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Coaching Minute: Ending the Day

Heather Rader shares a quick video tip about the importance of closing rituals at the end of the coaching day.

Failure to Thrive: Rethinking Assessment Binders

Kathy Provost and her coaching colleague are delighted with the assessment binders they've created . . . until they realize teachers aren't actually using them.

Literacy Day

Jennifer Schwanke tackles the challenge of developing an inviting curriculum for an "extra day" added to the school calendar because of weather disruptions.

Coaching Minute: Birthday Tip

Heather Rader has a quick video tip for organizing low-stress birthday celebrations for colleagues.

Celebration Charts

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan find that celebrating small triumphs from the week is a great way to launch any professional development session.

Just Tell Me! Evaluation and the Coach’s Dilemma

Kathy Provost resists the role of evaluator as a literacy coach, but a classroom observation and the teacher's reaction makes her question this stance.

Coaching Minute: Reading Habits

Heather Rader explains why professional reading needs to be a priority for literacy coaches in this quick video.

Courage to Change: A Professional Development Activity

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share a professional development activity using the book Courage that helps teachers look at change in new ways.

Coaching Minute: Waiting to Respond

Heather Rader explains the WAIT strategy for responding to challenging email in this quick video tip.

Above the Clouds

Jennifer Vincent reflects on the drudgery and angst that is a normal part of the life of literacy leaders helping others.

Drop the Rope

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share a strategy for working through tense situations when coaching.

Leadership 101: Knowing When to Step Back

Jennifer Schwanke prepares to lead a book study group among colleagues, and finds teachers are balking at the idea of adding one more responsibility. She asks herself an essential leadership question: Should I pull back or push?

Coaching Conversations: Easing Your Way into Positive Relationships

Sharon Thompson shares some of the highs (growing interest in getting help, via word of mouth) and lows (tutoring in an unheated closet?!) of her first year of coaching in this brief audio interview.

Demonstration Lesson: Reading Response in Notebooks

Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration small group with fourth graders on writing responses to reading. The session includes a prebrief and debrief with the fourth-grade teaching team.

Is the Pain Worth the Gain?

Suki Mozenter works with three fifth-grade teachers to design a unit based on Common Core standards that emphasize integrated learning and non-narrative texts.
 

Coaching Minute: Professional Development

Deb Gaby talks about the importance of professional development mirroring best practices in this quick video.

Picture It: Mentoring Organization

How are you helping new teachers reorganize their classrooms now that the school year is well under way and issues are emerging? Sharing snapshots of how other teachers work through organization issues can help. Here is one example from Mandy Robek's kindergarten classroom.

Writing Conference Role-Plays: Learning to Listen In

Ruth Shagoury uses role-plays in professional development to help veteran and novice teachers hone their conferring skills.

Everyone Needs a Carly

Gretchen Taylor explains why she moved from teaching to coaching, after her best year ever in the classroom.

Coaching Minute: Set Your Alarm

Heather Rader has a tip for ensuring you stay on schedule and "in the moment" during your meetings in this brief video tip.

Classroom Visits for Professional Development Insight

Jennifer Vincent finds that classroom visits are a good alternative to surveys when analyzing teachers' professional development needs.

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