At the beginning of my Thursday morning run, I was greeted by a fellow early-bird-exerciser. Jackie paused her walk briefly to say, “Hey, I read that article in the paper about you being the ‘Reading Queen.’ What a great article. You know, when I was in 3rd grade, I remember very distinctly a nun, Sister … [Read more…]
Last week, I wrote about my presentation to our school board which centered around my role as our FMCSD district literacy coach, the Science of Reading, the adoption of a high quality literacy curriculum, and how instructional coaching is a critical piece of implementation. Part of what I was speaking to was that I am … [Read more…]
On Monday night of this past week, I had the opportunity to present to the FMCSD School Board. This is a five-minute slot on the board agenda given to our coaching staff each month. In other words, all eight instructional coaches get the chance to present to the board once throughout the year. Monday night … [Read more…]
Just last week, I referenced my frustration with educators who focus on what their students cannot do, rather than what they can do. In the last several days, I came to the realization that I may be doing the very same thing when thinking about educators: I can fall in the trap of focusing on … [Read more…]
After a week of multiple conversations with teacher teams expressing frustration over a myriad of concerns, I am convinced, more than ever, that one of our Professional Learning Community norms, as suggested by Solution Tree and adopted by many of our teams, needs to be revisited and reflected upon: Be solution-oriented and forward thinking. The … [Read more…]
Staying Grounded in Research When I get fired up about structured literacy versus balanced literacy… and I often do… I make sure that what I say or write is grounded in research. I rely on the Science of Reading resources that are in great supply, I process their content through reading, writing (this blog!) and … [Read more…]
When I sit down on Sunday mornings to write this blog, I often have lots of thoughts swirling around in my head about the direction my writing will take. Often, but not always, I have already started a draft earlier in the week. Sometimes, the writing goes in the direction I had been thinking a … [Read more…]
We (I use this pronoun loosely) have made significant gains as an educational society in shedding light on the power of the Science of Reading/a structured literacy approach. Phenomenal resources like The Reading League, Amplify Science of Reading the Podcast, the International Dyslexia Association, and reporting from journalist Emily Hanford and author Natalie Wexler have … [Read more…]
Last week I wrote about failing vs failure. I knew at the beginning of this week that I would be writing about the topic again, through a new lens: permission to fail. One of my favorite lines from this past week came from an administrator who said, “I love it! I get absolutely giddy when … [Read more…]
There are times when I walk away from a coaching conversation feeling like a failure. I can feel like I was zero help to a teacher who was seeking answers or support. When that happens, I question my ability as an instructional coach, and wonder if there are other people who would be better at … [Read more…]