Lead Lit Article Type: Try It
Results
Investing in Our Collective Humanity: Nurturing an Intentional Cultural Life
The African philosophy of Ubuntu teaches us a remarkable lesson: that we are human only through the humanity of others. Ubuntu means I am because you are, or We are...
Building Consensus Through Connection
Imagine: A school’s ELA committee has been tasked with creating a list of instructional agreements that will be used in each classroom to guide what is expected of literacy instruction....
Putting Together Powerful PD
Early in my teaching career, my dad and I taught in the same school for several years. We were both English teachers, and PLC meetings and faculty meetings were always...
Coaching in Community: Co-Creating Learning Spaces (Part I)
People whose teaching lives have been positively impacted by coaching know that coaching can be transformational. However, the other side of the narrative holds just as much truth: Some teachers...
Read Alouds Aren’t Just for Children
I love to start literacy team meetings with a read aloud. It is typically a picture book, although I sometimes select a poem or an excerpt from a novel I...
How Do You Show Up?
Let’s start with a quick exercise. Think about your own coaching work with colleagues or think about a coach you’ve partnered with recently. Using the matrix below, where would you...
Feedback Is Overrated: Focus First on Building Positive, Trusting Relationships
Go to any of the major educational publishers’ websites and enter “feedback” into the search bar. You will likely get dozens or even hundreds of books and other resources about...
Five Classroom Design Ideas for Supporting Readers and Writers with ADHD
Kids do well if they can. —Ross W. Greene In the world of literacy instruction, we talk a lot about literacy but maybe not enough about instruction. Specifically, I see a...
Using a Checklist for Powerful Post-Conferences
The new school year has started! You’ve connected with your teachers, created a schedule, organized your resources. As you begin to navigate your coaching cycles, it’s helpful to have a...
Creating a Culture Where Everyone Leads
A few years ago, I came home and announced that I’d be doing a different job at my school the next year. My youngest son looked incredulous. “Don’t be offended,”...
Capturing Classroom Currents
As a coach, I have the amazing opportunity to see classrooms through an objective outside view, but even more, to see the art, the creativity, the ebb and flow of...
A PLC Planning Template to Help Focus Work with Teachers
“But what is your goal?” Ann asked after listening to me (Kate) talk for several minutes about ideas for an upcoming PLC with the second-grade team. I had no immediate...
Yes, and . . . A Collaborative Philosophy
I approach Jean as she lies on the stage, hands in the air, moving them in a semi-rhythmic twisting fashion. “Hey, Jean, whatcha’ doin’?” I offer, almost complacently. “I’m putting...
Let’s Upskill: How to Revive and Transform Instruction to Serve Today’s Learners
Summer is a great time to think of ways to “upskill” our instruction. At the beach, on the back porch, and when walking the dog in the sunshine, we can...
Remaining Connected as a Coach
It happens every time I walk into a primary classroom in January until the end of the year. No matter what my purpose for being there is—co-teaching, observing, micro-modeling or...
Coaching Minute: Set-Up Coaching Plans
Tara Barnett and Kate Mills share an important first step for instructional coaches to help teachers feel invited into the coaching relationship: Make shared coaching plans.
Coaching Toward Independence: Using an Instructional Framework to Guide a Principal-Teacher Conversation
One mistake leaders can make when coaching teachers is to give advice. For instance, we see an opportunity to make a suggestion during an observation. Yet this “opportunity” also takes...
Transcripts as a Coaching Tool
The Background Mindy is a first-year, third-grade teacher. I am her literacy instructional coach. This article is the story of a time when Mindy experienced a common problem of practice...
Leading Literacy: What to Expect the First 5+ Years
One of the most popular books for soon-to-be parents is What to Expect When You’re Expecting. It is a week-by-week guide for tracking your pregnancy and other helpful information. I...
Professional Learning Accountability Partners
I have a friend Julie. We have known each other for nearly 15 years. We have worked together in two different buildings, collaborating easily together, finding a groove quickly, and...
Research and Learn
Matt reached out to me regarding his third-grade writers as they were about to launch into their informational writing unit. After we administered an on-demand assessment and reviewed the data,...
