In February of 2009 Heather Rader wrote to Brenda Power to find out if she'd be open to publishing two articles written on sarcasm. One was written for teachers and the other for coaches and literacy leaders. Over two years later, Heather joined the Choice Literacy team as senior editor and workshop presenter.

Heather taught in Korea, at a private school, as a homeschooling mom and a teacher-librarian, but most of her years have been spent teaching elementary students in public school. Five years ago, she transitioned from the classroom to the role of an instructional coach working with 13 elementaries and a team of coaches in literacy.

In 2010, Heather was awarded Regional Teacher of the Year. She has presented for many organizations including Washington Education Research Association (WERA), Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession (CSTP) and the International Reading Association (IRA). Her DVD On the Same Page is published by Choice Literacy and she's working on an upcoming book on best practice for teachers and coaches also published by Choice Literacy.

Heather has a fascination with what makes teaching and learning work. Her motto is "Stay Curious" and she embraces that in her personal and professional life. She believes all children deserve to be engaged in authentic learning tasks as real readers, writers, mathematicians, scientists and thinkers.

Best Practices in Spelling Heather Rader In my work with teachers, I've heard everything from "I do the Monday pre-test and the Friday spelling test. It worked for me and it's what kids today need," to "I don't teach spelling at all because I don't want it to inhibit children's ideas." Yet both groups of teachers will lament, "Their spelling in writing is atrocious!" Why would such a difference in instructional approaches yield the same results? And, more importantly, what does work? . . . more Common Core Conversations: Text Complexity Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader When you hear the word "complex" what comes to mind? Complicated? Difficult? Many parts? More challenging? We had these associations as we began our inquiry into the Common Core shift of putting more emphasis on text complexity in teaching and learning. . . . more Three Rules Worthy of Spelling Inquiry Heather Rader Over the last five years, I've dug into teaching conventions with an inquiry-based approach which I define as: using correct text and artful questioning to get students to wonder about words and symbols that convey meaning. . . . more Communicating with the Y Chromosome Heather Rader Neuroscience says male and female brains are wired and juiced differently, and social experts like Deborah Tannen concur. In You Just Don't Understand, she noted the report vs. rapport aspect of our talk. Women build relations through talk (rapport), while men negotiate status (report). Men prefer to speak one at a time while women tend to overlap cooperatively in conversation. These have implications for our conversations in the work place. . . . more Listen In: Writing in Math Heather Rader and Linda Karamatic "You've gotta see this," are Linda Karamatic's first words when I arrive in her second-grade classroom. On this particular day we marveled on how Maya had decided to make her math homework fun by adding a riddle-like quality to her math. Her "no peekie, peekie" innovation intrigued me. . . . more Listen In: Strategies for Using Nonfiction Texts in Writing Heather Rader Besides being good friends, Sammi and Alyssa had similar writing folder contents: nonfiction texts that were exact copies of a published book. In academic integrity studies of high school and college campuses, plagiarism was part of 9 out of 10 students' writing processes at some point. Where does that begin? It begins with early attempts to write nonfiction based on resources. Maya Angelou's words via Oprah come to mind, "When we know better, we do better." This conference was about offering a strategy for knowing better for two great second grade writers. . . . more Common Core Conversations: Reading in the Disciplines Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader It's our job as leaders to be a step or page ahead of what is happening in our district. Even though we aren't fully operational using and assessing the Common Core Standards in our state, there are many things we can do to prepare for the inevitable transition. . . . more Voila! Best Writing and Entry Slips in Second Grade (VIDEO) Heather Rader The word "voila" in French literally means "see there." Linda Karamatic put time and reflection into creating a binder, or voila book, that will ease the bulging writing workshop folders and preserve the best of students' writing to celebrate their progression as second-grade writers throughout the year. When you hear people pronounce the word "voila" they say it with expression. And if they talk with their hands like I do, they may throw a kiss or make jazz hands - voila! Which is exactly the reason why Mrs. Karamatic and her students chose the name. . . . more Listen In: About the Author Snowy Owls. Polar Bears. Artic Hares. These fine white creatures were all the rage in second grade during the literary nonfiction unit. Linda Karamatic and I co-planned the new writing unit and learned about this special genre that exists in the gray area between fiction and nonfiction as well as literary and informational. We became fans of the prolific author Nicola Davies. . . . more Common Core Conversations: The Half 'n' Half Shift for Nonfiction Reading and Writing Amanda Adrian and Heather Rader We know that informational reading and writing need to increase for our students. Shifting to 50% informational reading and writing or as we've come to think of it, the half-n-half shift, does have implications for some very doable changes in our professional development, coaching and teaching that we can begin right away. . . . more Lesson Structure: Building a