Leaders Lounge

Goal Setting with Google Spreadsheets

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

Screencasting Professional Development

Bill Bass explains the nuts and bolts of creating screencasts to replace professional development sessions.

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.

On Being Observed

In this brief video, Jeni, a third-grade teacher, shares insights about the experience of being observed and what needs to be in place in the school climate for classroom observations to work well.

Lesson Observation Debrief

Leslie Lloyd debriefs with teachers and her principal in this quick video after a minilesson observation.

Interview on Lesson Plans

Reactions to the Book Paper Things

In this quick video excerpt from a grades 4-5 teacher study group, Jennifer Allen leads a discussion of the challenging themes in Jennifer Richard Jacobson's book Paper Things. The author is also present and responds.

Leading a Demonstration Lesson: When It Doesn’t Go Well

In this brief video, Jennifer Allen talks in a leadership team meeting about the unsettling but valuable feedback she received from a principal and teacher on a demonstration lesson that didn't go well, and the reflection the feedback sparked.

Picture It: Reorganizing a Professional Book Library

In this quick tip, literacy coaches Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost reorganize their professional book library in a simple way that will save hours over the year of hunting for texts.

What I Wish I’d Known As a New Coach

Melanie Meehan shares her best advice for new coaches, hard-won from experience.

Taking Breaks

This quick tip from Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan will ensure you don’t overlook one of the most important elements of successful meetings: breaks.