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A Graphic Novels Unit in 5th Grade
I recently tried a new unit in my classroom. I had read Terry Thompson’s Adventures in Graphica last summer. While I have always celebrated graphic novels and encouraged my students...
Understanding Adolescent Readers: A Podcast with Penny Kittle
Penny Kittle is a classroom teacher and literacy coach at Kennett High School in North Conway, New Hampshire. She is the author of Public Teaching: One Kid at a Time,...
Building Peer Conferring Skills in the Primary Grades
In my past experience with sixth-grade students, peer conferring was a way of life in our writing class. Students were able to take the lead and really push the thinking...
Thank You For Arguing
Often when I consider a fun, fresh way to connect students to a new strategy or subject matter, my own children are a great frame of reference because they love...
Classroom Jobs Build Community
As I began this year in my kindergarten class one of the classroom processes that I chose to focus on was our classroom jobs. In the past, as a part...
It’s Not About the Tool — It’s About the Learning
Schools have to prepare students for jobs that have not been created, technologies that have not been invented and problems that we don’t know will arise. Andrea Schleicher Incorporating...
Previewing and Picture Walks with Fiction Texts
If nothing else, children should leave school with a sense that if they act, and act strategically, they can accomplish their goals. I call this feeling a sense of agency....
Eyes on the Fries: Just-Right Books and Reading Peer Pressure in Middle School
One of my favorite parts (okay, definitely my favorite part) of my morning running group is the socializing. During one pre-dawn run in late summer, I found myself running with...
Jennifer Allen on Working with Veteran Teachers (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Jennifer Allen talks with Franki Sibberson about mentoring veteran teachers. A transcript is included below the player. Franki Sibberson: What is your role in working with...
Getting the Most Out of Visiting a Colleague’s Classroom (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan chat with Franki Sibberson about how teachers can get the most out of observing a colleague's classroom. A full transcript is below...
Jennifer Allen on Working with New Teachers (PODCAST)
Franki Sibberson chats with Jennifer Allen about the joys and challenges of working with new teachers. A transcript is below the player. Franki Sibberson: What have you found to be...
Bully Literacy
Ahna came running up from her sand castle to where I was soaking up the sun. “Mom, there’s a kid with a weird arm who wants to play with me....
Undercover Coach: Making Time to Work with Children
Have you ever watched the television show Undercover Boss? Each episode shows what happens when a high-ranking official of a company attempts to do an entry-level job in the company for...
What Coaches Carry (Part 1)
As I prepare to mentor three new coaches this year in different assignments: elementary building coach, secondary reading intervention coach and middle grades math coach, I sit down to have...
The Power of Linking Words and Perceptions
It does not take long before we start to attach labels to children in any classroom. We begin to sort, both by academics and behavior. Soon we find ourselves using...
Concise, Conversational, and Consistent: Explaining the Work of Literacy Coaches
I get asked questions about my job in a variety of ways: “So you’re a teacher?” “I heard you’re a coach. What sport?” And my recent favorite: “Then you get...
What Coaches Carry (Part 2)
In part one of this series we began the conversation about what to carry to be prepared for the varied work of teacher leadership -- from teaching and one-on-one coaching,...
My New Favorite: Paraphrasing
For years I sang songs to my son about “my favorite boy” and to my daughter as “my favorite girl.” Then I had another girl—and I kept singing. One day...
Eight Tips for Building Relationships: A Tale of Two Literacy Coaches
I stopped by Monroe School to see the literacy coach, Kate, before the school day began. I was in her office for about five minutes when second-grade teacher Leah burst...
Starting the School Year: A Checklist for Literacy Coaches
It occurred to me at the beginning of last year that there are certain tasks I do each fall to organize myself for the work of the upcoming year. Over...
Ways to Avoid Coaching Traps
When we first began providing staff development to schools, our mentor at Tufts University shared the book Strategies for Teacher Collaboration by Loviah Aldinger with us. We each carry a well-worn copy...
