & Leadership Grants at any time. Applications are accepted on an ongoing, year-round basis and reviewed three times per year in September, February, and June. Grants are available for all subjects, including the arts, literature, science, mathematics, social sciences, and technology. Apply at http://www.neafoundation.org/grants.htm .

– Posted November 14, 2005