Article Content Type: Article
Results
A Strong Foundation: Books and Media for Launching Literacy Workshops
Beginnings are important, whether it is building a new relationship, building a home, or starting a new school year. Lucy Calkins talks about building invisible structures so that the deeper,...
Effective Organization
I’ve come to believe you can only be as effective as you are organized. I first learned this truth as an artist, when I set up my studio. (Studio is...
Getting to Know You: Brown Bag Objects
Getting to know you, Getting to know all about you. Getting to like you, Getting to hope you like me. “Getting to Know You” from The King and I is...
Educating Parents on Supporting Boys
Working as a principal in a large suburban K-12 district that serves more than 9,000 students, we offer a lot of staff development for educators. In our desire to strengthen...
Literacy Learning and Parent Teacher Organizations
Soon after I began my work as an elementary principal, I had a conversation with a group of parents that seemed baffling at the time. It was during our monthly...
Coaching Conversations: Building a Foundation of Trust
In this audio interview, Brenda Power chats with Gwen Blumberg about her lessons from her first years of coaching: trust takes time, and baby steps toward change need to be...
Shoebox Autobiographies
An important part of building a sense of community in any classroom is taking time to get to know each other as individuals. Whether you are teaching kindergartners or adult...
Curriculum Night? No Sweat
It is curriculum night, and I am sweating. Not the subtle, sheeny glow the beautiful people have after running a 5K, but large raindrop-size plops of sweat rolling down my...
The Case Against Management Systems
Recently I spoke at a local university to a group of student teachers, just as I do every spring. When I asked their supervisor what topics they needed me to...
Coaching Conversations: Overstepping and Realistic Modeling
In this podcast, Brenda Power and Krystal Nemeth chat about Krystal's experiences as a new coach, especially one situation when she was over-zealous in planning and leading a small-group demonstration...
Match-and-Move in Coaching
As I was closing the trunk on my last-minute camping groceries, I got my child’s “Please get me underwear” text. I sighed and returned to the store. If she needed...
Compass Points and Collaboration
Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success. ...
Effective Student Writing Groups
Writing workshop is designed around giving students authentic writing experiences. A crucial part of my writing life is feedback. Recently I’ve noticed that I receive feedback from a variety of...
Giving Audio Feedback to Student Writing
As a writing teacher, I have always struggled with giving students timely and meaningful feedback. I’d pore over my students' writing and spend hours, pen in hand, writing comments in...
Book Shopping as a Literacy Coach
On a gorgeous June day, a few days after our school year finished, I went to our local independent bookstore, Cover to Cover, with friends. This is always a dangerous...
Repurposing a Classroom Library for Coaching and Intervention: Hooking Reluctant Readers in Grades 3-5
When I found out that I’d be moving into the new position of literacy coach and third-grade intervention teacher next year, my first thought was What am I going to...
First Shared Text: Fishing for Many Meanings with Adolescents
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. —Henry David Thoreau My husband, Mark, is an expert fisherman. I have...
Coaching Conversations: Defining Your Role
In this audio interview, Brenda Power chats with Kathleen Collaro about the challenges of carving out time for coaching when teachers are clamoring for additional instruction support for struggling learners....
“I Used To, and Now I”: An Early Year Minilesson
I’ve always done a minilesson early in the fall where I talk to my students about myself as a reader and writer. I’ve done this lesson for more than 10...
Collaborative Conferring
Earlier in the year I was asked by a group of kindergarten teachers how they might be able to streamline the process of organizing the notes from their student conferences...
Pits and Peaks
One night, soon after we sat down for dinner, I was surprised when my husband announced that we were starting a new family tradition. He explained that every night at...
