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Pick One: How to Establish a Community of Readers
“What do we do when we’re done?” A preK friend looks up at me with wide eyes. My school has something called “step-up day” when the students who will be...
Help! I’m a New Coach
As the school year came to a close, the air buzzed with talk of change. The middle school was set to undergo departmentalization, a major shift that meant a significant...
Small Wins
In the early days of the pandemic, I created a short video about a document camera I created from a stack of bean cans, a pencil, a magnet, and my...
Reclaiming Space: Weeding to Grow a Healthy Library
It’s a slow summer morning. I just finished a short walk, and now I am working in my backyard on the vegetable garden and flowerpots on the deck. I pull...
You Know How to Show Them
“I sent you all the kids who hate books, Becca…They're terrified of the idea of reading…but you know how to show them.” We were sitting at lunch on the last...
Humanizing Data
Data days are a responsibility that often falls to instructional coaches. We spend time analyzing data, soliciting teacher feedback, crafting an agenda, and planning a launching activity. It’s hard to...
Reshaping Data Stories
In the game of data analysis, success is crossing home plate. Grade-level standard is achieved, growth happens, learners progress… and everyone cheers. The thing is, some are starting the game...
I Don’t Hate Graphic Organizers
"I know you hate graphic organizers," a teacher said to me recently. "I don't!" I protested. But maybe I do a little bit. Of course, not all graphic organizers are...
Bit by Bit: Lifting the Level of Storytelling
Writers were filling more lines, but the trouble was at the heart of the stories. What is the problem in these stories? I pondered as I read further through the...
Responding to Dysregulated Behavior: How to Move Forward
Sitting on my couch at home, knee in a brace with a bag of ice draped over it, I found myself thinking back to the afternoon of the incident. I...
My Student Is Risk Averse
Hazel can be reluctant to try things. When she hesitated, we talked about the task and recited our class poem— I’ve got a big beautiful brain and an awesome heart....
Nuances of Norms (Part 2)
To grow, people need to be challenged. —Adam Grant “I’m so tired of being treated like a baby,” one teacher whispered to her colleague. She wasn’t as quiet as she...
Shaping the School Culture to Encourage Professional Growth
Shaping the School Culture to Encourage Professional Growth While our tai chi group was going through our flow practice, raising our arms slowly up and down, the front door to...
Morning Hike
On a recent writing retreat, several of us woke hours before breakfast and decided to hike one of the many trails surrounding the property. We located a simple map at...
Responding to Dysregulated Behaviors: What About the Other Kids?
This is the third installment of a four-part series chronicling the responses when a student with dysregulated behaviors joins Becca Burk’s kindergarten class mid-year. A new student had entered our...
Responding to Dysregulated Behaviors: A Symptom of What?
This is the second installment of a four-part series chronicling the responses when a student with dysregulated behaviors joins Becca Burk's kindergarten class mid-year. A decade ago, I was in...
Teacher and Coach, Side by Side: Affirmations for Leaders in Maintaining a Supportive Presence
The pizza oven stood on the pavement at my parents’ house, awaiting the maiden voyage for that first pizza pie to enter the oven. It had been weeks since my...
Are Norms the Problem? Part 1
When I became the leader of a well-established professional learning network, one of the first things I was curious about were our norms for working together. I was a member...
A Poetic Beginning
It is no easy task for students to jump back into writing at the start of the school year after taking a summer hiatus. I used to ask students to...
Let’s Begin
It’s the first day of the Choice Literacy writing retreat. I’ve driven a little over three hours with a friend and fellow writer to arrive at a New England inn...
Making a Case for Leadership Coaching
“Every man should have someone they look up to, and every man should have someone who looks up to them.” — Robert Bly, Iron John Every professional—not just teachers—can benefit...
