An interview with Debbie Miller -

It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since Debbie Miller first wrote Reading with Meaning.  If you're like me, it quickly became your "go to" resource for thinking strategy instruction and developing understanding with your students.  If you're like me, your copy became dog-earred, sticky-noted, and well-loved.  If you're like me, you often sat with your tattered copy of Debbie's book on your lap as you taught, on your desk as you planned, or in your hands as you talked with fellow teachers.

And now, our profession is once again blessed because Debbie has written the second edition of Reading With Meaning.  In the second edition, she shares some of her recent thinking about comprehension instruction.  She shares new insights into the gradual release of responsibility and how to plan to develop student independence.  For Debbie, it's always been about intentionality and understanding.  Once again, we're taken into Debbie's teaching life... into the classroom experiences that made us all better teachers in the first place.

I've known Debbie for many years.  She's my colleague, and more importantly, my friend.  I couldn't wait to read the second edition and I was excited to spend a bit of time asking her about her latest endeavor... and to share it with others:

Patrick:  What prompted you to revisit and revise Reading with Meaning?

Debbie:  It was an email from Philippa, my editor at Stenhouse, that got me thinking—she asked if I would consider writing a second edition, and in the end, I said, "Yes!"

Patrick:  Writing a book is no easy task, "revisioning" a book is daunting.  What are you most proud of as a writer?

Debbie:  I'm most proud that I stuck with it, and did it!  I'd never considered myself as a writer and the first time around it took me quite a while to find my voice.  I kept trying to sound like what I thought I should sound like and it was getting me nowhere.  Finally, Philippa said to me, "Why don't you try writing the way you talk?

"Funny you should say that," I told her, "that's what I'm always saying to kids!"  And really—that one piece of advice made all the difference.  Once I learned that being me was enough, I got myself going and kept at it.  And sometimes I still can't believe it did...

Patrick:  Thousands of teachers read the first edition of Reading With Meaning and their teaching lives were forever changed.  What are some of the ways you hope this second edition will challenge a teacher's thinking?

Debbie:  I hope it will challenge teachers—as it did me—to think about what we've learned over the past ten years.  What makes sense still?  What have I learned about children, teaching, and learning over time?  I'm always asking the children I work with, "So what did you learn about yourself as a reader today?  What do you understand now that you didn't understand before?  How did you make yourself smarter today?"  

What if we as teachers asked the same kinds of questions—"What am I learning about myself as a teacher?  What do I understand now that I didn't understand before?  How am I making myself smarter?"

So what's new for me?  Instead of comprehension strategies being the organizing features of the curriculum, I see them as the essential tools children need to actively engage with content, construct meaning, and grow their understanding of big ideas in the world.  Comprehension strategies are the how—the specific processes learners flexibly use—to get smarter about big, important topics that are relevant to them and help them become powerful and thoughtful human beings. 

I've also been rethinking gradual release and its connection to agency—could too much modeling lead to conformity and compliance, taking away student energy, engagement, and motivation?

And the the planning documents I've included reflect new thinking—How can I plan so that each child receives a years worth of growth?  How can I do my best to ensure that no child falls through the cracks? 

Patrick:  When you visit classrooms to work with young readers, what brings you the greatest joy?

Debbie:  Walking into a classroom and getting to work with kids brings me so much joy (even when twenty or so teachers are watching)!  I love it when children understand that smart isn’t something they have, but something they get—that they have the power to make themselves smarter by putting forth effort and working hard.  It just doesn’t get better than that.

Patrick:  There's a lot of angst today because of the changes made by the Common Core State Standards, yet in this edition you talk openly and honestly about the positive changes they are bringing to classrooms.  What would you like teachers to recognize as positives about the CCSS?

Debbie:  Remember No Child Left Behind, where comprehension, phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency and vocabulary received equal importance?  The common core state standards changes all that—now higher-level comprehension work is emphasized for all children, even our youngest readers.  Reading, in the common core, is all about making meaning!  And thankfully, it focuses on results, rather than means, leaving room for teachers to determine how these goals should be reached and what additional strategies might be addressed.

If teachers haven't read The Key Considerations section of the common core—do it!  They'll feel better.  I promise. 

