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Guiding Teachers

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Picture It: Museum Walk with Quotes

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

Why I Love Having a Coach

Franki Sibberson shares a teacher's perspective on why even the most experienced teachers can benefit from having a coach as a mentor.

Fostering Change with Student Work

Heather Fisher has a secret weapon for nudging teachers toward change: student work samples. She explains how she finds opportunities across the day for sharing them.

Screencasting Professional Development

Bill Bass explains the nuts and bolts of creating screencasts to replace professional development sessions.

Coaching Relationships: Move Closer

Melanie Quinn has a poor start in her coaching relationship with a teacher. She begins again by going against her natural instincts, and is surprised by the results.

Honesty, Ignorance, and Building Relationships

How are leaders supposed to provide thoughtful insights when they don’t know much about what they are observing? Jennifer Schwanke shares how she builds her knowledge base and rapport with teachers when faced with gaps in her expertise.

Takeout Book Club

Teachers may not have time for one more meeting—but they still have to eat! Heather Fisher combines the fun of lunch takeout with book discussions to boost interest and attendance.

Twitter Book Chats

Brian Sepe gives the nuts and bolts for hosting book chats for teachers on Twitter.

Coaching Minute: The Walkaway

Amanda Adrian shares the importance of the "walkaway" — narrowing the focus of professional development planning to one critical question in this quick video tip.

Because It’s the Right Thing to Do

The staff at Melanie Quinn's school realizes they have created a monster with positive reinforcement through extrinsic rewards. Here is how they changed behaviors and expectations over a two-year period.

See Their Stories, Not Their Misbehaviors

Ruth Ayres finds that most negative behaviors in writing workshops are rooted in unmet needs. Here is how she demonstrates this truth with teachers, using a simple glass jar and some tape.

Expanding Study Group Communities

Jennifer Allen expands the learning of study groups beyond the small number of teachers who attend each group through an evolving bulletin board display.

Reactions to the Book Paper Things

In this quick video excerpt from a grades 4-5 teacher study group, Jennifer Allen leads a discussion of the challenging themes in Jennifer Richard Jacobson's book Paper Things. The author is also present and responds.

On Being Observed

In this brief video, Jeni, a third-grade teacher, shares insights about the experience of being observed and what needs to be in place in the school climate for classroom observations to work well.

Leading a Demonstration Lesson: When It Doesn’t Go Well

In this brief video, Jennifer Allen talks in a leadership team meeting about the unsettling but valuable feedback she received from a principal and teacher on a demonstration lesson that didn't go well, and the reflection the feedback sparked.

Implementing New Mandated Initiatives

As Jennifer Allen helps implement a new mandated teacher evaluation model, she makes connections between the mandate and the negotiation process.

Study Groups That Nourish the Soul

Jennifer Allen shares how student work can energize a study group.

What I Wish I’d Known As a New Coach

Melanie Meehan shares her best advice for new coaches, hard-won from experience.

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.

Taking Breaks

This quick tip from Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan will ensure you don’t overlook one of the most important elements of successful meetings: breaks.

Launching Meetings with Video

Jennifer Allen always launches study group meetings with short video clips. Here she shares some of her favorite free videos on the web.

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