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Lead Literacy Articles & Videos (formerly leadliteracy.com)

Our lounge is your home for exploring hundreds of articles and videos for literacy coaches and school leaders. Our contributors share their best advice for working one-on-one with teachers in coaching cycles, hosting professional development sessions, and designing demonstration lessons and study groups.

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Library Choices for All: Providing Activities for Every Student

Gigi McAlister knows the power of a library. As a young child, she wasn’t a reader (yet), but there was so much to do at the library, she still felt like she belonged. Here she shares several ways to help all students feel like they belong in the school library.

Bingo! Games to the Rescue

Teacher Educators Teach | Suzy Kaback was inspired to use play as a tool—one that can reframe routine, refocus attention, and give both teachers and students a fresh lens.

Rethinking Flow in the ELA Classroom

When students are empowered to make decisions, they value the learning experience and take ownership of the outcomes. Matt Renwick turns to the concept of flow and imagines its importance for engaging readers and writers.

Tough Conversations

Engaging in conflict is challenging, especially since there is no guarantee that we will get the results we want. Yet it is an expected part of literacy leadership. Julie Cox inspires us to step through conversations in ways that strengthen understandings and preserve relationships.

Design for the Edges: Strategies for Supporting Unique Readers and Writers

The phrase “design for the edges” is about creating more inclusive and welcoming spaces for all students. Matt Renwick pushes us to consider what this looks like in classrooms where all readers and writers are honored.

Swarm: Embracing the Unexpected

Gwen Blumberg is a beekeeper and when her bees began swarming, she sprung into action to collect her bees before they disappeared. In this reflective essay, Gwen recognizes how embracing the unexpected happens daily in our lives as educators. If you are feeling unsettled because of unexpected situations, you’ll find Gwens tips exactly what you need to move forward.

Coach-Principal Meeting Template

We know how important principal-coach meetings are. Having a common system to follow gives a sense of cohesiveness and purpose and helps everyone participate effectively. Hannah Tills shares the process of creating a template with a standard agenda and space for meeting notes. 

Trying Something New

To survive and thrive as an educator, it’s essential to be able to work with and work through change of all kinds. Julie Cox offers tried-and-true suggestions for any leader who is facing changes big and small.

Professional Math Resources for Right Now

Mandy Robek has curated a thoughtful list of professional math resources for those who want to apply wise instructional practices to any curriculum or grade level. This list uplifts ways to understand or analyze students’ thinking and value their strategies for solving problems. Mandy includes both professional texts and podcasts.

Thanks for the Feedback: Leaning Into Tricky Conversations

Giving feedback is a skill you can grow with time and practice like any other skill. It is not judgmental when you stick with a clear and concise format, avoid emotions that may lead to feelings of blame, and offer the other person a chance to share any additional thoughts and feelings. Gwen Blumberg shares how to lean into these potentially tricky conversations to help everyone work better together.

Be Hard on the Systems and Gentle with the People: How a Systems Approach Can Reduce Teacher Burnout and Lead to Better Outcomes

This article makes the case that schools can be more intentional about interrogating the practices and policies that may be contributing to some of the very problems we attempt to prevent in the first place. Put more succinctly, Matt Renwick advocates for being hard on the systems and gentle with the people.

Work/Life Balance

In this thought-provoking essay, Julie Cox considers ways to bring a more relaxed mindset into the busyness of school.

Take It on the Road…I Dare You!

Are students entirely unmotivated, or are they just not motivated by the things we expect them to be? Mary Brower is inspired by a golf cart adventure and realizes key principles to create classroom environments where students are encouraged to take risks, reflect on their experiences, and turn fear into bravery.

Acts of Service: AI and Student Feedback

Suzy Kaback offers a thoughtful review of using AI for giving feedback on student writing and a reflection for making it a wise and practical use of technology. Suzy offers a list of articles to help each of us develop our own understanding and stance on using AI for feedback on student writing.

Sometimes You Have to Grow a New Skin

Mary Brower gives a practical approach to testing and deciding whether a new approach is something to embrace or question.

How to Build Your System for Knowing, Thinking, and Writing

Your notes deserve better than to be forgotten. Matt Renwick shares a system that supports what you know, think, and write and helps ensure your ideas have a home beyond a disorganized binder.

Art as a Restorative Teaching Practice

Joanne Emery thoughtfully plans professional learning experiences using art as a restorative practice. She offers three ideas to create a space where teachers can use the power of art to create and connect.

Teachers as Leaders: Five Ways to Create the Conditions for Change (Part 2)

In this second installment, Matt Renwick clarifies a pathway school leaders can take as they seek more equitable outcomes for all students. School improvement is complex, adaptive work. The five Vs framework acknowledges this reality and provides structure without imposing rigidity. 

Teachers as Leaders: Five Ways to Create the Conditions for Change (Part 1)

Matt Renwick shares a model to lean on as teachers and coaches navigate the unpredictable terrain of school-wide change. This is the first installment of a two-part series.

Don’t Be in Such a Hurry to Put Out the Fire (and Completely Miss the Flame)

Mary Brower realizes she spends a lot of time listening to respond rather than understand. This inspires her to help students learn how to listen—really listen—to one another.

Gaining Confidence One Move at a Time

Heather Fisher knows firsthand that confidence does not come easy. Here she shares three intentional actions leaders can take to build their confidence in leading professional learning.

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