Strong Foundation Heather Rader The experts will tell you, "Add sand to water, but not water to sand," when building structures on the beach. You must have a strong foundation for a sculpture that involves super-saturated sand. I know this because I've watched my husband and fellow sand men and women compete and carve on the beach. It doesn't matter if they are sculpting an octopus, gnome, mermaid or six-foot teddy bear, the foundation is key. . . . more Mentor Texts for Nonfiction Writing (VIDEO and BOOKLIST) Heather Rader with Beth Lawson When I was asked to help Beth augment her nonfiction library for fourth graders, I felt giddy. Who doesn't like to recommend books? I can't wait to hear how Beth has used the books with her students. . . . more What Coaches Carry (Part 1) Heather Rader As I prepare to mentor three new coaches this year in different assignments: elementary building coach, secondary reading intervention coach and middle grades math coach, I sit down to have an initial get-to-know-you chat with each one. I was struck by one of the questions I haven't thought about in a long time: What do you carry? . . . more How to Look at Student Work Heather Rader When looking at student work through instruction-colored glasses, the first thing I consider is who needs the feedback about this work? Consider the following student work that fits in different feedback categories . . . more Concise, Conversational and Consistent: Explaining Leadership Roles Heather Rader In the beginning, I used to fumble my responses about what I do for a living. It was as if I was apologizing for not having an easy-to-define job. I used the phrases "kind of but not really" and "sorta like." The problem was I'd never taken time to craft a thoughtful and informative response. When you are a teacher, everyone knows (or thinks they know) what that means: most likely you have a classroom, you have a desk, you have a class, you work hard and you have summers off. You also like red apples and pencils. . . . more A Class with More Boys Than Girls: Coaching Nonlinguistic Representation Heather Rader Hannah was in her second year of teaching when we began our work together. She was interested in "bettering her game" as she put it. "I know I have lots that I could work on, but I'm not sure where to start," she admitted in our initial meeting. I have a really active class this year. The composition is 2/3 boys and 1/3 girls so I worry sometimes that the boys are overpowering the girls from just sheer numbers. . . . more Listen In: Writing Reviews Heather Rader Real writing for real purpose ignites young writers. While a formal book report doesn't exist in grown-up literature, book reviews do. As Kincaid was passionately talking about his beloved series I wondered, how might a talented second grade writer like Kincaid write a book review? . . . more Grammar Insecurity: Coaching Editing Heather Rader ot long ago I was crafting an email and struggling with one particular sentence. Was it grammatically incorrect or just awkward and in need of revision? What's more important? I asked myself. Do I get the invitation out before the workday is over or do I fret about one gangly sentence? And so I sent the email. Five minutes later I got a call from an email recipient and colleague I'd never met. . . . more Ubiquitous Venns, Watch Fors, and Leverage Points: Coaching for Depth Heather Rader Ubiquitous Venns - you see them everywhere. Those friendly overlapping circles. Some are hand-drawn and look more elliptical than circular, and the intersection is never large enough for all the shared attributes to fit. . . . more The Sponge Summary Lesson (Part 6) In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a fourth-grade class, using the analogy of a sponge to explain how summaries work. In this final video, Heather and students debrief and capture their learning in writing. . . . more The Sponge Summary Lesson (Part 5) In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a fourth-grade class, using the analogy of a sponge to explain how summaries work. In this fifth video, Heather and students shift from "I do" to "we do" as students try test their summary writing skills with partners . . . more Writing Drafts and Stamina Heather Rader Stamina is defined as "staying power" or "toughness." Often when we think of staying power related to writing we think of the amount of time a writer generates at one particular sitting. . . . more The Sponge Summary Lesson (Part 4) This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this fourth video, Heather and students discuss their summaries in progress. . . . more Off the Beaten Professional Development Path: What I Learned from the Teachers as Writers Group Heather Rader It's a Saturday and I'm pressing the norms chart up on the window of a sunlit room in a popular local coffeehouse. Two teachers are here early and smile a quick hello before they look back to their work - their writing. We call ourselves Teachers as Writers, and 12 of us gather once a month for three hours on Saturday for an unusual professional development offering. . . . more The Sponge Summary Lesson (Part 3) This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this third video, Heather and students cull down a text into the important points needed for a summary. . . . more Coaching Monkey Heather Rader As a kid, Curious George was my hero. Sometimes I had to cover my eyes when he was about to get into trouble, but I knew in the end he'd do something to make it right. He always did. While I was definitely not a rule breaker, I secretly shared George's curiosity. With more courage, I too would've folded up those newspapers into boats and sent them floating down the river. It tickles me to think that perhaps my coaching motto "Stay Curious" comes from my early learning with George. . . . more The Sponge Summary Lesson (Part 2) This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this second video, Heather