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Lead Literacy Articles & Videos (formerly leadliteracy.com)

Our lounge is your home for exploring hundreds of articles and videos for literacy coaches and school leaders. Our contributors share their best advice for working one-on-one with teachers in coaching cycles, hosting professional development sessions, and designing demonstration lessons and study groups.

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Teachers as Leaders: Five Ways to Create the Conditions for Change (Part 2)

In this second installment, Matt Renwick clarifies a pathway school leaders can take as they seek more equitable outcomes for all students. School improvement is complex, adaptive work. The five Vs framework acknowledges this reality and provides structure without imposing rigidity. 

Teachers as Leaders: Five Ways to Create the Conditions for Change (Part 1)

Matt Renwick shares a model to lean on as teachers and coaches navigate the unpredictable terrain of school-wide change. This is the first installment of a two-part series.

Don’t Be in Such a Hurry to Put Out the Fire (and Completely Miss the Flame)

Mary Brower realizes she spends a lot of time listening to respond rather than understand. This inspires her to help students learn how to listen—really listen—to one another.

Gaining Confidence One Move at a Time

Heather Fisher knows firsthand that confidence does not come easy. Here she shares three intentional actions leaders can take to build their confidence in leading professional learning.

Connecting with the Goals of the School Community

Teacher Educators Teach | Suzy Kaback shares details to help students connect with a school community. In this article full of templates and student examples, she taps the power of listening walks and empathy interviews.

Pay Attention to What You Pay Attention To: Leveraging the Power of a Door

Ruth Ayres invites us use our doors as an opportunity to share core values and inspire others. As leaders, we are change makers. We can leverage attentional bias to help make change positive and joyful in our schools. 

What I Learned About Having a Difficult Conversation

Hannah Tills writes an authentic reflection of a difficult coaching conversation that did not go well. In this must-read for all leaders who have wished a conversation had gone differently, Hannah shares reminders of how to approach the tough conversations so they will be effective.

The Difference Between Change and Transition

Matt Renwick teases out the differences between change and transition. Transitions have a longer timeline than change. Leaders can accelerate this process by building trust, providing clarity, and understanding the process that comes with renewal.

Goals Create Direction

Brian Sepe offers sage advice about goal-setting to relieve stress. He offers a simple framework that will keep your coaching conversations focused on student growth and forward momentum.

The Coach’s Notebook: How to Capture and Organize Your Notes to Support Your Practice

Matt Renwick opens his own coaching notebook and teaches school leaders ways to support teaching and learning through structured note-taking. The coach’s notebook is not art; it is a tool that supports your practice.

Navigating Bias and Assumptions in Literacy Coaching

Matt Renwick helps literacy coaches and leaders recognize and navigate their assumptions and biases when working with teachers. He provides a helpful checklist as a practical place to begin.

The Tension of Perfect Conventions

Everyone knows that writing is a superb strategy to help students learn new information. However, what happens when the conventions are less than stellar in student writing? Ruth Ayres offers advice for how coaches and literacy leaders can navigate the tension of conventions with teachers.

Hosting School-Wide World Read Aloud Day Author Visits

Gigi McAllister is a fantastic guide to help navigate World Read Aloud Day. Whether you want to join for the first-time or you’re a veteran participant, Gigi’s tips will make it easy to participate.

The Confident Coach: Seven Competencies to Empower Your Practice

Matt Renwick shares the qualities of a confident coach. Take a coaching competencies assessment to find out where your strengths lie.

Book Rationales for Building Trust and Guiding Decision-Making

Matt Renwick shares a wise and helpful response when a teacher is looking for support for using a text with mature content in her classroom. Learn about book rationales, how to find them, and how to create one of your own with ChatGPT. More importantly, consider how to engage in conversations rather than offer blanket mandates about whether a book is allowed in classrooms.

The Digital Declutter: Developing a Life Beyond Distractions

Matt Renwick helps us consider a digital declutter. We all have limited time, and we have choice and agency. It’s up to us to decide what we want to commit our attention and time to today and in the future.

Slide Decking: Getting Writing Started

Getting writing started is often the biggest challenge for writers of all ages and experiences. Suzy Kaback offers a process called slide decking with her in-service teacher colleagues as a way to plan the content of an essay or article.

Seven Simple Steps to Happier Teachers

Joanne Emery offers seven simple ideas to help teachers feel seen, heard, and valued. Classrooms are more joyful and engaging when teachers are uplifted and refueled.

Scaffolding: The Key to Tackling Big Projects

Inspired by remodeling an old staircase, Mary Brower is reminded of the power of scaffolding. When planning professional learning, Mary guides us in ways to approach big challenges with a sense of structure and order.

Supporting Perseverance in Our Students: Before You Say ‘Keep Going,’ Pause to Consider

Heather Fisher addresses how it is hard for educators to hear students on the verge of giving up. Before saying the standard Keep going!, pause, look around, and ask yourself these four questions to respond with greater intentionality and to support their perseverance.

Overcoming the Blame Game

Ruth Ayres and Becca Burk consider the nuances of the aftermath when dysregulation happens and how members of a school community can avoid blaming one another for the situation and instead work together.

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