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Guiding Teachers

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What Am I Doing Here?

Dana Murphy questions the value of her participation as a literacy coach in professional development sessions designed solely for teachers, and discovers unexpected benefits.

A Good Coach Is a Good Wingman

Ruth Ayres explains how a literacy coach is a wingman for teachers, with a mission of watching for danger, protecting, supporting, and encouraging.

Breaking Away from the Team

Literacy coach Gretchen Taylor is stymied by a grade-level team with one dominant member. She needs to find creative ways to separate individual teachers from the "group-think" herd to guide and collaborate effectively.

Struggling Teachers? Don’t Force It

Melanie Quinn confronts the dilemma that vexes many coaches: how to support struggling teachers who are required to receive coaching, whether they want the help or not.

Honesty with Adult Learners

Jennifer Vincent explains why the most important norm of all for coaches may be sharing vulnerability and openess in professional development settings.

Failure to Norm

Gretchen Taylor watches her coaching unravel with a teacher, and slowly comes to realize that the problem is a lack of shared expectations.

Meeting Snapshot: Norms

At the start of this meeting before a demonstration lesson, Jason DiCarlo reminds the first-grade teaching team of the norms they have agreed to use throughout their time together.

Study Group Gifts

Jennifer Allen explains why she always budgets for small study-group gifts, and shares how they build connections between the groups and teaching practice.

Integrating the Bookroom into Professional Development Sessions

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain how bookrooms can be at the heart of professional development sessions that are designed to help teachers explore resources. This is another installment in their bookrooms series.

What Matters Most: Building Relationships

Dana Murphy explains why building relationships with teachers early in the year is important for literacy coaches, even if you are already part of a solid teaching community.

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.

Coaching Debrief Early in the Year

Heather Rader observes Sean Moore teach a writing lesson to his second graders early in the year. This video of the debrief session highlights Heather’s open-ended questions and listening strategies.

What’s Not on the Study Group Agenda

Jennifer Allen describes some of the subtle variables that lead to success in study groups, and includes a video of the closing minutes of a study group. This is the final video in a four-part series.

Listening and Storytelling

Andie Cunningham shares a simple and creative professional development activity that melds storytelling, art, and listening.

Toolbox Activities in Study Groups

Jennifer Allen uses "toolbox" activities during study groups as a way to help teachers add to their repertoire of practical teaching strategies. This video is the third installment in our four-part series on study groups.

What I Know for Sure: Reflection and Core Beliefs

Stella Villalba shares a reflection activity that centers her coaching and relationships with teachers and children.

Predictable Structures for Study Groups

Jennifer Allen shares a typical format for study groups and a video excerpt from a recent group. This is the second installment in a four-part series.

Planning for a Year of Professional Development

If you’re planning next year’s study groups, you might find Jennifer Allen’s list and reflections helpful in thinking through your school and district needs.

Brain and Movement Breaks for Teachers

Heather Fisher explains why breaks are important for learners of any age, and how to incorporate them into professional development sessions.

The Evolution of Study Groups

Jennifer Allen explains what has changed and what remains the same in her study groups over the past decade. She includes a video example of the start of a study group. This is the first installment in a four-part video series.

An Open Apology

Jennifer Schwanke crafts a letter (never to be sent) to parents of her students from years past, remembering all her early blunders as a middle school teacher. This would be a fun piece to share at a new-teachers orientation, or as a workshop icebreaker for chatting about how teachers have changed over the years.

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