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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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The Power of Using a Viewing Lens

Lisa Mazinas offers a variety of “viewing lenses” for coaches to use when working alongside teachers. She shares practical advice as well as a variety of possibilities to help instructional coaches tailor their feedback in specific and useful ways.

Putting Together Powerful PD

Are you looking for a way to plan meaningful professional development sessions? Julie Cox suggests a simple outline: Present a basic question, and then provide something to do, something to take, and something to inspire.

Constantly Evolving Toward a Stronger Practice

In education much attention is paid to change and transformation. Cathy Mere challenges us to consider placing our focus on evolution and understanding that we are constantly evolving toward a new version of ourselves. In this personal essay, we will all find hope as we reach toward our strengths and use them to find our next steps forward.

Coaching in Community: Co-Creating Learning Spaces (Part I)

Stella Villalba suggests that we consider how to continue creating spaces where learning is co-created with a community. She encourages instructional leaders to share the ways they are learning (and unlearning) ideas for stronger literacy practices.

Read Alouds Aren’t Just for Children

Shared read aloud books are not just for children. Gwen Blumberg outlines the power of reading aloud with faculty.

Learning from Lasso: Cultivating a Coaching Mindset in New Literacy Coaches

Gwen Blumberg is inspired by Ted Lasso to consider intentional mindsets to foster success as a coach.

Coaching Minute: Change Can Be Rewarding

Instructional coach Paula Fiscus shares the notion that change is a catalyst for growth. Although change can be difficult and challenging, it is also rewarding.

Reclaiming What It Means to Flourish

Stella Villalba reclaims what it means for students to flourish by crafting a guidepost and action steps as a path to overcoming the deficit mentality that is too often part of conversations about learning.

How Do You Show Up?

Brian Sepe encourages instructional coaches to engage in self-reflection to better meet the needs of teachers. Using a simple matrix, Brian leads us to powerful realizations for showing up in meaningful ways.

Purposefully Plan PD to Support Transformational Change

Ruth Ayres thinks about intentionally designing professional learning experiences to support transformational change by recognizing and lifting the heavy load many educators carry.

Shopping in Your Own House: Searching Our Own Teaching Practice for New Ideas 

Heather Fisher explains how to lead colleagues to look for what they need within their own teaching practices before turning to Google or other sites for the answers.

Coaching Minute: The Risk of Vulnerability

Instructional coach Jenn Ross explains the importance of being vulnerable. By modeling the expectations for phonics minilessons, she risked failure in front of her colleagues and was reminded of a powerful way to build strong relationships.

Coaching Minute: Encouraging Teacher Leaders

Instructional coach Jonathan Winslow shares how he intentionally creates leadership opportunities for the teachers he works alongside.

Feedback Is Overrated: Focus First on Building Positive, Trusting Relationships

Matt Renwick gives three tips to build relationships that will open doors to receive feedback.

Five Classroom Design Ideas for Supporting Readers and Writers with ADHD

Matt Renwick encourages five classroom design ideas for supporting readers and writers with ADHD.

Using a Checklist for Powerful Post-Conferences

Lisa Mazinas gives a structure for post-conference conversations. These talking points are the perfect place to begin.

Coaching Minute: Taking Time to Plan

David Pittman encourages the importance of instructional coaches taking the time to plan.

Creating a Culture Where Everyone Leads

Ruth Metcalfe shares four ways to develop shared efficacy and leadership.

Coaching Minute: Creating a Sign-Up for Coaching

Kate Mills and Tara Barnett streamline the sign-up system for working with a coach.

Capturing Classroom Currents

David Pittman shares how to capture the current of energy from teacher to student and student to teacher in this guide to make the classroom currents visible to teachers.

Give Yourself Time to Prepare

David Pittman encourages instructional coaches to take time to prepare for the day and then to reflect at the end of the day.

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