One of the greater challenges that people in positions like mine often face is creating alignment between what learners, administrators, and teachers need in order to be successful. Sometimes, people have different perspectives about what is truly needed. They may not share a common view of what success will ultimately mean or what it is supposed to look like. They have different thoughts about how it will be achieved, how quickly, and to what degree.…
This video has gone viral in my facebook community and for good reason: Buffalo is a fantastic place to live and work and raise a family. I love it here, and I guess the proof of that lies in the reality that each time my husband and I consider moving out of state, the only thing that really keeps us back is our love of this unique little city that we’ve always called home. So…
Over the last year, I’ve been facilitating a departmental redesign with a small group of high school Business teachers. I blogged about it a bit just after we began this work, and last month, teachers sent the new outcomes for each endorsement and their course descriptions to press. As an instructional coach, I’ll be working with them throughout the rest of this year to design new courses and co-plan in ways that will help to…
Where did last month ago? I can’t believe it’s November already! The good news is that I’m finding myself emerging from a bit of dry season as a blogger, and ironically, making that happen required me to take my own advice: spending less time behind the screen and more of it out there living life and trying to soak up some new experiences seemed to do the trick! My head is swimming with stuff I’m…
Where do great writing ideas come from? They’re often inspired by our own experiences, the things we read or hear or see, or the thoughts and feelings that are stirred up in response to those we connect with each day. Still, defining an idea worth investing yourself in can be challenging, and that’s why it’s often important to connect the things we love to do beyond writing to our writing. When I’m conferring with…
WNYLIT is a forum for local literacy coaches and leaders held four times a year at the Carrier Center in Angola. Eager to meet and learn from those who share my passion and interest in literacy and instructional coaching, I began facilitating these sessions last year at no cost. Despite the beating our districts sustained budget-wise, we’ve managed to keep moving forward as a group and even grow our membership a bit. I’m looking forward…
Over the last few weeks, I’ve found some great resources for supporting writing in the content areas. These may be particularly helpful for those who are very new to doing so and those who are less tech-comfortable, although all can and should be integrated with the use of tech tools, whenever this is possible and appropriate. Interested in learning more? Leave a comment for me here, or if I work in your district, let me…
Like many of my colleagues, I believe that great learning is often framed around the pursuit of essential questions. So when I stumbled upon dropping knowledge last week, I bookmarked with the intention to share here. I see so many potential uses for kids and teachers. For instance, which of these questions align with your work? Which ones are you or your students willing to share? Browse themes, drag and drop these postcards into your…
I’ve been coaching in several districts over the last two weeks, beginning conversations with teachers who are thinking deeply about what student-centered learning communities are and what they can do at the start of the school year to begin establishing them. We’re realizing that transformation can begin to happen in simple ways. For instance, consider the different approaches taken by each of the teachers below. Which leverages the collective expertise of the group and enables…
The 6+1 Traits of Writing gained momentum in the field and a respected place within many classrooms because it provides a framework through which writers (and teachers) might begin to define craft. We rely on the Traits in Studio, and I work in a number of schools who have made the Traits a part of their core curricula, but becoming a powerful writer requires expertise in far more than this, and great writing teachers know…