More Teaching Metaphors Recently there have been a slew of articles published at Choice Literacy focused on teaching metaphors. Bread-baking, wood-working, and piano playing were all conversation starters, drawing out-of-school passions into our understanding of our teaching lives. I continual to draw parallels between my learning and that of students and colleagues. Specifically, I have been paying attention to what literacy lessons I can learn when I approach something that is difficult for me. . . . more Learning with Intensity - A Study Group Discussion Prompt "I came to our meeting this week dog-tired: preparing for Back to School Night, designing new curriculum, adjusting to changes in our schedule," Lena confided. "But after our discussion tonight, I'm leaving excited about extending these conversations into my classroom." Lena is one of the teachers in our weekly gathering of high school teachers across many disciplines who are all choosing to explore reading comprehension with their adolescent students. . . . more From Compliments to Naming the Craft: 5th Grade Writing Workshop Share Session (VIDEO) This whole-class share session in Lesley Fowler's 5th grade classroom is the culmination of a nonfiction writing unit. Over the course of the year, we moved from having students compliment their classmates during these share sessions, to writing down specific aspects of the piece they enjoyed or had questions about during the reading. We found adding this brief writing element to the share sessions has made all the difference in helping students connect their writing and that of their peers to the lessons on craft we present throughout the year. . . . more A Library from Scratch: A New Teacher's Tale A few weeks ago, I saw the walls of my new classroom. And by walls, I mean that quite literally. There are only walls to see: thick concrete, with a hole in the center that looked out onto a wide suburban street. The middle school I will begin work at this fall has experienced an enormous growth in population, and so many new classrooms are being built. My new classroom will match me: a new teacher. . . . more Mentor Interviews - A Protocol of Questions This is the time of year when many new teachers are hired, and not long after that they are assigned mentors. But what do the mentors expect from this partnership? And how might their expectations differ from those of the novice teacher? This series of interview questions can be adapted to many different purposes. . . . more Reorganizing the Classroom Library (VIDEO) In this brief time-lapse video, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser help Carrie, a second-year teacher, begin to organize her classroom library according to themes and traffic patterns in the classroom. . . . more Last Words and Next Steps: Closure Activities for Study Groups and Mentoring Programs The final moments of any professional development activity or school community can be among the most memorable of the year. We like final discussions and reflections to feel authentic and natural. We're not big fans of passing out sheets of toilet paper or rationing M&Ms or distributing wiki sticks so colleagues can meter out their words. Instead, we find all most teachers need is a quiet place away from the bustle of the end of the year, a bit of food and drink, and some sort of simple catalyst to think through and chat about what they will carry away from the year. Here are some easy, natural prompts to use to begin those final discussions . . . more Playing with Group Observations: Reflections on Learning with New Teachers The new teacher group is winding down. Our next and last meeting will be in June. Leslie Lloyd, the group's co-leader and I find ourselves constantly reflecting and refining the group as we go along. I find each month we approach some aspect of the group from a slightly different angle. This month Leslie and I played around with the classroom observations. Each month participants talk about the value of being able to observe other teachers and the time taken to debrief as a group. This month we had new teachers Jeni and Jess observe together. . . . more Memorable Moments: Two Quick-Write Closure Activities for End-of-the-Year Study Groups and Staff Meetings (TEMPLATES) Every teacher's path in improving the way their instruction is paved with individual milestones. In the rush of end of the year activities, it's sometimes hard to take time to notice and celebrate those milestones. These two quick-write activities are ideal for the start of a final study group, mentor meeting, or faculty discussion about plans for next year. . . . more Building the Reading Community Among Teachers The starting point for teaching reading is always our own lives as readers - tuning in to our processes as proficient readers, and then tapping that knowledge to help the children in our care develop new skills and strategies. One of the most important things I strive to do as a literacy coach is build self-awareness in my colleagues of their reading. . . . more New Teacher Conversations: Breaking Through Roadblocks and Sustaining Support At our final New Teacher Conversations meeting, we wanted to celebrate with the first-year teachers as well as look ahead to their second year. Knowing this was the last scheduled New Teacher Conversation meeting, we felt the need to equip them with strategies for issues that might crop up in their work and with confidence in the knowledge base that they already possess. . . . more Reading Workshop for Teachers: Understanding Our Own Learning (VIDEO) In this four-minute video from a monthly study group meeting of new teachers, Jennifer Allen and Leslie Lloyd take the group through a book preview and reading activity as part of the workshop. The discussion after the activity highlights the importance of becoming aware of our own processes as readers in order to understand the literacy of students. . . . more The Power of Layered Coaching I have to admit I did not anticipate the power of these peer observations. Each month the new teachers enthusiastically return to the group eager to share new ideas gathered from their classroom observations in hopes of implementing them in their own rooms. Many of the new teachers have stated that the time given to observe other teachers is truly a gift. Others have said that the built-in time to observe is one of the best components of the new teacher support system. . . . more Portable Anchor Charts for Literacy Coaches I have to admit I have gone a little foam board crazy. I started with a foam board on revision strategies, and now we have moved to boards that include our strategies for alternative leads - leads for narratives, leads for nonfiction animal books, and also leads for biographies. Foam boards are durable, easy to store, and perfect for displaying ideas. . . . more Making the Rounds: Visiting Everyone Developing systems to prevent leaving something or someone out is insurance against our natural inclination to work in patterns. For example, I have a plan for getting around to all the classrooms in my school. In the past, I have made detailed schedules to make sure I get into every classroom to see every component of the literacy framework. However, this year I have used a much simpler system. I just have a form with teacher names on the top and framework elements down the side, as illustrated in the attached form. Then I simply write the date in the box when I observe a particular instructional model in a classroom. . . . more Two or Three Things I Know for Sure: A Teacher Workshop Activity The title of this teacher workshop activity comes from Dorothy Alison's memoir Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, and the quote from Alison about her Aunt Dot that inspired the title: "Lord, girl, there's only two or three things I know for sure." She put her head back, grinned, and made a small impatient noise. Her eyes glittered as bright as a sun reflecting off the scales of a cottonmouth's back. She spat once and shrugged. "Only two or three things. That's right," she said. "Of course it's never the same things, and I'm never as sure as I'd like to be." . . . more