Lead Lit Article Type: Try It
Results
Not-to-Do-List
As the new school year approached, I found myself reflecting on the past year’s successes and areas for growth and trying to decide what I should do differently this year....
It All Counts: Getting to Know Your Teacher Candidates
In a spring 2023 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse, 34 percent of respondents said professors taking more of an interest in getting to know them...
A Necessary Survey for Your School Community
Authors’ Note: We, Ruth and Becca, have experienced situations with emotional dysregulation of children in a variety of settings. From our homes as we parented foster children who had lived...
Beyond the Books: A Tale of Empowerment, Influence, and Agency from the School Library
The fourth graders hurried back to the library and circled up with the school librarian, Micki Uppena. “What did you want to share?” she asked. The students had just completed...
Five Questions to Ask When Reviewing Literacy Curriculum
Selecting a curriculum resource is not as simple as previewing a book. As a building administrator and former curriculum leadership instructor, I find that these decisions are complex and multifaceted....
Off the Hook: How to Engage With and Reframe Our Obstacles to Reduce Anxiety and Stress
“[W]e are all hardwired to suffer psychologically: to compare, evaluate, and criticize ourselves; to focus on what we’re lacking; to rapidly become dissatisfied with what we have; and to imagine...
Lifting Teachers by Lifting a Teacher
Moving in and out of classrooms all day brings a wide perspective on school culture. I get to experience teachers growing the minds of their students firsthand. Their craft as...
The Joyful Toolkit for Literacy Leaders
A few years ago, pre-pandemic, I came across this TED Talk from Ingrid Fetell Lee. In it she describes her 10-year quest to figure out where joy comes from. The...
Engaging from the Start: Considering Accessible Professional Development Experiences for a Range of Educators
Accessibility allows us to tap into everyone’s potential. —Deborah Ruh "B doesn’t belong because it is the only blue shape." "C doesn’t belong because it is the only shape that...
Developing Transcripts of Classroom Teaching with AI
I see AI as an additional tool, but a very powerful one. —Sal Khan in The Courier (2023) The Idea If you had a co-teacher who was experienced, well educated,...
AI in Teacher Prep
A just machine to make big decisions Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision We'll be clean when their work is done We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young...
Meet Stevie, Our Imaginary AI Friend
Imaginary friends are one of the weirder forms of pretend play in childhood. But the research shows that imaginary friends actually help children understand the other people around them and...
Quiet Coaching
For the last couple of months, I have been meeting periodically with a friend. He is going through a job change: transitioning to a career in land management. When he...
Make and Take…With a Twist: Incorporating Research and Play with Preparing Materials
“Check this out!” my son excitedly shared with me after school one day. “My friend taught me how to shoot a basketball today during recess.” He proceeded to jump off...
Connecting the Dots
Standing in the entrance of the baseball dugout, I watched the young T-ball players chasing each other around in circles while simultaneously jumping on and off the team bench. Volunteering...
You’re Not There—Yet!
We have to cultivate a culture in which brave work, tough conversations, and whole hearts are the expectation. —Brene Brown You’re not there… yet! We throw this term around with...
Visual Data for Literacy
It was two weeks before our winter data review, and my grade-level PLCs were beginning to prepare for these meetings with a new set of data. Given that our teaching...
Coaching Up: How Teachers Can Support School Leaders ’ Capacity for Positively Influencing School-wide Instruction
“The importance of school principals may not have been stated strongly enough in prior work, particularly from the perspective of state and district leaders and policymakers seeking to move the...
PL…See? Lightening Up PLCs to Increase Engagement
When you mention an upcoming PLC meeting to your staff, what reaction do you receive? Is it eye-rolling, a slight sigh, or an aggressive grunt? If you are met with...
Developing an Ambitious Vision with Humility
Agents of change and leaders with high levels of ambition know that ambition is the driving force behind progress and innovation. Ambitious leaders set high-reaching goals, dream big, and work...
Bridging the Gap (Session 1): The Sold a Story Peel
Finally, it was Christmas break. My son was graduating from high school in just a few months, and this was my chance to have a good chunk of time to...
