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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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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.

Above the Clouds

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

Coaching Minute: Waiting to Respond

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

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.

Learning from Students

What makes a great teacher? Jennifer Schwanke asks students, and the provocative responses are wonderful food for thought.

Demonstration Lesson: Learning from Series Books

Tammy Mulligan leads a demonstration lesson with a group of fourth graders who are reading series books. The lesson includes a prebrief and debrief with their teacher.

Coaching Minute: Listen and Be Brave

Deb Gaby has wise advice about the coach's role with teachers in this brief video.

Changing Focus with New Teachers

Heather Sisson takes you through a professional development session in which she lets new teachers take the lead in guiding the conversation after she has carefully laid the groundwork.

Forming a Partnership with a New Coach

Kathy Provost shares practical advice for establishing a truly collaborative relationship with a new coaching colleague.

Find the Common Ground

Ruth Ayres is set up to fail in a toxic environment, yet finds a surprising way to build community among a middle school teaching team.

Coaching Conversations: Collaborating and Celebrating Small Victories

Natasha Axelson shares some of the surprises and challenges of coaching, as well as the importance of celebrating small victories with Brenda Power in this audio interview.

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