Content Category: Lead Literacy
Results
Professional Learning Beyond PLCs
Professional learning communities, or PLCs for short, is a framework for professional collaboration and data analysis. The structure this approach creates allows for collective inquiry around student learning. Since coming...
Third-Grade Demonstration Group on Citing Evidence
Kathy Provost works with a third-grade teacher to lead a demonstration small group on citing evidence. This is the second video in a three-part series.
Debrief of Third-Grade Demonstration Group on Citing Evidence
Kathy Provost and a third-grade teacher debrief after a demonstration small group on citing evidence. This is the third video in a three-part series.
Learning and Leading Through Teaching
Covering for a teacher is more valuable than any observation. Putting myself into the shoes of the adult in the classroom is both revealing and humbling as a building principal....
Settling In
“Okay, writers, off you go,” Mrs. Smith says with a smile and a wave of her hand. The first graders scurry to their writing spots and open their writing folders...
Not All Superheroes Wear Capes
Doldrums. One of Merriam-Webster's dictionaries defines doldrums as "a spell of listlessness or despondency; a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or slump." Inevitably, we all get the doldrums at...
Never Too Late to Get to Know You
Has your staff started down the trail of the winter doldrums and grumpy-pants syndrome? What is it about this time of year? The holidays are over, and spring break feels...
Leadership Shifts
Every year about this time, I spend several hours finalizing supplemental contracts. In my district, teachers who take on leadership roles in specific curricular areas are paid a small stipend...
Planning for a Third-Grade Demonstration Group on Citing Evidence
Kathy Provost works with a third-grade teacher to plan a demonstration small group on citing evidence. They begin with observations from the previous day's instruction to determine the group's needs....
One Teaching Point at a Time
Whenever we are learning a new skill, regardless of the content, regardless of our age, it helps when we break it down into steps. No one can jump on a...
To Celebrate or Not
February and March are two important months for learners. Except they’re all important, aren’t they? Which pretty much sums up my conflict with Black History Month and Women’s History Month,...
A Third Way
“Matt, would you have a minute to come to our next PLC meeting to discuss something on our minds?” My principal radar immediately registered a ping: something is not going...
Using Padlet in Coaching
As I sat in my office one morning planning for an upcoming professional development session on sketchnoting, I was struck by how technology has changed the way I work and...
Using Digital Tools for Instructional Walks
For a while, I avoided technology when visiting classrooms for instructional walks. I thought these tools evoked anxiety in the teachers, who might associate digital tools with formal observations. My...
Science and Literacy Units
The best way to learn about anything is by doing. Richard Branson As the second-grade teachers walked into their professional development session that afternoon, they each grabbed a container...
Nonfiction Notes: Demonstration Small Group
Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration small group with fourth graders focused on nonfiction note taking. The lesson includes prebrief and debrief sessions with the classroom teacher.
The Intersection of Social Studies and Language Arts
I was part of a team that worked on new social studies content frameworks in my state, and we talked to many teachers throughout the state. We heard the refrain...
Better Team Meetings
In my first few years as a middle school language arts teacher, our principal required our teaching team to meet once a week. So new, so eager to please, and...
First-Grade Team: Next Steps
Heather Fisher leads a first-grade teaching team as they plan action steps to take before their next monthly meeting.
Planning for Monthly Literacy Team Meetings
You hit home runs not by chance, but by preparation. Roger Maris October is when the "honeymoon period" has usually ended for teachers. It's the month when students show...
Fourth-Grade Advanced Readers: Planning
Kathy Provost helps a fourth-grade teacher plan how to support advanced readers in a demonstration small group. This is the first video in a three-part series.
