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I’m Already Doing This
I glanced up from my notebook where I was taking notes and smiled at the teacher sitting next to me. She didn’t smile back. I bent my head back down...
Finding Time and Space to Recharge All Year Long
You can’t continue to regenerate creatively unless you have time to daydream, relax, and do nothing. Lisa Congdon We are in an age of information overload. Everywhere you turn...
Literacy Audit (Part 4): Building a Strong Team
I’m always inspired by the thinking of Milton Olson, adapted by Angeles Arrien, which highlights the teamwork qualities of geese. Geese fly in formation, rotate leadership, communicate well, and always...
Literacy Audit (Part 5): Providing Resources and Support
With a literacy team in place, let’s talk about one of the roles you can share with your team: getting students and teachers the appropriate materials to help them be...
Is There Such a Thing as Being Too Collaborative?
I was in a bookstore and walked by a recent issue of Harvard Business Review. A tease on the cover, "Are You Too Collaborative?," caught my attention. I went into...
Whenever They Are Ready: Building Trust for PD Success
It’s a paradox of school leadership that we generally know what we need to do to ensure every student is successful, yet we fight with each other and within ourselves...
Literacy Audit (Part 3): Making a Plan
Since I’ve been a leader for many years, I have the benefit of retrospect. When I have identified growth areas or launched a plan for improvement, my rearview mirror reveals...
Using Video to Step Forward
When leading professional experiences for teachers, I find there is much power in providing opportunities to observe teaching in action. As we reflect on practice, hone our craft, or discover...
Rethinking Morning Announcements
“Are you going to share one of your stupid quotes again?” This came from a frequent flyer sitting in the lobby area as I was leaving my office. I had...
Using Norms in PLCs
Is there anything more awkward than having to reprimand an adult? To ask an adult - a colleague, even - to stop scrolling through Facebook during a meeting? To remind...
Literacy Audit (Part 2): Taking Your School’s Pulse
When I go to the doctor for my annual wellness check, the intake nurse starts by taking my pulse. It is the simplest of procedures—there is no medical equipment needed,...
How to Get Books Off Shelves
My eighth-grade classroom walls are lined with bookshelves. At the start of each school year, each shelf is packed with books. Throughout the school year I inevitably add to my...
Keeping the Classroom Library Current
If you walk past my room on many days during my planning period, you will see me standing in front of the shelves, pondering. Those are the days when I’ve...
And This Makes Me Think
If you could see me right now, you would know I’m sitting cross-legged on my unmade bed, my hair up in a messy knot, with three tabs open on my...
Wounded Warriors: Trauma and Literacy Routines
When Rosie was in third grade, she brought a suitcase to school. It was an old-fashioned, hard black case with brown triangle patches on the corners. The stitching had unfurled....
When One Door Closes
I remember an undergraduate professor of mine saying that it takes five years of teaching before you really know what you’re doing. This statement was both reassuring and scary. Reassuring...
Literacy Self-Audit (Part 1): Beginning Questions
If you’ve been hired to be a principal or literacy coach, you may feel confident about your leadership capabilities in literacy instruction, or you may suspect you have quite a...
Invitations vs. Accountability
My reading life is full of invitations. A friend recommends a book. I get invited into a book club. I see an announcement for the next #titletalk Twitter chat in...
Seeking Personal Relevance
All teachers know that each class of students comes with its own personality and dynamic. For instance, I vividly remember the year I had the class of eighth graders who...
The Year’s First Read Aloud
Reading changes your life. Reading unlocks worlds unknown or forgotten, taking travelers around the world and through time. Reading helps you escape the confines of school and pursue your own...
Setting Norms in PLCs
I don’t know if I heard it, read it, or just realized it, but I know that I believe it. When you are working with a group of adults over...
