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
Coaching Boundaries: Do You Have Any?
Time is the resource on which we’ve relied to get more accomplished. When there’s more to do, we invest more hours. But time is finite, and many of us feel...
Hear It, Clear It Up, and Steer It
A couple of years ago I was in charge of sending out emails two weeks before our scoring workshops in writing. The first time, I was caught off guard by...
Lessons from a Multitasker
Harvard Business Review reports that multitasking leads to as much as a 40% drop in productivity, increased stress, and a 10% drop in IQ. Peter Bergman I was getting...
Engaging That Class
As a second-year teacher, I had an impossible freshman sixth-period class. I cried after school most days. By contrast, I had three other sections of engaged, fun ninth-grade classes with...
Reaching Boy Writers
"What would you do if the second you got into an airplane bathroom, and you REALLY had to go, the pilot turned on the 'fasten your seatbelt' sign?" This was...
Coaching Minute: 100% of the Time
Do all teachers need a literacy coach's support? Heather Rader has wise words of advice in this quick video tip. A transcript is included below the player. I...
Coaching Excellent Teachers
“I have no idea what to do with her,” whined Judy. “She’s freaking AWESOME!” Judy, a middle school literacy coach, was struggling with a problem that would be wonderful to...
Instructional Coach: A Position of Contradictions
Love. Hate. Productive. Frustrated. Peace. Stress. We live in a world of tension. We are constantly pushed and pulled. This is especially true for an instructional coach because it is...
Quick! Hide the Chocolate: Challenging Coaching Relationships
If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Maya Angelou As an instructional coach, I collaborate with colleagues as they try new...
Reluctant Teachers and Nonfiction
At a recent workshop, Franki Sibberson asked us to recall our experiences with nonfiction texts as children. I shuddered. My memories of childhood nonfiction are not good ones. I remember...
No Time for Collaboration
A literacy interventionist, Marnie, double-checked her notes. She had it right. Andy, a fifth grader, was indeed reading Poppy (Avi, 2005). Andy kept calling the main character Bobby instead of...
Coaching Minute: Use Soft Words and Hard Arguments
Heather Rader explains the importance of using gentle words when giving honest but difficult feedback in this quick video tip. A transcript is available below the player. In a small-group...
The View from a Principal’s Window
This is the view from my office at 4:00 every day -- a cluster of mothers, acquiescing to their children’s begging, lingers after school while the youngsters stomp and shout...
High Schools, Scale, and Reluctance: A Podcast with Diane Sweeney
In this 18-minute podcast, Diane Sweeney talks with Heather Rader about the challenges of coaching at the secondary level, and shares advice for working with reluctant teachers. Diane's latest book...
Coaching Minute: Venting and Rant Ruts
Heather Rader explains in this one-minute video the difference between healthy venting and "rant ruts," with advice for how to help colleagues move beyond unhealthy talk patterns. A transcript is...
Coaching Minute: Different Philosophies
What do you do when the teacher you are coaching has a different philosophy? Ruth Ayres advises you to find common ground in this coaching minute video.
Why I Hate Homework
I hate homework. I hate it more now than I did when I was the one lugging textbooks and binders back and forth from school. The house my children are...
Phasing in New Initiatives: Keep the Baby!
Laura, a literacy coach, came to the first coaches' meeting of the year with a glum look on her face. With just a little prodding, she told her story. The...
Turning “Unfortunate” into Good Fortune
Recently I sent an email to an administrator that went to everyone in the school. It was an email regarding the strengths and needs of teachers. Although I scrutinize every...
Improvement Plan
Maria taught sixth-grade language arts in the middle school where I was an assistant principal. When I first came to the building, my principal warned me about Maria. “She’s struggling,”...
Collaborating When the Going Gets Tough
When the going gets tough, turn to inquiry. Courage to Teach Touchstone I don’t know about you, but when the going gets tough, inquiry is not the first thing...
