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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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Picture It: Museum Walk with Quotes

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

“Get a Little on Ya”: Coaching Teachers Through Change

Dana Murphy uses a humorous mantra to remind herself and the teachers she works with that change comes only when you have the courage to try new things even before you fully believe in their value.

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.

Coaching Basics: Routines

Ruth Ayres shares a simple protocol for coaches to use with teachers when they are thinking through changes to routines in their classrooms.

Coaching Logs and Daily Reflective Routines

Gretchen Taylor explains why it's important for coaches to carve out time to use their coaching notes for reflection.

Cultivating Natural Mentors

Jennifer Schwanke thinks back to her painful first days as a teacher in a "mentor-free" zone and shares how literacy leaders can cultivate and foster natural mentorships for new teachers.

Meeting Snapshot: Exploring Terms in Standards

Jason DiCarlo pauses for a minute with a team of first-grade teachers to examine a standard together, projected with an LCD to ensure everyone has the same understanding of terms and definitions in the standard.

First-Grade Small Group: From Decoding to Monitoring for Meaning

Clare Landrigan leads a demonstration small group with Braden and Talis, who are working to move from an emphasis on decoding in first grade to monitoring meaning. The video includes a prebrief and debrief with the classroom teacher, Ann Vigne.

Goal Setting with Google Spreadsheets

Bill Bass describes how to set up tracking of common classroom assessments and student assessments in Google Spreadsheets.

Monitor for Meaning in Third Grade

In this demonstration conference, Tammy Mulligan works with third grader Ben to help him monitor meaning. The lesson includes prebrief and debrief sessions with his teacher.

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.

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.

Twitter Book Chats

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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