Lead Lit Article Type: Try It
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Literacy Morning Announcements
As a young student, I loved the morning announcements. There was something exciting about listening to the voices come through the loudspeaker to welcome me to the day. I remember...
Never Again
I was coming home from a conference in Chicago when I saw a familiar site: a hotel that served as a meeting place for my family when I was growing...
Creative Reading Responses: It Begins with You
I am part of a teacher book club where we gather together in person and online to read children’s literature selections: picture books, early chapter books, nonfiction selections, young adult...
March Read-Aloud Madness
I am always looking for ways to introduce teachers to new books to read aloud to their students. I have given book talks, displayed titles, and even created book tastings...
Analyzing Student Work: Beginning with Strengths
“I don’t even know where to start,” she mutters under her breath as her eyes widen at the sight and her shoulders slump. They lie there, a stack of notes...
Open Observations
As literacy coaches, we are always talking about ways to help teachers give ownership to learners. There are constant conversations about opening the door for students to make their own...
Tackling Coaching Challenges
One of Merriam-Webster's dictionaries defines a nemesis as a "formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent." As a literacy coach, I find that my biggest nemesis is professional development. I...
Encouraging Teachers to Write
“You use your own notebook a lot during conferences,” Mrs. Bean said to me. I looked up from writing conference notes and considered her statement. “Yes, that’s true.” “So I...
The 15-Minute Meeting
In The 30-Day Productivity Plan, Damon Zahariades makes the assertion that meetings last as long as they are scheduled for. If we want to increase our productivity, he believes, we...
Tips for Planning with Teachers
“So here’s what I’m planning for next week.” Michele, a third-grade teacher, held up her planbook for me to see. She had written her teaching points in pen across the...
The Literacy Master Document
Paper copies here. Paper copies there. Paper copies everywhere. Whether it be the district curriculum maps, reading units, or lesson planning sheets, these important paper documents remain a window into...
Three Questions to Open Coaching Conversations
The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge. Thomas Berger In an early blog post sharing her ideas for student-centered coaching, Diane Sweeney writes,...
Becoming More Strategic in Coaching Stressed Teachers
Suddenly, I’m a momma to big kids. It caught me off guard and I’m still wondering how it happened, because I'm sure I didn’t blink. In addition to looking up...
Word Study PD: Building on Strengths
I enjoy working out. But I have a not-so-secret hatred embedded in those workouts: push-ups. I can run, deadlift, jump, and lunge with the best of them (okay, that’s an...
Book Study
For school leaders, developing effective professional development is a nagging itch that never goes away—valuable, troublesome, and difficult to conquer. Yet, when we ask teachers what they would most like...
Creating the Future
The best way to predict the future is to create it. As teachers arrived in August, we asked them one question: “What is your hope?” Then we watched this short...
I’m Already Doing This
I glanced up from my notebook where I was taking notes and smiled at the teacher sitting next to me. She didn’t smile back. I bent my head back down...
Finding Time and Space to Recharge All Year Long
You can’t continue to regenerate creatively unless you have time to daydream, relax, and do nothing. Lisa Congdon We are in an age of information overload. Everywhere you turn...
Using Video to Step Forward
When leading professional experiences for teachers, I find there is much power in providing opportunities to observe teaching in action. As we reflect on practice, hone our craft, or discover...
Setting Norms in PLCs
I don’t know if I heard it, read it, or just realized it, but I know that I believe it. When you are working with a group of adults over...
You’re New to Coaching. Now What?
I’ll never forget my first year as a coach. My position was in a district new to me where I would be teaching kindergarten for half of the day and...
