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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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Tips from Literacy Leaders for Closing Out the School Year (ROUNDUP)

Here are suggestions from Lead Literacy contributors for closing the year strong.

Word Choice for Coaches

Jan Miller-Burkins explores the "how" of shifting language so that it is less judgmental in discussions with colleagues.

Making the Case for Literacy Coaches

If your district is considering cuts to its literacy coaching program, you’ll appreciate Shari Frost’s advice.

Reflecting on Student Work in Staff Meetings (Download a Template)

Jennifer Allen describes a protocol for analyzing student work in teacher study groups and staff meetings, and includes a template for discussing classroom artifacts.

Calendaring a Literacy Coach

The joy and challenge of literacy coaching lies in creating a good structure for the day. Heather Rader has suggestions for short- and long-term planning on the coaching calendar.

How Study Groups Are Like Self-Cleaning Ovens

With a few key elements in place, Brenda Power and Jennifer Allen explain how study groups can almost run themselves and get everyone involved.

Creating a Coaching Schedule

Tammy Mulligan and Clare Ladrigan give advice on creating schedules for literacy coaches that integrate district goals and teacher interests.

Supporting Successful First-Year Coaches

Heather Rader gets the inside word from novice literacy coaches about the support they need to thrive.

Quick Take: Protocols for Teacher Study Groups

In this three-minute Quick Take video, Clare Landrigan describes the teacher study group protocol she uses to foster shared understanding and allow for differentiated learning among teachers.

Not That Into Me

If you’re a literacy coach, those teachers who don’t want to work with you can make you feel like the wallflower at the prom or the last kid picked for the basketball team.  Heather Rader has positive, proactive suggestions for making the best of an awkward situation.

Three Little Phrases No Literacy Coach Can Live Without

Brenda Power shares trade secret phrases for communicating with colleagues.

Undercover Coach: Making Time to Work with Children

If you're a literacy coach, the most important question to ask yourself may be this: how much time am I spending in classrooms?  Shari Frost writes about how coaches can move beyond a quest for perfect demo lessons to a stance of learning alongside teachers.

Engaging Teachers with Coaching

Heather Rader has some thoughtful advice on broaching the subjects of clarity, purpose, and confidentiality when engaging with teachers early in the coaching relationship.

Coaching High Fives

Stephanie Affinito finds that simple, quick, and modest celebrations can be just what teachers need to get through a long day. She shares the value of these coaching high fives.

Bridging the Gap (Session 2): Finding Your Footing

Mary Brower provides a second professional learning session to help ease the tension between teachers who have opposing views about literacy instruction. Mary provides a protocol for creating a school-wide document of foundational literacy beliefs.

When Coaching Fails: How to Help Educators Who Resist Help

Matt Renwick dives into the reasons why coaching sometimes fails and what we can do when we encounter colleagues who are “help resistant.”

Why Don’t School Leaders Give More Feedback? 

Matt Renwick insists that school leaders don’t have to forfeit their identities as supervisors to engage in coaching conversations with faculty members.  He offers five tips to build relational trust today.

The Importance of Visibility

Dana Murphy shares the importance of high visibility for reading interventionists and other instructional influencers in non-classroom positions.

Overcorrecting

“Did I do anything right?” Suzy Kaback receives a note from a gifted teacher that gives her pause. Suzy wonders if avoiding praise is damaging her relationships with teachers. She decides to give more feedback for continuation, which is praise’s smarter cousin for coaches.

Planning for PD in the Company of Teachers

Heather Fisher brainstorms with teachers to get the “big picture” of what makes a professional development experience exceptional.

Coaching Minute: Get Out of Your Office

David Pittman encourages instructional coaches to get out of the office in the early days of the school year. H offers several practical suggestions for how to set the tone for healthy relationships.

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