presents the powerful analogy of a sponge for summarizing. . . . more The Sponge Summary Lesson (Part 1) This is a companion video series to Heather Rader's article "A Sponge is a Summary." In this sequence of videos, Heather teaches a fourth-grade class, using the analogy of a sponge to explain how summaries work. . . . more Coaching for the Test Heather Rader A teacher's approach to testing is as unique as his or her teaching style. I worked with two teachers who were disappointed in their state writing assessment results, and took very different approaches to dealing with those results. . . . more Prewriting is a Party! Heather Rader "Does anyone here like parties?" The fourth grade classroom where I'm demonstrating a lesson is a forest of tall standing arms. Everybody likes parties. . . . more Listen In: Maya is a Chapter Writer (VIDEO) Heather Rader Maya is also a writer that likes approval, so I wanted to be sure I gave her several examples of what she is doing well before we considered a piece to revise. Here was the sequence of our conversation . . . more Listen In: Magnifying a Moment in Writing (VIDEO) When second-grade teacher Linda Karamatic pulled out Sammi's folder during our meeting, she commented on how delighted she was to see Sammi finishing some pieces. There were several workshops at the beginning of the year when Sammi needed reminders that it was writing time, not social time. We both acknowledged how she was showing more writerly behaviors, and that was something to celebrate. After looking at a few pieces, one of the trends we noticed in Sammi's writing was that she provided a great skeleton for her writing, but the details were lacking. . . . more Sense of Little Engines Heather Rader Recently I had the opportunity to put a sense of agency or little engines into practice while co-teaching in a third-grade classroom. Mr. Bruin (pseudonym) told me he has many reluctant writers, "They don't know how to get started writing. They wouldn't know a creative idea if it bit them." . . . more Not That Into Me Heather Rader For the past 11 years during the holiday season my husband and I have watched the movie Trapped in Paradise with my brother. The movie stars Nicholas Cage, Dana Carvey and Jon Lovett as three brothers, Alvin, Dave and Bill Furpo, with a knack for stealing things and a Darwin Award intellect. We love it and laugh every time. It's not a spectacular plot; there are no unforgettable characters; the message is neither brilliant nor moving. It's simply familiarity -- we love what we know. . . . more Coaching Codes Heather Rader A code of conduct is created to outline the standards and rules of behavior that guide an organization. Effective codes spell out "unspoken rules" as well, so that everyone can be successful. In the infancy of our coaching program, my colleague Megan Conklin and I set out to write such a code. At that time we were known to use the German word uber meaning super or above and beyond to describe the ideal coach: the uber coach. We asked ourselves, "What does the uber coach do?" . . . more The Email Mirror and Literacy Coaching Heather Rader Last year while attending a mentor symposium, my thinking about coaching was challenged. As experienced instructional coaches, we were asked to rate ourselves on a number of attributes. When I got to mirroring, I faltered. . . . more Injecting Writing into Everything: Cover-up Stories Heather Rader I have a teaching colleague who is blind. One day he stood at the threshold of my classroom and called out a greeting to me and then said, "Whoa, where is your furniture?" I had moved all my desks to the perimeter of the room so we'd have room for a class circle. "How did you know?" I asked. He explained, "Without my sight, I rely on my hearing. I could hear the difference of how our voices bounced off objects in the room." Using this idea of eliminating illustrations and heightening the imagination, I stumbled upon one of the most stimulating read aloud and writing activities I've taught. . . . more Pencil Plans Heather Rader You are about to get really honest with yourself and no one else has to hear your confession. Begin by envisioning your workroom. Picture yourself standing in front of your copier right now. What color is the copy button? Where is the paper tray? Can you picture it? Good. Now here's the question: How many times have you messed up your copies? Maybe you've forgotten to remove the blue paper before printing need-to-be-on-white assessments? Or maybe you've selected one-to-two sided copies when you really meant two-to-two sided copies so you ended up with double-sided copies with only half of your pages? Perhaps you've even tried to copy paper with dark edges that stick to the roller and cause an operator-related error? . . . more Supporting Successful First-Year Coaches Heather Rader It's Friday, a little after noon, and Cristina Charney, Heather Sisson, Becky Lee and I are tucked around the small circle table with our lunches in my office. We are talking about where we've been and where we are going. Cristina and Becky work as district-based coaches, and Heather works as a site-based coach at a brand new elementary school. What an adventure this year has been. . . . more Making Connections as a Reader and a Scientist Heather Rader My son recently attended a science fair at a local university as a requirement for the seventh grade. He did an experiment of his own design called "Where the Wild Winds Are: Testing Wind Speed at Different Elevations." With my husband's assistance he constructed an anenometer, which is a device to measure wind speed. Picture a two-foot high propeller with four blades and small hemispheric cups to catch the wind and spin. Jamin has always loved weather. While he did a great job collecting data, creating a three-paneled presentation board and discussing his findings, I know that science goes far beyond the annual fair project. . . . more What Velcro Can