Lead Lit Article Type: Read It
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Coaching in a Time of Crisis
The other day I got online to see a post from an educational leader in which he shared 10 learning practices to avoid in remote teaching. The list was 10...
Creating Savory Professional Development
Ralph Fletcher shares in Joy Write, “Play in writing is not just a nice idea—it’s essential.” Amy Krouse Rosenthal imagined that the perfect fiction writer has a “penchant for collaboration...
Listen to Lead
I could tell the teacher had organized the classroom library without student input. It had all the telltale signs: Pinterest-perfect labels on the book bins Colored stickers on the spines...
Followership
I was sitting down with one of our teachers for his final summative meeting as part of his evaluation. In my office, he showed on his laptop a digital rendering...
Student Moves
Students move in and out of our schools all the time. Families are transient, and their kids go with them—down the street, across town, across the state, across the country....
Establishing Trust
The teacher and I had met about the second-grade student a handful of times, had had various hallway conversations, and had exchanged more emails than I could remember, but it...
Writing Realistic Fiction
One of the most memorable aha moments I have ever had with a student was with Wesley. He was working on an elaborate story that spanned days and maybe even...
Feedback That Fortifies
Feedback that fortifies is a critical part of useful formative assessment. It comes at a time when the learner needs it most to improve performance or product. In the most...
The Feedback Trap
Feedback certainly is a hot topic. It maintains its place in education, business, and medicine. It’s not hard to find books and articles that promise to help you give better...
Find Friends
Lean on me, when you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on...
Professional Renewal: Facilitating Change Within Ourselves
One of our friends recently shared that her family wanted to go plastic-free in her household. Naturally, I had lots of questions about how they would accomplish this. “How will...
How Am I Doing? One Principal’s Experience with Feedback
In the past, I would ask only for ratings from teachers on my performance. No room for comments. To be honest, I was afraid of character assassination. So for three...
Literacy, Phys Ed, and Workshops Across the Curriculum
This past spring, I had the rare chance to hire a physical education teacher. As most principals know, this opportunity doesn’t come along often; most schools have one P.E. teacher,...
Field Notes: Where’s My Language?
West Noble Elementary School has a dual-language program. Some students spend equal amounts of time in Spanish-speaking classrooms and English-speaking classrooms. Half of the class is made up of native...
Forces of Nature
Image from Force of Nature the earth spinning in orbit With precision, speed, and grace Mother Nature has her grip upon it un-balancing the forces in the vast open...
You Don’t Write? No Worries
“You don’t have to write to teach writers,” the literacy coach said pointedly as we planned to lead a session on using mentor texts to support writers in our classrooms....
A Little Bit of Clarity
I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better. Maya Angelou I was seated at an appointment desk to be fitted...
Beyond a Checklist for Teaching and Leading
If I had a dime for every time I’ve felt like a fraud in the literacy world, I’d be rich. I’d still feel like a fraud, but at least I’d...
Student Files
“I don’t look at student cumulative files,” the teacher said to me. “I want every student to walk into my room with a fresh start.” I stared at her dumbly....
Word Count Counts
Bob was planning a literature circle cycle for his third graders. It was the second quarter of the school year. He thought that 10 weeks of small-group lessons and interactive...
Read Alouds for Big Kids
My parents had four children in a relatively short period of time. They valued reading and did some reading aloud to us, but by the time we were in elementary...
