I had the joy of meeting K—8 principal, James Parker who, along with his staff, joined us for Daily 5 and CAFE  workshops in Orange County, California, this summer. His unbridled enthusiasm and respect for the educators with whom he works was contagious. Imagine my surprise when he shared that he had never heard about Daily 5 until his teachers introduced it to him. James recently sent this note about the journey he has been on as the Daily 5 takes hold at his school. Read on to learn about the power of choice—not just for kids—and learn from his experience and powerful advice. 

Truth be told, a year and a half ago I had never heard of Daily 5, CAFE, or The 2 Sisters. Last year was my first year as principal of the K—8 school I now lead. My first days of meeting the staff, as teachers were telling me about Daily 5, was my initial introduction to The 2 Sisters' work. And all I knew about it at that time was that my staff wanted to explore Daily 5 and CAFE further.

The process of exploring these new-to-me classroom structures began with a handful of teachers attending a Daily 5 conference last year. In addition, for those who were interested, we ordered the Daily 5 and CAFE books as well as some other materials. Our staff participated in a webinar, learning a bit more about Daily 5 and a group of teachers decided to jump in and give it a try. 

With all this exploring and dabbling, we decided to continue to learn more. So this summer the Daily 5 and CAFE conferences were made available, yet not mandated, to any teacher who was interested. A notable thing happened—EVERY teacher signed up to attend.

Now this school year, each grade level in our K—8 building is involved at some level in Daily 5 and CAFE. We have the entire continuum represented in our teachers; those who fully implemented Daily 5 and CAFE last year and are now tackling the Math Daily 3, teachers who launched Read to Self last week, and those getting ready to introduce Daily 5 to their students for the first time ever.

As I reflect, I'm so glad I didn't come outright to the staff and say something like, "I have never heard of these systems so we aren't going to invest any time or resources into pursuing them," or "We are all doing Daily 5 . . . and that's an order!"  Not only do I think we wouldn't be as far along, but also it would feel different. 

As the principal of this school I have watched my whole staff choose to pursue these literacy and math systems, each in their own way. A powerful takeaway for me and my unsolicited advice for other teacher leaders, grade-level leads, literacy coaches, assistant principals, principals, district office personnel or anyone involved in education is this: choice isn't just for kids. 

There's a movement of Daily 5 afoot here but it isn't because I said, "We should do it" or, "We all have to do it because it's right."  I believe the movement is happening because teachers were given a choice. 

Thanks to you, James, for sharing your journey. Your students are lucky to attend a school with such a dedicated principal and such dedicated teachers. 

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