Content Category: Lead Literacy
Results
Pushing the Pause Button for Reflection: Literacy Chats
Days at school are busy and filled with nonstop commitment to our students. Rarely are teachers given the opportunity to pause and reflect on learning and teaching. Equally challenging is...
Third-Grade Demonstration Lesson: Multisyllabic Words
In this small-group demonstration lesson, Tammy Mulligan helps third graders decipher multisyllabic words. The video includes a prebrief and debrief with the classroom teacher.
Guess Who’s Coming? Planning an Author Visit
I was following a trail of students to the cafeteria. A smile formed when I noticed heads turning to glance at a countdown calendar. Excitement had been building day by...
Climbing Gordon’s Ladder with New Teachers
Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. Maya Angelou As a teacher leader for the Teacher Mentor Program, I worked...
Developing a Collaborative Vision for Leading Literacy Coaches
Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation. Mark Twain It’s August, and Amanda and I are perched in...
Coaching Minute: Voice Memos
Heather Rader explains how she uses voice memos in her coaching in this quick video tip. A transcript is available below the player. Thanks to a colleague...
Operation Classroom Library
One, two, three, four crates of books were stacked against the wall, standing taller than any kindergarten student in the class. The stack was teetering, in danger of abruptly crashing...
Planning for a Year of Study Groups
Sustainable improvement can never be done to or even for teachers. It can only ever be achieved by and with them. Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan As a literacy...
Teacher Blogs in the Digital World
All the teachers in our Introduction to Digital Writing class agreed that being digital writers themselves would help them incorporate technology into their classrooms. Some were even interested in creating...
Coaching Minute: Professional Development Matters for Us
In this brief video, Ruth Ayres explains why professional development is important for all of us, no matter your leadership role.
Interviewing a Coach
Almost every year I get the opportunity to participate in interviews for elementary or secondary instructional specialist positions in our district. Spots open up because of a coach heading back...
Picture It: Binder Full of Coaching
Heather Rader keeps her binder with her as she moves between the 13 elementary schools in her district. Each tab belongs to one of the educators with whom she’s currently...
Coaching in the Moment
Recently we have noticed that some of our best coaching moments are happening outside of our coaching schedule. These on-the-go conversations in the photocopier line, in the parking lot, or...
Coaching Boundaries: Do You Have Any?
Time is the resource on which we’ve relied to get more accomplished. When there’s more to do, we invest more hours. But time is finite, and many of us feel...
Using Meeting Minutes as a Reflective Tool
A lot of people are so used to just seeing the outcome of work. They never see the side of the work you go through to produce the outcome. —Michael...
Coaching Minute: Music
Heather Rader talks about the power of music in setting the tone for professional development in this quick video tip. A transcript is available below the player. At the...
Intentional Agendas: Planning for Teacher Learning
When I stepped out of the classroom seven years ago and into a professional development role, I felt like a first-year teacher all over again. The only difference: my “students”...
Coaching Minute: Celebrations
Ruth Ayres talks about the importance of celebrations for coaches, teachers, and students in this brief video.
Puppies and Babies and Kittens, Oh My! Support for Maternity Leaves
Spring is in the air, and at my school, teachers are having babies and taking leave. If you’re the coach, that means you have teachers to support before they leave...
Determining Importance: Demonstration Small-Group Lesson in Third Grade
Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration small group with third graders on determining importance. The video includes a prebrief and debrief with the teacher.
Welcome Visits
Finding the right entry in professional development can be tricky. We never want to waste teachers’ time by not gauging the focus or pace of our sessions. We want our...
