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Can I Quote You on That?: Capturing Classroom Conversation
Sometimes inspiration for my teaching life comes from seemingly disparate experiences in my personal life. I spent a recent Saturday afternoon surrounded by a gaggle of giddy women who had...
Two Teachers and One Kindergartner
Little Joey was a bit young when his parents enrolled him in kindergarten. Despite the teacher’s best efforts, he struggled to master basic concepts. The teacher developed a wonderful relationship...
What is the Evidence?
The first and most brutal fact that must be confronted in creating professional learning communities is that the task is not merely challenging: it is daunting. It is disingenuous to...
Troubleshooting Coaching Cycles
Last summer, we were fortunate to host Diane Sweeney at our coaching summer institute. Diane introduced us to the idea of coaching cycles. She assured us that coaching cycles would...
Parallels Between Student Learning and Staff Development
"So, what are you working on now?" This is a question I seem to get a lot, and despite years of practice, it's always a tricky one. You see, I...
Sales Clerks and Literacy Leaders
Shopping for the perfect outfit is always an exhausting task. I seem to always encounter the hovering salesperson. She's the one who shows me the outfits I would never buy, and suggests...
Fun in January: A Mock Caldecott Unit
Every January the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, gives out media awards to the most distinguished books for children from the previous...
Coaching Monkey
As a kid, Curious George was my hero. Sometimes I had to cover my eyes when he was about to get into trouble, but I knew in the end he'd...
The Language of Coaching
Giving written and spoken feedback is an opportunity to be very thoughtful about the words we choose in communicating with teachers. This is a challenge. There are nuances to our...
Tips from Literacy Leaders for Closing Out the School Year (ROUNDUP)
Here are some suggestions from Choice Literacy contributors for the best ways to close out the year, with everything from personal organizing tips to family events. Heather Rader, Instructional Coach...
Word Choice for Coaches
Peter Johnston has written an entire book about the subtleties of our communications. In Choice Words: How Our Language Affects Children's Learning, Johnston explores the places where work is partially correct. He...
New Year Goals (Part 2)
Every year in January Choice Literacy contributors share some of their professional goals with our community. This is the second installment in a two-part series. See below for a link...
Making the Case for Literacy Coaches
It's that time of year. School districts are examining their budgets for the upcoming school year. Due to the troubled economy, many of them are finding that they are not...
Reflecting on Student Work in Staff Meetings (Download a Template)
Over the last four years our teaching staff has included reflecting on student work as a part of our staff meetings. To be honest, we struggled for probably three of...
Calendaring a Literacy Coach
My husband and I married when we were sophomores in college transferring to the University of Washington. He was pursuing architecture and I was in education. We arrived in our...
How Study Groups Are Like Self-Cleaning Ovens
One of our favorite inventions ever is the self-cleaning oven. Set a timer, lock the oven door, and a few hours later -- voila! You have a clean oven, and...
Creating a Coaching Schedule
We have been encouraging the literacy coaches we work with to create a year-long coaching schedule for their school. The main goal of these coaching schedules is to ensure that...
Supporting Successful First-Year Coaches
It's Friday, a little after noon, and Cristina Charney, Heather Sisson, Becky Lee and I are tucked around the small circle table with our lunches in my office. We are...
Three Little Phrases No Literacy Coach Can Live Without
If there are three skills any literacy coach needs, they are the ability to engage with colleagues, diffuse hostile situations, and connect with people who have a different world view....
Not That Into Me
For the past 11 years during the holiday season my husband and I have watched the movie Trapped in Paradise with my brother. The movie stars Nicholas Cage, Dana Carvey and Jon...
Engaging Teachers with Coaching
When my husband and I rented the movie Slumdog Millionaire, I hid my eyes frequently during the first 30 minutes. Completely unprepared for the on-screen violence, I asked Kurt to nudge...
