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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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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.

The Other Agenda

Dana Murphy shares a simple technique to ensure there is more transfer of new learning strategies from meetings and professional development workshops to classrooms.

Coaching Minute: Better Data Meetings

In this brief video, Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost explain why turning data meetings over to reading specialists has had such a positive effect on schools in their district.

The Secret to Better Meetings: It’s All in the Ending

Jennifer Allen shares her favorite ending for meetings that leaves participants hungry for more.

Choosing Our Words Carefully

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost reflect on how just a few words can define relationships between literacy coaches and teachers.

First-Grade Partner Reading

Clare Landrigan leads a demonstration lesson to show first-grade reading partners how to work together. The demonstration includes a prebrief and debrief with the teacher.

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.

Aligning Beliefs and Practices: Homework Policies

Melanie Quinn shares the process of coming up with a schoolwide homework policy that aligns beliefs and practices across grade levels.

Unspoken Leadership

Matt Renwick attends a recognition ceremony for high school students, and realizes that many of the traits celebrated in the students are the marks of quiet leadership.

Planning Family Literacy Night

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost work with a group of reading specialists to plan a family literacy night.

Confidence Through Poetry

In this demonstration conference, Clare Landrigan works with Lexi, a student who is developing confidence as a writer through exploring poetry, and transferring that learning to other subject areas. The lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with Lexi’s teacher.

Coaching for Confidence

No matter their level of skill or experience, teachers can find their confidence shaken. Melanie Quinn analyzes some of the reasons for teacher insecurity, and how literacy coaches can help.

Sustaining Trust While Maintaining High Expectations

Matt Renwick tackles a tricky issue for literacy leaders. How do you build a relationship of trust when there are clearly issues with the quality of a teacher's instruction?

Demonstration Lesson: First-Grade Talk Prompts

Heather Fisher presents a lesson with a first-grade teacher as part of a cycle focused on improving classroom talk. This is the second video in a two-part series.

Coaching Minute: Case Studies with Reading Specialists

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost talk about how case studies have changed their work with literacy specialists over the past year in this brief video.

Collecting Data on Case Study Students

Launching case studies can be overwhelming for teachers and specialists. Kathy Provost shares a form she uses with reading specialists to help focus observations and collect a manageable amount of data to analyze for each case study student.

Who Keeps You Up at Night?

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan ask this question to launch a discussion of one challenging learner and open teachers to the possibilities of case studies.

Learning Through Listening

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan provide some simple listening and questioning strategies to help coaches focus on the specific needs of each teacher.

No More Whack-a-Mole Coaching

Cathy Mere shares strategies for avoiding distractions and staying focused while coaching.

Maintaining Teacher Ownership in Coaching Conversations

Cathy Mere ponders the unspoken messages we can send other coaches and teachers, and how to make our work more collaborative through the language we use.

Demonstration Lesson Planning: First-Grade Talk Prompts

Heather Fisher plans a lesson with a first-grade teacher as part of a cycle focused on improving classroom talk. This is the first video in a two-part series.

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