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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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Who’s the Audience for Demonstration Lessons?

Who’s the audience for demonstration lessons? Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan explain why it isn’t students, and advise coaches on how to open communication with teachers about effective demonstrations.

Exploring Themes in the Intermediate Grades

Jennifer Allen describes a simple highlighting strategy adopted by grades 3-5 teachers to help students explore themes in literature and meet standards from the Common Core.

Picture It: Objectives and the Coach

Posting objectives is the norm in many classrooms. Heather Rader has a suggestion for making the practice more reflective for teachers and coaches.

Video and the Thoughtful Coach

Brian Sepe finds video is a wonderful tool for fostering both teacher and coach reflection.

The Dangers of Overplanning

Jennifer Allen discovers there are limits to planning, and too much of it can hinder growth in professional development settings.

The Worried Parent

Jennifer Schwanke shares a common experience for principals—meeting with parents who are worried about their child’s progress.

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.

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