Patrick:  In Conferring: The Keystone of Writer's Workshop, I write about two questions that our friend, Randi Allison, once asked me... What are your guiding principles?  What are you willing to fight for?  As you were working on your second edition, what were you most looking forward to reiterating?  What message carries over most strongly from the first edition?

D:  I love children.  I believe in teachers.  And these are my most important words to all of my dear colleagues...

There are many effective ways to teach children and live our lives. No one has the patent on the truth.  Find yours.  Read.  Reflect.  Think about what you already know about good teaching and how it fits with new learning.  Read some more.  Think about the implications for your classroom.  Collaborate with colleagues.  Try new things and spend time defining your beliefs and aligning your practices.  Once you’ve found what’s true for you, stand up for what you know is right.  Live it every day and be confident and clear about why you believe as you do.  People will listen!

Patrick:  The new edition includes a focus on learning targets and assessments for learning.  How to you nudge the teachers with whom you work to look closely at the ways they are "assessing" thinking?

Debbie:  Assessing thinking is hard. But if we don’t, how will we know where children are and what they need?  How will they know?  Having clear learning targets, or goals, and matching assessments, are the best way I know for children and teachers to understand where they are going, where they are now, and what they need to do to close the gap.  Assessments for learning help ensure that no child falls through the cracks—we have tangible evidence (in addition to conferring, listening in, and observation) of where each child is and what they need to move forward.  It’s enormously helpful.

Patrick:  What else would you like someone reading this to know about you?

Debbie:  I’d like them to know that I’m every teacher—that I have the same wishes, hopes, and dreams for children as they do.  That some days I feel like I am amazing and other days I leave the classroom thinking I’ve lost my touch.  But this is teaching.  It’s not about perfect lessons.  Teaching and learning—real teaching and learning—is messy.  My new mantra?  What’s the worst that could happen?

We’ll never get smarter if we don’t try new things or imagine new possibilities for the children we work with.  I want to be smarter at the end of the day than I was at the beginning.  And I’m thinking the kids I work with will be smarter, too...

• • • 

By the way, I used BOTH editions last week to talk to my 4th graders about Determining What's Important... and how our thinking changes over time.  We looked at both copies of Debbie's book (mainly the back covers) and had an amazing conversation about how Debbie's thinking has changed.  Though inferring, my students were so clear about how important it is to revise your thinking and how "what's most important" can change, depending on your purpose.  Amazing!

 

Fantastic Flying Books

I love this book.  It fascinates me.  It piques my curiosity.  It makes me wonder.  It makes me ponder.  The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (click to see more) is brilliant!  It's charming.  (As is the Academy Award winning film.)

     When you read a book that opens like this...

Morris Lessmore loved words.

He loved stories.

He loved books.

His life was a book of his own writing, one orderly page

after another.  He would open it every morning and write

of his joys and sorrows, of all that he knew

and everything that he hoped for.

     When I read it to my students last week (as part of our study of how "Wise Readers Monitor for Meaning"), we all decided that those very words were worth tucking into our hearts and minds... to make them available when we need inspiration as readers and writers.  My friend, Linda, summed it up this way, "I think the 'wow' was... Everyone's story matters.  Just sayin'!"  She right.

     Read the book to your students.  Then if you have a chance, buy the short film on iTunes.  Watch it.  Show it to your students.  Then ask them, "So what do you think?"  You'll be amazed by their answers!  William Joyce more than deserved the accolades and awards for this brilliant piece of work.  One of my students say, "It's really about heaven, I think... it's about growing old and letting go..."  Story matters.

     This is a run, don't walk, kind of book!  This is a get-to-your-favorite-independent-bookstore-and-buy-it kind of book!  This is a book that should be in your classroom and on your coffee table.  It's generational.  It's a metaphor for life--especially if you love books, love reading, love words.  Thank you, William Joyce, for sharing your brilliance.

And so our story ends as it began...

...with the opening of a book!

Home? Where's Yours"

Home.  Where’s yours?  Today I was reading from a wonderful collection by Lee Bennett Hopkins called, Home to Me: Poems Across America.  It’s a grand collection of poetry about “home” and it is striking!

I’ve been thinking about home a lot of late.  Today, I was sitting in my classroom after school, with a pile of books on my table, planning our next study as writers.  In Lee’s book, Pass the Poetry, Please!, I read the words Lucille Clifton offered, “… lives become generations made out of pictures and words just kept.”  Generations.   

