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Charting Isn’t Cheating
For the first few years of my high school teaching career, every time there was a major exam I was urged to take down or cover up anything that might...
Picture It: Increasing Comfort with Technology
We know that technology has changed the way we access and use texts in our daily lives. Here you see both teacher- and student-generated ideas for future blog posts in...
Common Core Standards: Spreading the Word
As a district-level literacy coach in California, I've been given the task of helping move our system toward implementation of the Common Core Standards. We are a large urban district...
Same Old Books with New Intentions: Reflecting on Rigor and the Common Core
Rigor is not an attribute of a text, but rather a characteristic of our behavior with that text. Kylene Beers and Robert Probst I remember one of my first...
Supporting New Teachers and Appreciating Their Gifts
The research is clear and the statistics are grim. The most important factor that influences student achievement is the skill of the teacher, yet we lose more than 50 percent...
Overwhelmed Coach
Everyone in education feels overwhelmed from time to time. Coaches can feel extremely stretched at particular times throughout the year. The months of November and March are the most intense...
Building Community Protocols
When we plan professional development sessions, inservice courses, and literacy team meetings, we are always on the lookout for new ways to build community within the group so that everyone...
The Road to Rainbow Magic: Hannah’s Story
A comfortable calm came over the room. It was reading time and students were settling in together and alone. Some were enjoying the solitude of a beanbag chair while others...
Keeping It Real for Students: Never Underestimate the Power of Reflection
Katie is a veteran teacher who willingly shares she is learning all the time. Her stance has evolved over time from the traditional preparation she received in her pre-service program...
Taking Four Corners of Text Personally
Nothing personal . . . I dislike the phrase nothing personal and try not to use it myself. For some communicators it’s the tag that gets added onto something unsolicited...
Simplexity: Finding Your Focus
Simplexity - Finding the smallest number of high-leverage, easy to understand actions that unleash stunningly powerful consequences. Michael Fullan, in Motion Leadership As I approached 279 Newbury Street in Boston, I...
Hollering About Informational Text
We set out over a year ago to increase the informational side of our bookshelves when we realized that our professional development mentor texts mirrored the elementary school discrepancy between...
Off the Dance Floor and Onto the Balcony: Getting the Big Picture in Schools
We coordinate professional development efforts in schools. Periodically we visit classrooms during literacy blocks to think about how we are progressing toward our goals and to identify next steps for...
Transcription: A Lens for Reflection
Having my picture taken is something I dread. Mostly because I know that later I’m going to have to look at the photo and I’m sure I won’t like what...
Walk-Arounds: Gathering Data to Test Assumptions
As an instructional leader, I am subjected to tattling. You are probably assuming I mean tattling on the part of children, but you'd be surprised. I am referring to teachers...
Collaborating with My Principal on Student-Centered Coaching
It is the beginning of a new school year, and I am tucked in a small private meeting room with my coaching colleague Heather, drawing timelines and outlines. I’m shifting...
That Teacher Talks Too Much!
I lead professional development workshops and study groups at my school, and we have a new faculty member who is such a talker! She's pleasant and bright, but so dominant,...
Acquiring Knowledge Two or Three Strategies at a Time
"Hey, Papi! What is that crop growing over there?" My dad responds patiently to repeated requests by my nine-year-old son, Jack, to identify exactly what is growing in the fertile...
Taking the Lead by Teaching
My office had begun to feel like a black hole pulling me in. There were observation reports to write, student discipline issues to deal with and emails waiting for a...
Book Hooks
I write this article about the masterful work of Amy Simmons, a teacher in my building. Her official role is “instructional support teacher,” which means she is in charge of...
The DIBELS Divide (Literacy Coach Confidential)
Literacy Coach Confidential is Choice Literacy's forum for answering the toughest questions literacy coaches and teachers face as they work together. Our contributors respond to the questions anonymously, which enables them...
