Choice Lit Topic: Literacy Coaches
A simple question – who will coach the coaches? If you’re a literacy coach, you already know there is no job more amazing or overwhelming in a school. Our Choice Literacy library includes a small sample of our resources for literacy coaches. If you work as a coach, you’ll want a subscription that includes access to our Leaders Lounge, where there are over 900 resources for coaches, including study group protocols, videos of demonstration lessons, and guides for designing coaching cycles.
Results
On Their Own (Almost): Coaching and Classroom Demonstrations Mid-Year
In this video filmed in mid-January, Jennifer Allen observes new teacher Jessica, and explains how she struggles to redefine her role in the classroom.
Teaching and Assessing Persuasive Writing Skills
Some time ago I led a writing class with fifth-grade teachers. Our purpose was to write our own essays, using state classroom-based assessment criteria to analyze them. I chose the...
Listen In: Magnifying a Moment in Writing
When second-grade teacher Linda Karamatic pulled out Sammi's folder during our meeting, she commented on how delighted she was to see Sammi finishing some pieces. There were several workshops at...
Evocative Coaching in Action (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Bob Tschannen-Moran uses the strategy of imaginative listening to process an unsettling interaction Heather Rader had with a colleague. Heather: Well, your model, your four-step dance,...
Voila! Best Writing and Entry Slips in Second Grade
The word voila in French literally means "see there." Linda Karamatic put time and reflection into creating a binder, or "voila book," that will ease bulging writing workshop folders and...
The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 1
This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of...
The Sponge Summary Lesson Part 4
This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a 4th grade class, using the analogy of...
Common Core Conversations: Vocabulary
What do you remember about vocabulary instruction and assessment as a student? We remember weekly lists of words and definitions, especially in high school. Sometimes we'd memorize 20 or even...
Best Practices in Spelling Instruction
My fascination with spelling is personal and professional. My oldest two kids with similar DNA and educational experiences are very different spellers. My son needs to look at a word...
How Do We Structure Small Groups? (Part 3 of the Grouping Series)
Fifth-grade teacher Pam was encouraged by her principal to transition from mostly whole-group instruction to include more small-group instruction, especially in the area of reading. The previous year she'd used...
Working with Adults: Structuring Effective Conferring
Most of us acquire the ability to run shortly after we learn to walk. Although the movement is second nature, given the choice, many of us choose not to engage...
Preserving Student Writing as a Curator
It's a Friday afternoon when I sit down with second-grade teacher Linda Karamatic. After teaching many years, she's tried different systems of preserving student writing. She's clear on what she...
Trying to Coach Without the Budget in Mind
With daily headlines keeping alive the reality of a sputtering economy, I fear for my job more than ever. Perhaps it was my sheer naïveté in my first year coaching,...
Keeping It Real for Students: Never Underestimate the Power of Reflection
Katie is a veteran teacher who willingly shares what she is learning all the time. Her stance has evolved over time from the traditional preparation she received in her preservice...
Learning from Master Teachers: It’s the Process, Not the Content (Part I)
I was lucky enough to visit the Manhattan New School when Shelley Harwayne was principal, and I saw Sharon Taberski, Joanne Hindley, and Judy Davis in action. I have also...
Communicating with the Y Chromosome
A colleague was relaying a disagreement with her husband. "All he did was tell me point by point what he said and what I said and what we could do...
Katherine Casey on Sharing Blunders with Colleagues (PODCAST)
In this podcast, Katherine Casey explains to Heather Rader why it is helpful for coaches to share their teaching blunders with colleagues. Katherine is the author of Literacy Coaching: The...
The Superpower of Reflecting
What is your superpower? Are you a great listener, storyteller, misconception spotter, advocate, or feedback giver? Educators have a multitude of superpowers, and we'll focus here on one that takes...
Katherine Casey on Coaching in Classrooms (PODCAST)
Katherine Casey shares her latest thinking with Heather Rader on the best ways to mentor teachers in classrooms. Katherine is the author of Literacy Coaching: The Essentials. You can visit her...
What’s 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...
A Bad Case of the Never-Ending Januaries
A Choice Literacy member wrote to us this week: I am noticing that we have hit a point in the year where teachers are stressed, snow days are maxed, and...
