This coming week, I get the opportunity to launch a reading intervention with four seventh and eighth grade students. The opportunity came about as a result of working with Amy Thacher, our amazing Literacy Coach from Great Prairie AEA. I have had the privilege of working with Amy for many, many years and always walk … [Read more…]
When I write blogposts, many times something I have read becomes the springboard for my writing. In line with meeting one of my goals for maintaining a blog, I write to process my learning. The practice of processing my thoughts through writing sure is helpful to me, and theoretically serves to make me a better … [Read more…]
Today’s post has been days… possibly weeks in the making. I have added it to it, slowly, over the last week – a luxury I have enjoyed as a result of two full weeks away from work. There are advantages to writing a post over several days: time to mull things over, less pressure to … [Read more…]
One of my favorite all-time quotes, which I reference often, comes from Brené Brown: … and as Mark Manson reminds us in the title of Chapter 6 in The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!, “You’re Wrong About Everything (But So Am I).” This entire book has been chalk-full of reminders that I am … [Read more…]
This past week, our instructional coaching team led several professional development sessions in a district professional learning day. The day was designed so that participants could choose their own path: they had several sessions to choose from for each time slot. It was a day packed with learning and choice. My only frustration with the … [Read more…]
Last week, I wrote about the importance of planning. When it comes to classroom instruction, planning is far more than important – it is absolutely critical. This point was highlighted beautifully in Melissa and Lori Love Literacy’s 208th episode, “No More Strategy of the Week: Connecting Comprehension Instruction Back to the Book.” The episode features … [Read more…]
When it comes to planning, there are times when I am a master and times when I am a novice. As it relates to planning for this blog, I am more of a novice than I’d like to admit. I have a goal of posting each week by Sunday at 1:00 p.m. I have a … [Read more…]
I’m sitting in the Charolotte International Airport as I write this (why does it make me feel important to write that?!). I am processing two incredible days of learning, alongside incredible educators, from the 8th Annual Conference of The Reading League. Last week, I had written that I predicted many presenters would mention Scarborough’s Reading … [Read more…]
I am heading to The Reading League Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina this week, and I couldn’t be more excited! I am looking forward to learning from, and along side of, some of the greats in effective literacy instruction: Zaretta Hammond, Linneah Ehri, and Barbara Foorman, among many others… how lucky am I??? While at … [Read more…]
The phrase, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint” has meaning in many different contexts. When it comes to instructional coaching, this phrase holds great meaning. In the systems coaching model that our district currently employs, we are assigned to teacher teams based on student data. A level of proficiency has been defined that deems instructional … [Read more…]