And, as I was reading Home to Me I was awestruck when I read Rebecca Kai Dotlich’s poem “A Place Called Prairie.”  I was breathless with her words, “I breathe in stories told to me; when winds came calling, a fine dust falling on these same prairie plains…”  And then, I read “Needed” by Sandra Gilbert Brug.  That was it.  I was brought to tears, remembering…

I started remembering my childhood.  Remembering times spent with my brother-in-law and sister on the “Turkey Track” near Colorado Springs.  Remembering playing with my nieces in the hayloft, in the corrals, in the chicken houses.  Remembering grand dinners and lunches whipped up my sister, Doris.  Remembering feeding cattle, learning to drive the pickup, riding horses, branding cattle.  Remembering laughter and country songs playing on the phonograph.  Remembering the warmth of eggs as I gathered them in the morning.  Remembering tomatoes canned at summer's end.  Remembering gatherings of neighbors and friends.  Remembering falling asleep to the night sounds of coyotes on the lawn and then the raucous roosters waking us in the morning.  Remembering… The simplicity.  The joy.  The hard work.  The life.  Home.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about where our educational road is leading young learners.  I think about assessments and standards and backwards planning and publishers out to make a buck.  And the plethora of “stuff” whipped up by the those whose home is farthest away from children... in the name of accountability and ‘being number one.”  Instead of slowing down, we keep speeding up… and learners who need to think deeply, ponder regularly, and question often still have a place in the 21^st Century.  It's my hope that we can all slow down a bit, after all, isn't that want the core content standards propose?  Depth, not breadth.  Synthesis, not regurgitation.  Thinking, not filling in blanks. 

But, back to home.  What I’m really thinking about is story.  Ruth Ayres always inspires me to remember story (she reminds us not to forget story and its importance in our lives).  Ruth’s voice has been echoing in my brain since I heard her keynote at the AllWrite Conference last summer.  And, so I’m befuddled.  In all the madness and rush to move readers and writers through continuums, programs, rubrics, and such, I worry about the simplicity, the organic nature of learning, the heart of the learner.  Moving slowly and deeply must lead children safely into the complexity of this thing called learning.

As I pondered Lee’s work today, I began to lay out our next “unit of study.”  I decided that we, as learners, are going to have to take the slow path, the scenic path, enough to do some remembering.  We’re going to have to dig deep into the satchels of memory we carry (don’t worry, I’ll make sure we’re learning something viable).  We’re going to have create the same kinds joy that has inspired Lee, Lucille, Rebecca, and Ruth. 

Home. The power of “home.”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Here’s what I jotted in my journal in response to the reading I did this afternoon.  A little poem, just to ground my thinking.  Enjoy.

Prairie

I drove to the prairie today,

For what?  I don’t quite know.

Perhaps to listen for the sound of cattle hooves

tramping across their well-worn pasture path.

Perhaps to see the windmill blades

churning beside a lone horse tank.

Perhaps to smell the dampness of the blue grama
drifting amidst a prairie wind.

Perhaps to touch the dusty earth
warming slowly after morning rain.

Perhaps to taste the evening breeze
blowing its breath into the world.

I drove to the prairie today,
For what?  Perhaps just to remember.

Perhaps to return... home. 

p.s.  As I reread this post, I felt this kinetic jump from topic to topic... a slight disconnect.  But, it's what was on my mind.  Let's just call it... random post for the month!

A Peaceful Start to the Year...

peace.

it does not mean to be in a place

where there is no noise, trouble

or hard work.  it means to be in

the midst of those things and still

be calm in your heart.

Unknown

On a canvas bag sent to me by my friend Mimi

 

     I started my school year out somewhat differently this year.  Oh... we've had the usual conversations about workshop structures, rituals and routines, the gradual release of responsibility, learning with a spirit of endurance.  And, our conversations have been grand and thoughtful.  But I've added a new twist.  My friend, Dana, nudged my thinking in a different direction (great colleagues have a way of nudging and stretching our thinking, don't they?).

