Lead Lit Topic: Tough Nuts
A teacher who refuses to work with her grade-level team to design new units. A principal who is always upending your schedule with new responsibilities. A literacy coach who is in tears because she feels so isolated. A participant who continually interrupts an in-service session with “Yeah but . . .”
Tough Nuts are not easily defined, but you know one when you see it. They are the challenges that sit at the center of your forehead in the dead of night, robbing you of sleep. The stories of how we’ve dealt with these ongoing and immediate challenges are here.
Results
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...
The Third Rail: Coaching and Instructional Assessment
As I reflected with Joy about our recent coaching cycle, we looked back to our original goals and the pre- and post-data about her students' work. We had seen more...
Know Their Story
Sally was a veteran teacher. That’s what I was told. She’s one of our vets. As a younger educator, I had heard that phrase several times to describe teachers who...
Ms. Perfectly Nice
We all know that teacher. The one who is agreeable, pleasant to work with, quiet, and perfectly nice. Heck, I think I’ve even been that teacher. I have sat in...
Whenever They Are Ready: Building Trust for PD Success
It’s a paradox of school leadership that we generally know what we need to do to ensure every student is successful, yet we fight with each other and within ourselves...
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...
Resisting Traditional Definitions of Productivity
The first day back at school after spring break felt like stepping on a treadmill that was going full speed. Testing season was upon us, a school recognition application was...
Fail to Learn
We perform for ourselves, often the harshest of audiences. Thomas Newkirk I think every teacher has a grade level or subject area they would prefer not to teach. I...
Talking in Front of Peers
Lately I have been doing a good deal of speaking and presenting to other educators at various conferences, and more frequently I’ve spoken or presented in front of my large...
A Change in the Weather: Moving from Teacher to Coach
There’s a joke among midwesterners that if you don’t like the weather, just wait a day and it will change. Living in northern Indiana, we see the full gamut of...
Leadership Shifts
Every year about this time, I spend several hours finalizing supplemental contracts. In my district, teachers who take on leadership roles in specific curricular areas are paid a small stipend...
To Celebrate or Not
February and March are two important months for learners. Except they’re all important, aren’t they? Which pretty much sums up my conflict with Black History Month and Women’s History Month,...
Getting Emotional
Although I aspire to be a leader who is always strong, stoic, and sensible, I occasionally succumb to the emotional toll of my job. At least once a year, it...
Do or Die
Don’t be shy about asking for help. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re strong. Last spring, a panic-stricken teacher I have worked with informally entered my office. His...
Meeting Mind-Set
“These meetings are a waste of my time.” I frequently hear this from colleagues. Sometimes, I even think it myself. In a recent conversation a dear friend and colleague said...
Allocating Services
Each autumn, a few weeks after the school doors have opened again after summer break, we gather a group of teachers, support staff, and administrators to consider our literacy data...
Telling Our Story
It was a few years ago when our principal called us all into the media center for a bit of news. One of my favorite games is Guess the News,...
Protecting Your Coaching Time
It was 3:00 p.m. when the dismissal bell rang. Some students bolted from the building to head for home, and others chatted loudly in the bus line. I emerged from...
Culture for Coaching Part 2: Resistance to Cycles
This is the second in a series of four articles about creating a culture for effective coaching. Working together as a principal and instructional coach, we took steps to build...
Culture for Coaching Part 1: Introduction
This is the first in a series of four articles about creating a culture for effective coaching. It begins with a problem and a brave, counterintuitive response from a principal...
The Awkward Chair
A colleague of mine recently presented an excellent professional development session about how school leaders can become experts in facilitating effective IEP or RTI meetings. These types of meetings are...
