Content Category: Lead Literacy
Results
Coaching Tool: Evernote
Each time we meet with a group of teachers, leave a classroom after a coaching session, or finish a workshop, we think, I need to remember ______. Inevitably, we think...
Parents in a Foreign Land
For students who are new to the English language, nothing comes easy: They have to work hard to figure out a new language, new customs, new foods, new friendships, and...
Engaging Not Blaming: Increasing Parent Involvement
“Why don’t we have a good turnout at curriculum night? Don’t our parents care about their child’s education?" It’s human nature, unfortunately, to resist holding up the mirror when our...
Kindergarten Writing: Helping Advanced Learners
Melanie Meehan meets with kindergarten teacher Hayley to examine student work and talk about how to help young learners who are still in transition from home to school environments. ...
New-to-Grade-Level Teacher Tool Kit
As the end of the year approaches, a few of the teachers in our district have been notified that they will be changing grade levels in the upcoming year. Part...
Advice for New Literacy Coaches: An Interview with Susan Avis
Susan Avis chats with Brenda Power about the delicate work of honoring the strengths of teachers while still pushing them beyond their comfort zones to improve skills. A transcript is...
Master Class: Mentoring New Coaches
Recently I went to see the play Master Class. The play is based on the life of famous opera singer Maria Callas—specifically, a snippet of her life when she taught...
A Writing Marathon for Teachers
Five of us meet on a beautiful Pacific Northwest Saturday morning at a park that overlooks the falls. After we connect about our summers, I begin with an excerpt from...
A Quilters’ Workshop
Somewhere in the middle of a quilt-themed balanced literacy unit years ago, I taught myself to sew. Before you think too much of it, all I could really do was...
Loaf and Invite Your Soul
I loaf and invite my soul, I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. These lines from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself silenced the high...
Three Little Tweaks for More Effective Communication
Sometimes it feels like the amount of information we receive in a single week could fill the Grand Canyon. We live in the information age, and it comes flying at...
Closing the Year Strong: Leveraging Technology When Time Is Short
The last months of the school year can be stressful for teachers. Time becomes the enemy we feel powerless to counter. This is why principals and teacher leaders should leverage...
Becoming a Literacy Coach: Principles and Mission Statements
When I think back to becoming a literacy coach, I can remember worrying about many parts of my new career. How do I develop my schedule? How do I get...
Meeting Snapshot: Sharing Resources
Jason DiCarlo explains the importance of previewing resources and not just giving them to teachers, as well as linking the text directly to current work. In this video example, Jason...
A Test Run for Difficult Decisions
Making decisions is difficult. Whether it is a personal or professional decision, it can feel overwhelming to consider all the pros, cons and potential effects of one decision. Leaders need...
Starting with Core Beliefs and Values
Working with a leadership intern this year brought back memories of student teaching, working with a mentor my first two years of teaching, and hosting practicum students. I’m thankful for...
Conflict: A Coach’s Perspective
“But that isn’t my vision!” The teacher I was working with was getting more and more frustrated. I was serving as the editor of a book being collaboratively written by...
Conflict: A Teacher’s Perspective
Feedback is an essential part of learning. As a teacher, I give and receive feedback. I give feedback to my students so they can reach their learning goals. I receive...
The Importance of Creating a Literacy Room (Instead of a Tiny Office)
This past spring, I was asked if I would be willing to return to a literacy coaching role in my school. I was in that role for three years before...
Coaching and Tracking Conferences
I admire teachers who ask questions about conferring since conferring is at the heart of writing workshop, but it is one of the hardest parts. Unlike the minilesson, teachers don’t...
Coaching Minute: Baggies
Melanie Meehan shares her bedraggled baggie—the essential tools she carries with her when she confers with students.