     Dana and I decided that we wanted a "peace-filled" beginning to our school year (she's in Casper, Wyoming and I'm here).  And, after talking a bit (okay, more than a bit), we both decided that it would be a great way to start the year... to build on the concept of "peace" and to incorporate peacefulness into our reader's and writer's workshops throughout the school year.  Together, we did a search of our classroom libraries (and bookstores) to find just the right literature to launch our discussions with children. 

     Within the buzz and bustle of my classroom of 31 fourth graders, I knew I had to bring a sense of slowness and calm, patience and peace, lingering and depth to our work together.  And, what better way to do it than through making careful decisions about some of the texts we're using for think alouds, shared readings, and writing launches?  We've delved into some sophistication along the way so far... comparing, critiquing, commenting.  What a grand way to start the year!  Combined with "peaceful" music, low lighting, and a quiet tone... it's been, well, peace-filled.

     Having an overarching feeling of "peace" has added a new dimension to our classroom environment.  My students and I have enjoyed exploring the concept into our discussions, our notebooks, and our classroom routines.  And with "peace" comes a sense of rigor and quiet reflection that is both contagious and awe-inspiring.

     I thought I'd share some favorite texts I've found with you.  I have used several and plan to use several more throughout the year... as we step "gently out" into our year together, I can't wait to find more!  Helen Frost's wonderful poem (and picture book) "Step Gently Out" has become our theme for this year.  And we all need a little gentleness is our classroom worlds, don't we?  Here you go:

A favorite find!  A wonderful mentor text for writing biographies... breathtaking!

A simple text that creates a grand message!  Talk.  Peace.  Two words that should be on our lips as we work together daily...

This book is definitely for a more mature group of children, but what a grand book to empower children to become peacemakers.  A bit "controversial," but worth having on the list!  Beautifully written narrative text.

Joanne Ryder... need I say more?  Okay, how about Norman Gorbaty.  Enough said!

The photographs are endearing and the text is a tribute to a peaceful existence.

The creator of dynamite now has the most important prize in all the world named after him... the Nobel Prize.  Amazing!  Look at the cover... it is absolutely brilliant!  I love this book and I was amazed by Alfred Lobel's story.

The photographs are lovely... and the text takes the reader through a day of peace.

I love the illustrations by Stephanie Carter.  And Jane Baskwill's words can't help but create a peaceful tone.  If peace is a promise... a wonderful repeating line!

Lee Bennett Hopkins compiled this wonderful collection of poetry from some of our favorite poets.  And, Chris Soentpiet's illustrations are masterful (look for the face of the girl from Something Beautiful on the cover).

Our "theme" book for the year... We're stepping gently out into a year of exploring and learning.  This is a beautiful book by Helen Frost.  Combined with Rick Lieder's photos... stunning!  Check out this Vimeo!  I've blogged about this book before and it's a read and read again addition to our "peace" bag this year!

 

