Content Category: Lead Literacy
Results
Assessing Our Impact
Our students have heaps of data about their learning progress: screener scores, benchmarks, quizzes and tests, teachers’ anecdotal records, grades, and portfolio assessments. These results offer a bevy of information...
Creating a Strategy Tool Kit
During the years I have spent as a writing coordinator and coach of writing teachers, I have developed several instructional tools and strategies that work across grades and genres. I...
PD Playlist
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. —Plato This summer we attended literacy conferences in Boston and Michigan....
Collections to Spark Writing
Clare Landrigan uses collections as a tool to spark writing among first graders during an upcoming vacation. This demonstration small-group lesson includes prebrief and debrief sessions with the children's teacher.
Engagement in Writing Workshops
Last week, I participated in instructional rounds with three second-grade teachers, and the hosting teacher was interested to know how much on-task writing behavior was exhibited when she was conferring...
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
In a quest to better myself as a literacy learner and leader, I recently enrolled in a doctoral-level literacy course at a local university. The instructor was kind enough to...
Coaching Minute: Using Foam Boards with Students
In this quick video, Jennifer Allen explains how using foam boards with students can increase engagement and extend learning between demonstration lessons.
Share, Learn, Grow: The PD Bulletin Board
A friend of mine opened a restaurant several years ago, and I remember him telling us how hard it was to wait for people to discover it. He knew he...
Getting Books into the Hands of Teachers
Schools are very busy places, and classroom teachers have exceptionally long “to-do” lists. With everything on their plates, they may not have enough time to search the book room or...
Book Buzz in Study Groups
Jason DiCarlo turns a third-grade study group over to a participant to share her enthusiasm for The Joy of Planning by Franki Sibberson, the book the group is using for...
Literacy Specialists and Case Studies
There are always a few students who puzzle even the most seasoned reading specialists. Even though these specialists carry a large bag of tricks, they don’t always know exactly what...
Building Effective Literacy Teams
When our kids were little, I don’t know where I would have been without my husband. I can’t imagine having to make tough parenting decisions alone. We both brought different...
Observation Visits: Getting Comfortable with the Unexpected
In this brief video excerpt from a leadership meeting focused on peer observation, teachers talk about taking risks and being comfortable with observation when things don't go according to plan.
Creating a Digital Footprint
Have you ever Googled yourself? You know, just to see what would come up? If you haven’t, I encourage you to do just that. Put your name in Google, put...
Learning Land
I swear it feels like I get an email every five minutes from someone trying to sell me something for our school. Assemblies, puppet shows, field trips, author visits, motivational...
Six Ways to Empower Teachers to Write
If we want to teach students to write, then we must understand how writers work. The best way to understand how writers work is to write! When teachers write, their...
Where the Magic Happens
Jeff Wilhelm was a new faculty member at the University of Maine when I enrolled in his graduate course called Teacher Research many years ago. The signature assignment in this...
Building Background Knowledge with QR Codes
In this demonstration small group, Tammy Mulligan works with sixth graders to show them how to build background knowledge with QR codes. The video includes prebrief and debrief sessions with...
Talking Too Much
In this brief video excerpt from a meeting about colleague visits, teachers consider the thorny issue of why they talk so much when they want to listen more.
Assessing Reading in Sixth Grade
Tammy Mulligan confers with sixth grader Jordyn, assessing her reading before summer break. The conference includes a prebrief and debrief with Jordyn's teacher.
Go-To Texts for Demonstration Lessons
As coaches we are always on the lookout for new picture books that we can use during demonstration lessons. These texts must be short enough so we can quickly read...
