Content Category: Lead Literacy
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Observing Colleagues: Leading Successful Classroom Visits
As coaches, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to be in many classrooms and learn from a variety of teachers. Classroom teachers, however, do not always have this luxury....
Classroom Observation Etiquette
As a classroom teacher, I would occasionally have visitors observe in my classroom for the day. Some people host visitors with the greatest of ease, but I had to work...
Reading Specialists: Using a Common Observation Form
Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher work with reading specialists who are observing individual students to study the transition of skills from targeted support to work in the classroom. The observation...
Peer Observations with a Purpose
“Please clean up the playroom,” I reminded my daughters before dinner. “Done!” they yelled three minutes later as they skipped through the living room. I peeked around the corner and...
Talking in Front of Peers
Lately I have been doing a good deal of speaking and presenting to other educators at various conferences, and more frequently I’ve spoken or presented in front of my large...
How Principals Can Help Build Teacher and Coach Connections
Today I visited a classroom because I needed to talk to a student about something that happened at recess. I walked up to him and whispered, “Hey, can I talk...
Dropping In Versus Scheduling
Last spring, severe thunderstorms blew through the Midwest. The winds ripped off siding and loosened shingles, and hail pitted windows and splintered soffits. My house took a beating. Immediately, we...
Developing a Principal and Coach Partnership
One of the most welcomed changes I have experienced as the principal in my new elementary building is having an instructional coach. In my prior district, there were coaches assigned...
Coaching in Proximity: The Sherpa Mind-Set
Standing in the back of the room, I could see and feel the building anticipation. There was the wild-eyed look of a teacher who is no longer sure what question...
A Change in the Weather: Moving from Teacher to Coach
There’s a joke among midwesterners that if you don’t like the weather, just wait a day and it will change. Living in northern Indiana, we see the full gamut of...
Demonstration Lesson: Quotes in Writing
Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration small group with fifth-grade girls on using quotes in their writing. The session includes a prebrief and debrief with the girls' teacher.
Breakthroughs and Barriers: Going Schoolwide with a Literacy Initiative
In our move to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, we purchased an old home in very good condition. It’s a four-square home, built to last. The previous owner was diligent about improvements...
The Coconut Wireless
I am in a workshop in San Francisco, listening to a team of teachers and administrators from Hawaii talk about the power of community networks. The superintendent of a school...
When Email Isn’t Enough
I am my most concise and thorough when I communicate in writing. Experience also tells me it is important to document and archive information. Other people feel this way too,...
Embedding Reading into Staff Meetings
In a New York Times article, writer Virginia Heffernan questions the necessity of meetings. “They’re boring. They’re useless. Everyone hates them.” She interviews a number of organizational leaders about this...
Team Meeting: Next Steps
Kathy Provost closes a third-grade team meeting with a discussion of next steps, ensuring everyone is on the same page with plans before the next month's meeting.
Going Google as a Literacy Leader
Our time as literacy leaders is precious. The demands of our day and our positions are limited, especially when we also have a family and a life beyond school. Productivity...
Next-Thing Thinking and Google Keep
When I returned to work after the birth of my first child, I struggled to balance my new role as a working mother. As the coordinator for a local reading...
First-Grade Demonstration Small Group: Reading Engagement
Clare Landrigan leads a demonstration small group with first-grade readers who struggle with engagement and stamina. The lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with their teacher.
A Book Tasting for Teachers
Where do you turn when you need your next book to read? If you are like me, you have a few methods up your sleeve to ensure your next book...
Story Play with The Grouchy Ladybug
In this demonstration small group, Clare Landrigan leads kindergartners in a story play session featuring The Grouchy Ladybug. The lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with the classroom teacher.