Another Ralph Fletcher Hit - Guy-Write

I spent the past two days in Boulder Colorado at my son's orientation for the University of Colorado.  He'll be a freshman in the fall (my third child to become a Buff).  At this point, he's thinking of a double major - Electrical Engineering and... English!  He's very excited for two reasons 1) He gets to choose the classes he's most interested in* and 2) His advisor recommended that he spend some time exploring to whet his appetite for new learning.  He's never been an "in the box" thinker, so I'm excited for him as he begins this next journey is his life. 
     Ironically, we stopped in The Boulder Bookstore and spent a bit of time wandering the store.  If you've never been, you should put it on your bookstore bucket list.  It's a superb independent.  It's cozy.  It's in the middle of the Pearl Street Mall (which means great restaurants are only a few doors away).  It's a great place to spend some time in the afternoon with your college-bound son (or daughter).  I loved as we walked in and Jens said, "Dad, I need a new book.  What should I read?" (that's a subject for another blog entry).
     My choice today was Guy-Write: What Every Guy Writer Needs to Know by Ralph Fletcher (which was shelved in the "activity" book section... I guess even The Boulder Bookstore gets it wrong periodically).  I just saw Ralph last week at the All-Write Conference in Warsaw, Indiana.  I spent some time with him and Katie Ray by the pool talking about reading, writing, learning, and life.  It was a great evening.  I wish I had known the specifics of his "activity" book at the time so we could have weaved it into the conversation.  Trust me, it was definitely shelved in the wrong section... it's not an activity book.  This book should be out front for every child (especially those middle grade/middle school boys) to get their hands on... it's that good!
     In Guy-Write, Ralph shares a special gift with his readers.  The gift of wisedom.  The gift of risk-taking.  The gift of passion.  The gift of words.  The gift of saying, "Boys... it's okay... write!"  As I write this blog, I'm sitting in Starbucks after finishing this grand read.  I loved it!  What a gift. 
     As I read, I was reminded of my student Isaiah who once said, "How does he do it?  I feel like Ralph Fletcher is talking to me.  Just to me!"  I felt the "boy writer" in me twinge with a little bit of rebellion, a little bit of challenge, and a little bit of "Gross!"  Ralph's sense of humor shines through each page as he talks to "us boys" about how to improve our writing life.  He's able to bridge the gap between being a "writer at home" and a "writer at school."  He writes about the contexts in which we need to nudge boy writers to work.  He adds ammunition to every boy's arsenal of what it means to be a writer!
     As an added bonus, he includes interviews with five "boy" writers.  I want Sam to read the section about "Sports Writing" and the interview with Robert Lipsyte.  I want Jacob to read "Draw First and Write Later" and the interview with Jarrett Krosoczka.  I want Sebastian to read "Freaky Stories" and the interview with Robert San Souci.  I want Christopher to read "Riding the Vomit Comet" and the interview with Jon Scieszka.  I want Zachary to read "Superheroes and Fantasy" and the interview with Greg Trine.  I want all the boys I've taught for the past 26 years to read Ralph's words.  And, I want all the teachers I teach with to read them as well.  In fact, I challenge you all to read it!  Every boy writer needs Ralph Fletcher as their mentor and advocate!  (By the way, I just emailed all the parents of boys I've had for the past three years and recommended they run to the bookstore for this one).
     I wish I had read it BEFORE I met with Ralph a few weeks ago.  I can't wait for my 18-year-old college-bound English major to read it.  I can't wait to read it more closely.  Thanks Ralph, for another gem.  Our lives are all the richer for it.

- - - - - - - -

*Which, by the way, includes Beginning Italian.  Italian?  Does he remember his sister (the senior) works in that department?  Ciao`

If you want to read another great blog about this book, go to A Year of Reading.

It Takes Commitment

     I’ve been thinking a lot about commitment.  The commitments we make are sometimes overwhelming—teaching, parenting, relationships.  While I was exploring the meaning of the term commitment, I found an interesting article online (on a leadership site, which, by the way, I know nothing about, but I liked the premise).  It stated: 

     A great business leader once said: "...the basic philosophy, spirit, and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation, and timing. All these things weigh heavily in success. But they are, I think, transcended by how strongly the people in the organization believe in its basic precepts and how faithfully they carry them out." (from Thomas J. Watson, Jr., A Business and its Beliefs - The ideas that helped build IBM).

      As true as this is for the success of a corporation, it is even more so for the individual. The most important single factor in individual success is COMMITMENT. Commitment ignites action. To commit is to pledge yourself to a certain purpose or line of conduct. It also means practicing your beliefs consistently. There are, therefore, two fundamental conditions for commitment. The first is having a sound set of beliefs. There is an old saying that goes, "Stand for something or you'll fall for anything." The second is faithful adherence to those beliefs with your behavior. Possibly the best description of commitment is "persistence with a purpose".

     I love the term “persistence with a purpose.”  In the classroom, I’ve done a lot of work with my students around the idea of “Learning with a Spirit of Endurance” (see Conferring: The Keystone of Reader’s Workshop for more information).  And, while I’ve explored stamina and endurance with students, in terms of their learning, I think I’m going to go after the idea of persistence with a purpose with them next year.  To strengthen endurance, I think it takes both commitment and persistence. 

     Case in point – Exercise.  The dreaded “E” word!

     For the past five weeks, I’ve committed to exercising every day.  I’ve started doing P90X© for the SECOND time (I didn’t have right attitude the first time).  And, now I’m committing to not giving up.  In fact, to strengthen my commitment to getting in shape, I signed up to be coach with the Beachbody organization.  I’ve also started incorporating another exercise program, RevAbs©, an at-home exercise program designed to burn fat and strengthen core abdominal muscles.  Why become a coach – it’s made me accountable both to myself and to others.  Isn’t accountability an important aspect of commitment?

