Gail Boushey

I am always on the hunt for new ways to reorganize the records I keep as a literacy coach. I want to be sure I have good records of encounters with colleagues, but I don't want to spend more time taking notes than I do collaborating with teachers.

Recently I revised my coaching conferring notebook to mirror the notebooks I encourage teachers to use in their own classrooms as they keep track of conferences with students. The video below explains the components of the notebook - the calendar, to do list, templates to share, and recordkeeping form for the actual conferences with teachers. I know it will continue to change as I work more with teachers and discover their needs. But right now, I appreciate the simplicity of it. The notebook isn't overwhelming, and it seems to have everything I need in it to keep track of my evolving partnerships with teachers.

You can download the one-page "Now and Next" conferring template I use with teachers at this link:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/nownext.pdf

If you are interested in more recordkeeping tools for literacy coaches, the link below will take you to a recent round-up of resources we've compiled at the site:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/438.cfm

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·  Collaborative Team Meeting: Assessing and Planning Part II (VIDEO) ·  Collaborative Team Meeting: Assessing and Planning Together (VIDEO) ·  The Conferring Notebook: Organizing for Teaching in Workshops (VIDEO with TEMPLATES) ·  Making the Rounds: Visiting Everyone ·  Watching Teachers Teach: An Observation Form for Literacy Coaches ·  Goal Sheets for Conferring (TEMPLATES) ·  Reflective Observation: Helping Teachers Observe, Analyze, and Guide (TEMPLATE) ·  Tools to Redesign Your Classroom (TEMPLATES)