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Coaching Support Structures

Some literacy leaders receive extensive training for working with adult learners, but most of us do not. As you move between the stances of coach, collaborator and consultant, you’ll need support structures in place for defining your role, communicating with administrators, advocating for your position with a school board and more. Here you’ll find reflections and how-tos that respond to the question, “Who coaches the coach?”

Latest Content
Culture for Coaching Part 4: Schoolwide Coaching Cycles

In the final installment of this four-part series, Ruth Ayres explains how she systematically expanded coaching cycles teacher by teacher until they were a schoolwide norm.

Bringing Order to the Bookroom

Shari Frost visits a school bookroom and discovers many issues with organization and use. If you have a school bookroom, summer is the perfect time to rethink its purpose and procedures for checking out books.

You Say Tornado . . .

Suzy Kaback shares the power of taking time to honor results late in the school year with teachers in professional development settings.

The Power of a Plastic Frame

Melanie Meehan shares her favorite tool for leaving a bit of her coaching behind in classrooms, one student at a time.

Building Self-Evaluation Skills: What’s Your Signature Move?

Signature moves are developed over years, not days. Gretchen Taylor explains how they can define literacy leaders in positive and negative ways.

“There Are Words All Over Our Hallways!”

Jennifer Allen shares a practical strategy for building vocabulary and interest in word study throughout a school.

Finding a Coaching Model That Works

Student centered? Teacher centered? Dana Murphy finds that one of her most important jobs as a literacy coach is defining her role.

Unspoken Leadership

Matt Renwick attends a recognition ceremony for high school students, and realizes that many of the traits celebrated in the students are the marks of quiet leadership.

Making the Most of Monthly Common Planning Times

Kathy Provost finds that narrowing the focus for grade-level monthly meetings at the start of the school year by asking teachers to decide on a topic of inquiry leads to more thoughtful work all year long.

A Timesaver for Coaching Cycles

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan leverage technology to improve their communication with teachers during coaching cycles.

Coaching Minute: Considering Language

Heather Fisher and Kathy Provost share subtle changes in the language they are using with teachers to foster more collaboration.

200 Feet

“Never more than 200 feet from a book.” That’s the goal in Matt Renwick’s school, and in this photo essay you can see creative possibilities for sharing books throughout a school (and outside, too!).

Advice for a New Coach

Melanie Meehan shares her best advice for a new coach who is just beginning to forge relationships with teachers.

Parent Bulletin Board

Melanie Meehan takes on the challenge of designing a bulletin board to help parents support writing at home.

Celebrate the Process

Heather Fisher works with teachers to design a literacy night for families that celebtrates the process of acquiring new skills, not just final products on display.

Creating a Strategy Tool Kit

Melanie Meehan describes the power of developing strategy tool kits for coaching, and presents some of the tools in her kit for teaching revision strategies.

Share, Learn, Grow: The PD Bulletin Board

Melanie Meehan explains how she uses a bulletin board to spread resources and teaching ideas throughout a school.

Getting Books into the Hands of Teachers

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan share suggestions for building interest in children’s books among teachers.

Building Effective Literacy Teams

Cathy Mere reflects on the power of a leadership team in supporting the work of coaches and specialists, and the elements that are essential for leadership teams to thrive.

Creating a Digital Footprint

What's your digital footprint like? Bill Bass shares some simple suggestions for ensuring that when people Google you, you'll like what they see.

Where the Magic Happens

Suzy Kaback considers her own history as a learner and the needs of her teenage daughter as she mulls over the best ways to help the new teachers she leads take risks in their teaching.

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