     For the past year, I’ve been sedentary, a couch potato.  I admit it, it’s been longer than that (but one year makes it sound a bit more forgiving)… but, because of the encouragement of my friends, Troy and Jarod, I’ve gotten up off the couch.  Through our conversations, text messages, and consistent nudges, we’ve all made a renewed commitment to exercise.  Mind you, I don’t look like the guy on the DVD; in fact sometimes I curse him when I’m working out.  But the point is, I’m trying.  Taking a 51-year-old body and putting it through daily rituals and routines, can’t help but improve my health!

     I’ve also committed to better eating.  I am an eater.  My mother was a restaurant owner – one fine and dandy cook.  And, fortunately/unfortunately, she passed the love of cooking and eating on to me!  So I’ve decided to make better choices.  I’ve committed to drinking a Shakeology©  shake every day as a meal replacement (it's an amazing product by the way, click on the link and read about it).  This choice alone has strengthened my endurance as I exercise.  I feel so much better energy wise (it’s doing a lot internally that I don’t even realize).  I’ve tried to be flexible and try something new.

     My older brother immediately responded, “Not interested!” when I told him about my new health regime.  But after watching our father have his leg amputated from complications of diabetes (according to the National Diabetes Association, more than 60% of nontraumatic lower-limb amputations occur with people with diabetes) and seeing our mother suffer through complications of diabetic gangrene, I realized that I had to become a decision-maker.  I had to commit to making sure that I’m doing what I can to prevent the same fate.  Eliminating body fat is one step in the right direction.  Perhaps my demonstration and modeling will help my brother change his mind next time we see each other.

     Commitment is gradual.  I’ve seen my friend Troy journey through a complete transformation of mind and body (we originally started at the same time, he kept going, I gave up… Then I made excuses, “You’re ten years younger!” or “I don’t have time!”).  Recently, I've watched him and wondered, “Why couldn't I do that?”  Through sharing and cooperation, he has helped me see that the benefits of making a commitment will pay off in the long term.  Troy checks in with me, he supports me, and he listens.  He’s a good coach, and more importantly, a good friend—he’s given me a tremendous amount of support as I begin making exercise an important part of my daily life!  In turn, he has encouraged my independence and I’ve passed my learning on to Jarod.  

     So what does this have to do with learning?  Everything.  The article I found also said, “Commitment is most difficult and most readily proven during tough times. How someone weathers the storms most clearly demonstrates their basic beliefs. In antiquity, Epicurus stated: "...a captain earns his reputation during the storms."  So as I end this school year and begin a new one, I’m going to take this idea of commitment and incorporate it into our workshops.  As I continue my new regime, I'm going to explore what other aspects of my new learning I can bring to the conversation.
     As learners, persistence with a purpose will be a moniker of our time together!

Finding a Voice - The Clever Stick

The Clever Stick by John Lechner is another sweet little find that my students loved when I shared it with them recently.  We've done so much talk about creating metaphor to explain our thinking that my students immediately started wrapping this text around the work we've done as learners this year.  Case in point, one of my students said:  "The stick is like me, Mr. Allen, sometimes I have something really important to say and you always make sure that I get to talk about my thinking, write about my thinking and share my thinking with others."  
     This book is almost fable-like.  It's really about finding your voice.  In the text, a stick that is "sharp" has so many things to say, but can't think of a way to get his thinking out... until he comes up with a creative way to let all his thinking flow for others to see.  It starts... "Once upon a time there was a clever stick.  Ever since he had fallen off the tree he had been sharp..."
     From the beginning, this simple text is filled with humor and wonderful lines.  I can see using it as a mentor text in writing.  But, more importantly, I'm thinking it will be a wonderful launching point to our discussion of "trust, tone, and respect" next year as I begin with a new group of learners.  Bringing clarity and honesty to our workshops is something I work on with my students on a regular basis.  Helping them find their voices as learners is such a critical aspect of a well-running, "trust-filled" learning environment.  The Clever Stick is a perfect addition to a constantly growing list of books that I've collected that illustrate the importance of building independence... slowly, gradually, and metaphorically.  
     This is a perfect book to add to your classroom picture book collection, whether you're a first grade teacher or an eighth grade teacher.  It's quaint simplicity adds to its richness!