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Getting Organized

Getting Organized

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Can Anyone Be an Instructional Coach?

When it comes time to hire a new literacy coach, Matt Renwick finds himself focusing on three simple and essential qualities every coach must possess.

Coaching as Inquiry

Cathy Mere builds a coaching community through focusing on inquiry all year long. She lists some of her favorite resources for introducing an inquiry stance.

Coaching Feedback and Reflection

Stella Villalba shares some simple strategies to foster more reflection and feedback with the teachers she coaches.

Using Concern Forms for Feedback

Matt Renwick explains why it’s useful to give staff a platform to share any concerns anonymously—even those that might seem trivial at first glance.

Graphics and Coaching Opportunities

Dana Murphy uses visually appealing graphics to entice teachers to enlist in coaching and professional development sessions.

Culture for Coaching Part 4: Schoolwide Coaching Cycles

In the final installment of this four-part series, Ruth Ayres explains how she systematically expanded coaching cycles teacher by teacher until they were a schoolwide norm.

Professional Reboot

Jennifer Schwanke finds she is jealous of a colleague attending a summer training session, so she attends herself. It's a reminder to her of how powerful professional development can be for school leaders.

Bringing Order to the Bookroom

Shari Frost visits a school bookroom and discovers many issues with organization and use. If you have a school bookroom, summer is the perfect time to rethink its purpose and procedures for checking out books.

You Say Tornado . . .

Suzy Kaback shares the power of taking time to honor results late in the school year with teachers in professional development settings.

The Power of a Plastic Frame

Melanie Meehan shares her favorite tool for leaving a bit of her coaching behind in classrooms, one student at a time.

Assessing First-Grade Learning

Jason DiCarlo leads a first-grade study group as they discuss different options for young learners to demonstrate understanding beyond written responses.

Looking Back and Planning Forward

Cathy Mere finds that the last weeks of the school year are the best time for literacy coaches to reflect on long-term goals attained and missed, as well as to plan next steps.

Building Self-Evaluation Skills: What’s Your Signature Move?

Signature moves are developed over years, not days. Gretchen Taylor explains how they can define literacy leaders in positive and negative ways.

Conference Records That Stay with Kids

If we want to teach everyone in the school to be student centered, conference records need to stay with kids. Ruth Ayres explains how this works.

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.

A Checklist for Reflection

Brian Sepe develops a simple reflection checklist to plan next steps, calm his mind, and transition from school to home.

“There Are Words All Over Our Hallways!”

Jennifer Allen shares a practical strategy for building vocabulary and interest in word study throughout a school.

Developing Life Skills vs. Teaching to the Test

Melanie Quinn and the teachers she works with face the hard truth of low test scores in their school, and develop reflective practices to tackle the issue.

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.

Finding a Coaching Model That Works

Student centered? Teacher centered? Dana Murphy finds that one of her most important jobs as a literacy coach is defining her role.

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