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Getting Organized

Getting Organized

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Have Coach, Will Travel

Stephanie Affinito is a traveling coach, with no office to call her own. She shares tips and tools for organizing and streamlining materials when you are constantly on the go between classrooms and schools.

Coaching in PLCs

David Pittman takes teachers in a PLC through a student-centered experience to help them understand a specific standard.

Coaching Minute: New Coaches and Principals

Principal Lee Snider talks about the importance of being intentional in integrating new coaches into the school community.

Student Moves

Students move from our school districts to ones next door all the time. How can school leaders ensure the moves are as seamless as possible, especially in the realm of literacy? Jen Schwanke shares a case study of how a meeting and transfer of files made all the difference for one struggling learner.

Coaching Minute: Good Communication Between Coaches and Principals

Principal Lee Snider talks with literacy coach Lora Bieghler about developing a rapport when a coach is new to the building.

How Do Literacy Leaders Supervise and Support Online Instruction?

Supervising and supporting instruction is never easy for literacy leaders, and remote settings compound the challenges. Matt Renwick shares his best advice for providing assistance in virtual learning environments.

Establishing Trust

David Pittman is stunned when he offers help and teachers are hesitant to take it. He realizes he has lost their trust, and sets out to regain it.

Developing Literacy Traditions and Rituals

Matt Renwick reflects on the traditions and rituals that strengthen a school-wide literacy community.

Coaching Minute: Cycle Forms

Jean Russell explains the importance of establishing norms and a framework for coaching cycles.

Home Language Is Love Language

Our names are such a big part of who we are. Jen Schwanke reassures a teacher who struggles with student names, and at the same time gives her practical tips for making sure her pronunciations are correct.

Priming the Pump

David Pittman explains the importance of beginning summer work with teachers by creating collective visions through images and quotes.

Second Chances

Jen Schwanke rethinks her writing process for sending information out to families and others. Her “one little change” might get you rethinking how you draft and share weekly newsletters.

Coaching Minute: Dealing with Parent Concerns

Principal Lee Snider talks about how he deals with parent concerns.

Family Literacy Breakfasts

Jennifer Allen explains how family literacy breakfasts bring the whole school community together through a special event with published authors.

The Feedback Trap

Cathy Mere considers the differences between feedback and reflection, and why it’s important to have a balance when coaching teachers.

Investing in Coaching Logs

After initial skepticism, David Pittman discovers coaching logs are an essential tool in planning, organizing, and documenting his work with teachers.

Coaching Minute: Building Rapport with Teachers

Principal Lee Snider talks about how he built rapport with teachers when he was new to the role of principal in the building.

How Am I Doing? One Principal’s Experience with Feedback

Matt Renwick is like any of us—he is nervous about what he will learn when he asks teachers to assess his performance as a principal. He shares findings from a survey he gives to teachers.

Literacy, Phys Ed, and Workshops Across the Curriculum

Jen Schwanke is surprised when a terrific language arts teacher switches to physical education, until she realizes that workshop instruction is good teaching in almost any subject area.

Field Notes: Where’s My Language?

Ruth Ayres attends a share session at the end of a second-grade writing workshop conducted entirely in Spanish. It’s a gift and privilege for her to experience what non-Native speakers do every day in English language classrooms, and it makes her reflect upon what it takes to make anyone feel welcome in a classroom or school community.

A Heart for Coaching

“Do you miss the classroom?” Cathy Mere has answered this question often. It makes her think about the differences between coaching and teaching, and how it takes time to develop a coaching heart.

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