Lead Lit Article Type: Read It
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Same Old Books with New Intentions: Reflecting on Rigor and the Common Core
Rigor is not an attribute of a text, but rather a characteristic of our behavior with that text. Kylene Beers and Robert Probst I remember one of my first...
Taking Four Corners of Text Personally
Nothing personal . . . I dislike the phrase nothing personal and try not to use it myself. For some communicators it’s the tag that gets added onto something unsolicited...
The DIBELS Divide (Literacy Coach Confidential)
Literacy Coach Confidential is Choice Literacy's forum for answering the toughest questions literacy coaches and teachers face as they work together. Our contributors respond to the questions anonymously, which enables them...
Taking the Lead by Teaching
My office had begun to feel like a black hole pulling me in. There were observation reports to write, student discipline issues to deal with and emails waiting for a...
Help! Our Grade-Level Team Meetings Are Awful! (Literacy Coach Confidential)
Literacy Coach Confidential is Choice Literacy's forum for answering the toughest questions literacy coaches and teachers face as they work together. Our contributors respond to the questions anonymously, which enables them...
Professional Development and Then What? How to Keep Learning Alive Long After the Staff Meeting
"Remember when we did that . . . what was it called, you know we talked about ways to help students share their thinking?" "Oh, yeah, I used that a...
Some Study Group Participants Aren’t Reading the Book
A couple of teachers who participate in our book discussion group don't seem to be reading the book—at all. It makes for awkward moments in the conversation, like last week...
Ask Me – I’m Not the Expert
If nothing else, children should leave school with a sense that if they act, and act strategically, they can accomplish their goals. I call this feeling a sense of agency....
Making Assumptions
It had been a rough morning. I'd spent the last two and a half hours in jaw-tightening silence, watching a novice teacher making misstep after misstep in his classroom. In...
Common Core Standards: Spreading the Word
As a district-level literacy coach in California, I've been given the task of helping move our system toward implementation of the Common Core Standards. We are a large urban district...
Supporting New Teachers and Appreciating Their Gifts
The research is clear and the statistics are grim. The most important factor that influences student achievement is the skill of the teacher, yet we lose more than 50 percent...
Keeping It Real for Students: Never Underestimate the Power of Reflection
Katie is a veteran teacher who willingly shares she is learning all the time. Her stance has evolved over time from the traditional preparation she received in her pre-service program...
Simplexity: Finding Your Focus
Simplexity - Finding the smallest number of high-leverage, easy to understand actions that unleash stunningly powerful consequences. Michael Fullan, in Motion Leadership As I approached 279 Newbury Street in Boston, I...
Off the Dance Floor and Onto the Balcony: Getting the Big Picture in Schools
We coordinate professional development efforts in schools. Periodically we visit classrooms during literacy blocks to think about how we are progressing toward our goals and to identify next steps for...
Acquiring Knowledge Two or Three Strategies at a Time
"Hey, Papi! What is that crop growing over there?" My dad responds patiently to repeated requests by my nine-year-old son, Jack, to identify exactly what is growing in the fertile...
From Teacher to Coach: Building Community in the Early Days
It's late August and next week I start my position as Instructional Coach. I am not new to working with teachers. I spent six years in higher education working with...
Busywork?: From Classroom Assistant to Agent of Change
It’s the day before school starts, hours before the kindergarten classrooms will be filled with parents and students excited to meet their very first teachers at a meet and greet...
I Can’t Quite Put My Finger On It
Have you ever been working with a teacher and they start to tell you about a new strategy or "program" you are not familiar with, but the description you are...
The Language of Coaching
Giving written and spoken feedback is an opportunity to be very thoughtful about the words we choose in communicating with teachers. This is a challenge. There are nuances to our...
Concise, Conversational, and Consistent: Explaining the Work of Literacy Coaches
I get asked questions about my job in a variety of ways: “So you’re a teacher?” “I heard you’re a coach. What sport?” And my recent favorite: “Then you get...
How Study Groups Are Like Self-Cleaning Ovens
One of our favorite inventions ever is the self-cleaning oven. Set a timer, lock the oven door, and a few hours later -- voila! You have a clean oven, and...
