Kathy Provost

Kathy Provost is the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction, and Professional Learning in Hudson, Massachusetts.

All Content
Grade-Level Team Meeting: Student Notebooks

Kathy Provost coaches two third-grade teachers as they consider what students are jotting in their notebooks and how they could make changes before beginning a new unit.

The Literacy Master Document

Paper copies here. Paper copies there. Paper copies everywhere. If someone created a children’s book for literacy coaches with this refrain, it would be an instant best seller. Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost take on the challenge of creating an electronic master document to increase communication and save a few trees.

Reading Specialists: Using a Common Observation Form

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher work with reading specialists who are observing individual students to study the transition of skills from targeted support to work in the classroom. The observation form everyone uses includes an engagement inventory and key questions.

Team Meeting: Next Steps

Kathy Provost closes a third-grade team meeting with a discussion of next steps, ensuring everyone is on the same page with plans before the next month's meeting.

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. This is the first video in a three-part series.

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.

Planning for Monthly Literacy Team Meetings

Kathy Provost explains how she gathers resources for team meetings, anticipating the needs that might come up in group discussions and how often to vary the group activities.

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.

Fourth-Grade Advanced Readers: Demonstration Lesson

Kathy Provost helps a fourth-grade teacher support advanced readers in a demonstration small group. This is the second video in a three-part series.

Fourth-Grade Advanced Readers: Debrief

Kathy Provost debriefs with a fourth-grade teacher after supporting advanced readers in a demonstration small group. This is the final video in a three-part series.

Coaching Minute: Case Study Observation Form

Literacy coaches Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost talk about how their work with reading specialists has evolved by having the specialists focus on case studies of individual students, rather than spending much of their time focused solely on big data. They share a form they use to help reading specialists hone their observation skills.

Coaching Minute: Student Observation Form

In this brief video, Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher talk about the value of trying out a student observation form first within the coaching team before using it in classroom observations with teachers.

Third-Grade Team Discussion: Rate Your Post-It Tool

Literacy coach Kathy Provost leads a team of third-grade teachers as they discuss using a “Rate Your Post-It” visual tool in their classrooms.

Motivating Reluctant Writers in Third Grade

Kathy Provost and a third-grade teaching team discuss how to motivate reluctant writers.

Case Studies All Year Long

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher talk with reading specialists about the value of following a case study over an entire year.

Coaching Minute: Lesson Planning Form

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher talk about the value of using a lesson planning form with teachers as a shared record of plans, action, and reflection in coaching sessions.

Teacher Guilt

Feeling guilty about the quality of instruction is a common state for teachers. Kathy Provost gives some practical tips on how a literacy coach can help build teacher confidence in authentic ways.

Exit Slips for Reflection and Planning

In this video, Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher use exit slips to assess the success of a professional development session and plan next steps.

Coaching Minute: Selecting Books for Teachers

In this brief video, Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher share some criteria for selecting books for teachers to open doors and conversations.

Coaching Minute: Better Data Meetings

In this brief video, Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost explain why turning data meetings over to reading specialists has had such a positive effect on schools in their district.

Choosing Our Words Carefully

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost reflect on how just a few words can define relationships between literacy coaches and teachers.

Planning Family Literacy Night

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost work with a group of reading specialists to plan a family literacy night.

Collecting Data on Case Study Students

Launching case studies can be overwhelming for teachers and specialists. Kathy Provost shares a form she uses with reading specialists to help focus observations and collect a manageable amount of data to analyze for each case study student.

Coaching Minute: Case Studies with Reading Specialists

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost talk about how case studies have changed their work with literacy specialists over the past year in this brief video.

Making the Most of Monthly Common Planning Times

Kathy Provost finds that narrowing the focus for grade-level monthly meetings at the start of the school year by asking teachers to decide on a topic of inquiry leads to more thoughtful work all year long.

Coaching Minute: Considering Language

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost share subtle changes in the language they are using with teachers to foster more collaboration.

Common Planning Meeting: Third-Grade Notebooks

In this excerpt from a common planning meeting, Kathy Provost works with third-grade teachers who are focused on improving their use of student notebooks across the curriculum.

Coaching Minute: Literacy Master Document

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher explain how the Literacy Master Document has simplified and improved their coaching.

Literacy Specialists and Case Studies

Kathy Provost focuses the work of literacy specialists through case studies they explore together throughout the year. She includes a helpful form created by the group and a favorite protocol.

