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Guiding Teachers

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Coaching Tool: Digital Books

In this first installment in a series, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share one of their favorite coaching tools: digital books.

Improving My Feedback

Brian Sepe explores the difference between appreciative and coaching feedback, and why both are essential for literacy coaches to give to teachers.

Unintended Benefits of Recording Minilessons

Melanie Meehan explains the value of recording minilessons when coaching, and also shares some tips if you are new to the practice.

Persevere

Ruth Ayres realizes that sometimes the most important advice coaches can give to teachers is to just hang in there when things don't go as planned in reading workshops.

The Importance of Encouragement

Melanie Meehan and a coaching colleague transfer lessons from their children participating on sports teams to their coaching sessions.

Bounce-Back Spirit

Ruth Ayres shares the "bounce-back spirit" all educators need through the inspiring story and video of Heather Dorniden.

From Worksheets to Workshops

A teacher asks first-year literacy coach Gretchen Taylor to observe and help with a disengaged student. Gretchen discovers in her observation that the issue may be that the literacy curriculum needs an update.

Coaching Collaboration: Visual Note Taking in First Grade

Heather Fisher and a first-grade teacher collaborate after an embarrassing classroom observation reveals that students need to develop note-taking skills.

Helping with Management Challenges in First Grade

Melanie Meehan is coaching a first-grade teacher struggling with management. She shares her top four strategies for focusing students during minilessons.

Ending Coaching Cycles with Reflection

Melanie Meehan shares tools and tips for integrating more reflection into coaching cycles.

Better Meetings Through Reflection

Jennifer Allen ponders the importance of including a reflection component in meetings, and shares a reflection protocol she finds is effective.

What’s in Your Bag?

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan open their coaching bag and share every item on their “must-have” list for traveling from classroom to classroom.

A Coach’s Toolbox: Transcribing Talk

Dana Murphy finds one of the most important tools in her coaching arsenal is transcription. She explains when transcription is effective and gives tips for effective note taking.

The Power of a Hashtag for Districtwide Reading

Bill Bass shares the power of creating a hashtag for celebrating reading in the school community and beyond all year long.

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.

Coaching Basics: Choice

Ruth Ayres explains how coaches can help teachers value choice in writing units through flexibility in genres and other structural supports.

Professional Development Planning

Melanie Meehan reflects upon what went well in a full-day professional development session early in the year as she plans for follow-up midyear.

CoffeeEDU

Are the teachers you work with too overbooked for more professional development time? Literacy coach Brian Sepe finds that voluntary 15-minute sessions before school are wildly successful. He shares tips for implementing these lightning-fast workshops.

Always Another Choice

Ruth Shagoury finds herself checking out during dysfunctional staff meetings. A mentor shares an anecdote and advice that helps her rethink her role with colleagues.

Collaborative Brainstorming

Bill Bass shares a creative way to integrate an online tool for brainstorming into professional development sessions. This tool is especially useful for including introverts in conversations.

The Honeymoon Is Over

The warm, fuzzy feelings of back-to-school goodwill are gone by this point in the fall. Melanie Quinn designs a professional development session to help teachers reflect on classroom needs and develop some new strategies for strengthening classroom communities.

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