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Lead Literacy Articles & Videos (formerly leadliteracy.com)

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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Clarity and Connection: The Language of Change

Principal Jason DiCarlo thinks through the language he uses daily to promote a shared positive vision in his school.

Creating a Master Schedule

Karen Szymusiak explains why large blocks of time for literacy instruction are crucial, and how she worked as a principal to develop a master schedule for the school that included them.

Coaching Minute: Back Pocket Questions

In this Coaching Minute video, Heather Rader shares the power of back-pocket questions in building rapport with teachers and administrators.

Picture It: Pinterest for Professional Development

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan find Pinterest is an excellent tool for organizing resources for professional development sessions.

Days of Magic and Wonder: Generating Research Topics with First Graders

In a new series, Heather Sisson shares the process of collaborating with a teacher to redefine the research process with first graders based on the Common Core.

Coaching Minute: Wait for the “In”

Heather Rader shares her strategies for getting into classrooms of teachers who may be hesitant about inviting visits from coaches.

Assessing Students: Many Hands for a Lighter Load

Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan describe seven different strategies they’ve seen in schools for fostering more collaboration among teachers assessing students.

Phasing in New Initiatives: Keep the Baby!

What happens when an adminstrator tells a literacy coach that she and the teachers she works with must abandon a successful and popular literacy program? Shari Frost advises a coach in this difficult and all-too-common situation.

10 Steps to a Literacy Vision

Heather Rader looks at business models to support the challenging process of building a new literacy vision in her district. 

Alignment and Community: Planning a Year of Professional Development Opportunities

Jennifer Allen plans a year of study group offerings designed to help everyone align their classrooms to the Common Core, and build community at the same time. The article includes a sample calendar for the month of October.

Turning “Unfortunate” into Good Fortune

Is this your worst professional nightmare? Ruth Ayres accidentally sends an email with the unvarnished truth to the whole school staff, instead of the administrator it was intended for. What happens next includes a surprising amount of learning.

Picture It: A Soothing Workspace

Given the stresses of her job as a principal, Jennifer Schwanke makes a commitment to keeping her workspace not only organized and uncluttered, but soothing.

Coaching Minute: Writing Objectives

Heather Rader explains why it is important to write an objective before any professional development meeting, and shares a succinct example.

Reading to Students

Jennifer Schwanke finds time in her busy schedule as a principal to read three books in every classroom in her elementary school every year. She explains why it’s worth her time, and how she selects the books.

Speaking to Adults Through Books

Heather Rader worried at first about using children’s books in professional development settings, but soon found that the right children’s book can deepen conversations about challenging topics immensely.

Coaching Minute: The Power of Rehearsal

Heather Rader guides a novice coach by sharing the power of rehearsal before leading professional development sessions. A transcript is provided below the player.

Improvement Plan

Have you ever had to develop and implement an improvement plan with a struggling teacher? Jennifer Schwanke not only faced this challenge — she had to mentor a teacher who was two decades older and resistant. She explains how her work with the teacher and the plan evolved over two years of collaboration.

Coaching the Coach

Amanda Adrian shares the uncomfortable experience of being observed leading a demonstration lesson that doesn't go as well as she hoped. In the end, she learns some powerful lessons about taking risks and the value of extra sets of eyes observing her teaching.

Introducing the Writing Common Core Standards: Planning for Professional Development

Heather Rader sorts through goals, audience, and interest in planning a day of professional development linked to the writing standards in the Common Core.

Opinion Exchange: A Workshop Activity for Study Groups

New teachers need so much their first year and having the ability to be heard and have their opinions valued is right up there. Ruth Shagoury offers a respectful exchange to meet that need.

Personal Conferring Notebooks

With more than 75% of students receiving extra support in a high-need district, Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan struggled to find tools to help teachers collaborate around student needs. Enter the personal conferring notebook, a terrific vehicle for teachers to record insights about students working with multiple teachers and specialists.

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