Tracking Characters in Fourth Grade

Kathy Provost leads a collaborative demonstration lesson on tracking characters with fourth graders. The lesson includes prebrief and debrief sessions with their teacher Jaime Leger.

Planning a Coaching Cycle

Kathy Provost works with a third-grade teacher to plan long-term and daily goals in a coaching cycle in this video.

No Cutting Corners in Coaching

A home renovation project gets Kathy Provost thinking about what's essential in coaching well.

The Evolution of Data Meetings

Kathy Provost writes about how her district moved from a physical to a virtual data wall, and the implications for talk about assessment and student needs.

Picture It: A Mentor Text Is Like . . .

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost use an analogy exercise to provide a quick and creative brain break during professional development sessions.

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 video in a three-part series.

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 in a three-part series.

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 a three-part series.

Picture It: Museum Walk with Quotes

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher share a simple activity to open or transition in professional development sessions.

Picture It: Reorganizing a Professional Book Library

In this quick tip, literacy coaches Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost reorganize their professional book library in a simple way that will save hours over the year of hunting for texts.

Collaborative Teaching: Debrief

Literacy coach Kathy Provost and second-grade teacher Jen Volpicelli debrief after teaching a lesson on opinion writing to Owen and Laura. This is the third video in a three-part series.

Collaborative Teaching: Opinion Writing

Literacy coach Kathy Provost and second-grade teacher Jen Volpicelli teach a lesson on opinion writing to Owen and Laura. This is the second video in a three-part series.

Planning for Collaborative Teaching

Literacy coach Kathy Provost plans for small-group instruction with second-grade teacher Jen Volpicelli. This first video in a series is excellent for thinking through how coaches can make their planning and instruction for demonstration lessons more collaborative with teachers.

Organizing Writing: Demonstration Small Group

Kathy Provost meets with a small group to help students organize their writing. The demonstration lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with the teacher.

Coaching Minute: Videos in the Selfie Age

In this quick video, Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher share an alarming experience: young teachers pulling out phones and other devices to take videos of instruction without permission. They discuss the need for school leaders to develop policies that tackle issues of privacy and permission.

Organizing Mentor Texts

Do you often send out emails to staff asking for help in locating missing mentor texts? Kathy Provost has a suggestion for organizing your professional book library this summer that might solve your problem.

Keeping Note Taking Fresh for Students

Kathy Provost shares many note-taking options teachers might try with students, especially those involving sketching and other visual aids.

Coaching Minute: Supporting New Coaches

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher share tips for how veteran coaches can support new colleagues in this short video.

Coaching Minute: Personalizing Assessment Binders

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher chat about the challenges of getting teachers to use assessment binders, and the importance of helping teachers tailor the binders to their needs.

Empowering the Reading Team

Kathy Provost explains how and why she transferred more responsibility for professional development to reading specialists. In her district, elementary reading specialists now lead literacy professional sessions for paraprofessionals.

Guiding Reading Specialists to Lead Professional Development

In this video, Kathy Provost meets with reading specialists to plan professional development for paraprofessionals. She explains the importance of surveying participants.

Wild Reading: A Coach’s Perspective

Kathy Provost suggests a fun way for coaches to help students and teachers find joy again during independent reading.

Coaching Minute: Dividing Responsibilities Among Coaches

Kathy Provost and Heather Fisher explain how they worked to divide responsibilities fairly and efficiently over time.

Accountable Talk: Beginning Steps

Kathy Provost and her colleagues are disappointed with test scores and realize that the quality of student conversations in their classrooms needs a lift.

I Should Have Stopped at the Staples

Have you ever tried to do too much in a conference with a student? Have you ever had this happen when a teacher is observing you as a model? Kathy Provost describes how the experience with a kindergarten student provided valuable insights for her and the child's teacher.

Failure to Thrive: Rethinking Assessment Binders

Kathy Provost and her coaching colleague are delighted with the assessment binders they've created . . . until they realize teachers aren't actually using them.

Just Tell Me! Evaluation and the Coach’s Dilemma

Kathy Provost resists the role of evaluator as a literacy coach, but a classroom observation and the teacher's reaction makes her question this stance.

Forming a Partnership with a New Coach

Kathy Provost shares practical advice for establishing a truly collaborative relationship with a new coaching colleague.

Finding Purpose in Coaching with Organized Notes

After two years of coaching, Kathy Provost worried that her classroom sessions with teachers lacked purpose. She shares a notetaking form she developed to focus and extend the learning from these interactions.

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