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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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Professional Development Choice and Follow-Up

Melanie Meehan finds that including choice and reflection in professional development options leads to more classroom changes over time.

The Power of Mini-Charts

Melanie Meehan finds that the effectiveness of the charts she uses in coaching is magnified by shrinking them down and sharing them with many teachers.

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.

Poetry Love

Why not poetry? Melanie Meehan asked herself what genre might work best for a summer writing academy for students. She explains why poetry is the perfect summer genre for students who might be reluctant to receive extra support.

Planning Next Year’s Professional Development Offerings

Jennifer Allen shares her topics, schedules, and plans for study groups in 2017-2018.

Benched

Ruth Ayres explores what literacy coaches can do when they are sidelined or marginalized by difficult conditions in a school.

It’s Not About Us

Matt Renwick realizes that sometimes we have to ignore our path as learners to help teachers find their own way to better instruction.

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.

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