Content Category: Lead Literacy
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Professional Development Planning
Many times after a professional development session, I find myself playing a rewind game in my head—thinking about what I would have done differently, what I forgot to do, or...
Picture It: A Mentor Text Is Like . . .
Looking for a way to assess the effect of your professional development sessions on teachers? Try having them compare your area of focus to an everyday object. This picture is...
Coaching Basics: Choice
My father-in-law taught me to drive his new fishing boat. It is unlike any fishing boat I’ve ever seen. Sparkles and speed combine to make me feel like a character...
Teaching Advanced Second-Grade Writers: Debrief
Literacy coach Kathy Provost and second-grade teacher Jen Volpicelli debrief after teaching a lesson for second graders who are moving beyond grade-level expectations in their writing. This is the third...
Coaching Teachers to Support Gifted Learners
When I sit down with my colleagues to plan for reading workshop, the inputs can be overwhelming. In addition to the assessments we use in our own classrooms, and the...
One Task Fits All
Teachers, often and with good reason, get exasperated by all the demands on their time that don’t connect with their daily work in the classroom. The day-to-day planning of instruction...
CoffeeEDU
One thing we are all searching for is “on-demand” professional development that is relevant and timely. Twitter is a great platform for getting this form of PD. The concept of...
First-Grade Writing Group: Catchy Endings
Clare Landrigan leads a demonstration small group with first graders who are having trouble writing catchy endings to their opinion pieces. The lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with the...
The Power of a Hashtag for Districtwide Reading
We’ve all seen them, the “#” sign with some words behind them. Maybe you’ve seen them as part of a television show or part of a skit from Jimmy Fallon...
Teaching Advanced Second-Grade Writers: A Collaborative Lesson
Literacy coach Kathy Provost and second-grade teacher Jen Volpicelli teach a lesson for second graders who are moving beyond grade level expectations in their writing. This is the second video...
Always Another Choice
Faculty meetings can be tough for me. Over the past year, I made a new commitment to try to contribute to the community without vying for power or inadvertently bumping...
Collaborative Brainstorming
“Turn to those around your table and talk for a moment about where your thinking is right now." This is a phrase that I often utter as I lead professional...
No Cookies: Reflection and Celebration
At the beginning of the year, I started a coaching cycle right away with one of our district’s fourth-grade teachers. We had studied the data of the cohort heading her...
The Honeymoon Is Over
“The honeymoon is definitely over.” This is what I heard walking back into my office a few weeks ago after dismissal. Pausing to soak it all in, I realized I’d...
Teaching Advanced Second-Grade Writers: Designing the Lesson
Literacy coach Kathy Provost and second-grade teacher Jen Volpicelli design a lesson for second graders who are moving beyond grade-level expectations in their writing. This is the first video in...
The Common Core and Parents: Building Bridges, Not Walls
One of our challenges at our school is parent involvement. We are paying particular attention to the feel and tone of our parent conferences. Holding up the mirror is not...
Meeting Snapshot: Examining Standards for Vertical Alignment
In this excerpt from a first-grade lesson study, Principal Jason DiCarlo and the team look at the standard they are tackling compared with what is expected in kindergarten and second...
A Complicated Relationship with Standards
I have a complicated relationship with the Common Core State Standards. As our district’s writing specialist, I have come to terms with them for the most part, and I think...
Meeting Snapshot: Evidence of Learning
In this brief excerpt from a first-grade team planning meeting, Principal Jason DiCarlo asks for evidence of learning from previous work together. The teachers had observed a demonstration lesson on...
Picture It: Museum Walk with Quotes
When transitioning from one focus to another in a professional development session, we find that using quotes gives teachers a taste of new learning through another person's perspective. At the...
“Get a Little on Ya”: Coaching Teachers Through Change
A consultant who worked with our school district once told us at a professional development session, “Go back to your classrooms and give it a try. You have to get...
