Lead Lit Topic: Getting Organized
Getting Organized
Results
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...
Developing Literacy Traditions and Rituals
On Saturdays during the spring, summer, and fall, my family and I like to go to the farmers’ market. It’s just down the street at the city park, one block...
Coaching Minute: Cycle Forms
Jean Russell explains the importance of establishing norms and a framework for coaching cycles. You can access the documents she mentions below the player. Here is a copy of Jean's...
Home Language Is Love Language
There is the memory, as if it were yesterday: having brunch with a graduate school classmate, seated on an outdoor patio on a gorgeous Sunday morning in late spring. I...
Priming the Pump
The morning dew had just started to evaporate as bright summer sunbeams had begun to peek over the trees. A jogger and his dog were making their way down the...
Second Chances
In professional conversations, we have a finite amount of time to say what we want to say. Our turn lasts only so long, right? Meetings, conferences, and presentations require back-and-forth...
Coaching Minute: Dealing with Parent Concerns
Principal Lee Snider talks about how he deals with parent concerns.
Family Literacy Breakfasts
Max arrived at school early and alone this Friday morning. It happened to be a morning we were having a family literacy breakfast, an event that we run a few...
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...
Investing in Coaching Logs
The first time I was introduced to the concept of a coaching log, I am sure that I rolled my eyes, clucked my teeth, crossed my arms, and sighed, or...
Coaching Minute: Building Rapport with Teachers
Principal Lee Snider talks about how he built rapport with teachers when he was new to the role of principal in the building.
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...
A Heart for Coaching
Friends and colleagues often ask if I miss working in the classroom. My first answer is always “Yes. I will always miss the classroom because my heart is there.” Most...
Hard Topics in Reading
Using books with dark themes or settings in the classroom can give students the language to express their emotions, models for how to discuss and engage on these topics with...
From Observations to Questions
What an honor it is to be invited into a classroom. I’m always reminded that it is a privilege. When teachers invite me to observe an English learner in their...
Coaching Minute: Collaborating with Principals
Literacy coach Jen Court explains how she collaborates with principals.
Using Supplies to Inspire
I waited anxiously at the kidney-shaped table for my mentor’s arrival. Thoughts about the upcoming school year—different grade level, new staff—had me all worked up. As she entered the room,...
Coaching Minute: Leveraging a Calendar for Leadership
Jean Russell explains how a simple trick with a coaching calendar can build in more time and expectations for leadership growth.
When There’s No Time for Debriefing
A new coaching cycle focused on conferring and small groups in reading workshop was starting, and Kate had asked teachers to sign up for a debrief time slot so that...
