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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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Meeting Snapshot: Deciding Look-Fors

In this excerpt from a meeting before a first-grade demonstration lesson, Principal Jason DiCarlo and teachers discuss potential "look-fors" during the lesson—what everyone will focus on during observations. The lesson and activity is designed to help the children differentiate between fiction and nonfiction.

Transcribing Conversations During Instructional Walks

Matt Renwick finds transcribing brief snippets of conversation with students during his daily instructional walks ensures the focus stays on students in conversations with teachers.

Unintended Benefits of Recording Minilessons

Melanie Meehan explains the value of recording minilessons when coaching, and also shares some tips if you are new to the practice.

Don’t Confuse the Already Confused

Gretchen Taylor observes the confusion that ensues when different adults, all with the best intentions, work with readers who are struggling.

Inclusion: What Does It Mean?

Melanie Quinn chronicles the changes her school staff has gone through in defining and designing inclusion programs, from the “rolling cart” year to the time when all horseshoe tables vanished. This year, the staff finally got on the same page by creating a document defining their beliefs about inclusion.

Coaching Minute: Conferring Cards

In this brief video, Melanie Meehan shares the simple cards she gives to students when conferring. These cards document compliments and challenges to guide the student after the conference is over. They also give the classroom teacher a sense of what was discussed in the conference.

Persevere

Ruth Ayres realizes that sometimes the most important advice coaches can give to teachers is to just hang in there when things don't go as planned in reading workshops.

What Are You Working on Today?

Dana Murphy explains why reframing the opening question in conferences with children may be the most important thing teachers can do to foster more independence and stamina.

Sticking with a Topic

Tammy Mulligan leads a group with Luke and Gabby, two third graders who have trouble focusing on a topic while writing drafts. The demonstration lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with their teacher.

From Coaching Logs to Coaching Reports

Gretchen Taylor uses her coaching logs to craft coaching reports. These reports are a catalyst for receiving feedback from administrators on her work.

The Leading Edge

Dana Murphy considers what type of feedback is most helpful to teachers when they are most vulnerable—on the leading edge of trying something new.

Coaching Minute: Cycle Evaluation Form

Melanie Meehan shares her coaching cycle evaluation form and why it is helpful in this quick video tip.

Bounce-Back Spirit

Ruth Ayres shares the "bounce-back spirit" all educators need through the inspiring story and video of Heather Dorniden.

On Being Coached

Dana Murphy finds herself analyzing how a colleague encourages her, and in the process reaffirms the value of coaching for everyone.

The Importance of Encouragement

Melanie Meehan and a coaching colleague transfer lessons from their children participating on sports teams to their coaching sessions.

The Evolution of Data Meetings

Kathy Provost writes about how her district moved from a physical to a virtual data wall, and the implications for talk about assessment and student needs.

Coaching Minute: Student Work Form

Melanie Meehan talks about the importance of developing assessment forms for coaching cycles that focus on student work and integrating analysis of the work into plans for instruction.

The Students Behind the Numbers

Matt Renwick shares the challenges and benefits of using multiple measures to inform instruction with an example of the impact of a read aloud in a fifth-grade classroom.

From Worksheets to Workshops

A teacher asks first-year literacy coach Gretchen Taylor to observe and help with a disengaged student. Gretchen discovers in her observation that the issue may be that the literacy curriculum needs an update.

Coaching Collaboration: Visual Note Taking in First Grade

Heather Fisher and a first-grade teacher collaborate after an embarrassing classroom observation reveals that students need to develop note-taking skills.

Helping with Management Challenges in First Grade

Melanie Meehan is coaching a first-grade teacher struggling with management. She shares her top four strategies for focusing students during minilessons.

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