Do: Science, Literacy and Coaching Connections Heather Rader "You aren't going to be the science program police, are you?" Donna said in response to my prompting about where science fit into her day with fourth graders. Our science program includes kits and lots of hands-on work. . . . more Procedural Writing in Math Heather Rader Truly, I love a good story and interesting anecdotes, but only when I'm reading for that purpose. Right now what I'm interested in is accurate measurements, clear ingredients, and a step-by-step easy-to-follow guide. The word choice should be precise language of the discipline (in this case, culinary) and the voice should be clear and factual. Still, while procedural writing is "just the facts ma'am" simple, it's not as cinchy to teach. . . . more Math, Writing, and Coaching to Learn Heather Rader Lisa, like many intermediate teachers, works in a departmentalized arrangement. She begins the day with her homeroom kids, and then about every 80 minutes she rotates through three different groups of fifth graders for literacy. Lisa was excited to learn more about writing in the content areas, as well as the connections that might build with other members of her teaching team. . . . more Wii Summary Heather Rader What I find, and was true in Ingrid's classroom, is that some complex skills like summarization are taught in only two modes: all teacher (I-do) or all students (you-do). In the I-do mode, teachers can easily be disillusioned that the kids get it because the smart ones offer to answer our questions and everyone else nods to make us happy when we ask, "Does that make sense?" In the you-do mode, that illusion falls apart with a chorus of "I don't get it" or work that misses the mark. That's where the students were when Ingrid deemed the progress "awful." In between those two modes is an entire continuum of we-do . . . more A Sponge is a Summary Heather Rader When I'm working with a concept that I know may be difficult to grasp, I like to hook kids' attention with a metaphor or an analogy. While doing the dishes, I thought about how a sponge holds water, but when you squeeze it, you are left with the right amount of dampness to wipe down a counter. The point of a sponge is to be moist without being over-saturated. Ah-ha, I thought: a sponge is a summary. We take hold of saturated text and squeeze out all the unnecessary details, keeping what we need. Although there are limitations to my metaphor, it seems to work for kids until they come up with their own connections. . . . more Getting and Giving Student Feedback Heather Rader When I consider "Who is the best educated and the most experienced thinker in the classroom?" The answer is the teacher. If I am understanding how the students are making meaning, I can adapt the questions, lessons and interventions. The only way for me to have access to that information is to get it in the form of kid talk, lots of it, and later, in writing too. Schema, 10:2 Theory and Exit Slips are ways to constantly seek feedback of students' understanding. . . . more There's Been a Misblunderstanding Heather Rader I believe there are two misblunderstandings at play here and in many of our classrooms.  There is a myth that teacher talking is the same thing as teaching. We need to switch our focus from what the teacher is saying and doing to what the students are saying and doing. Just because she said it, doesn't mean she taught it. If kids aren't doing something independently (like fourth graders generating a paragraph), we can begin where they are at. . . . more You Get What You Ask For: The Art of Debriefing Heather Rader I started out as a question collector. I used questions from the University of Kansas, Cathy Toll and every coaching article I put my hands on. I typed every word that came out Literacy Coach Katherine Casey's mouth during trainings. I thought that somehow if I collected enough good questions, that I would know what to ask and how. The truth is, while the list focused my attention on questioning and I have kept a couple of gems, I didn't really get good at it until I started paying more attention to the responses from teachers to my questions. My inquiry skills didn't come from a list or my mouth; my questions came from my ears. . . . more Writing Do-Overs: ERPs in the Classroom Heather Rader We loved do-overs on the playground, but young writers don't have the same enthusiasm for do-overs in writing. When I was teaching I thought maybe it was just my students, but now as a coach, I see the trend in many writers. When I go into a classroom to work on revision, I ask the students to answer three simple questions on a half-sheet pre-assessment. . . . more Extreme Makeover: Revision Edition Heather Rader Once upon a time in my third-grade classroom, I had an eight-foot pencil poster on my wall that listed the steps of the writing process from prewriting at the point to a publishing ferrule (the crimped metal band that connects pencil and eraser). About half-way down that pencil was the bold word "revising". It came after drafting and before editing and it was not, shall we say, beloved in our classroom. . . . more The Over-Prompting of Young Writers Heather Rader I have been teaching long enough to remember a time before our large-scale state writing assessment when the word "prompt" wasn't connected to writing. Yet after receiving our first set of unfortunate writing scores years ago, my team bought a Book of 101 Everyday Prompts. Our well-intentioned assumption was if teaching kids to respond to a prompt helped, then having them practice more would really increase their success. Some teachers tell me their students respond to a writing prompt every day. Here are a few prompts I've read student responses to . . . more A Coach's Perspective: No More Flying Pig Prompts Heather Rader The search for great prompts was pointless. There may just be bad prompts and not-so-bad prompts. Along with other teacher leaders, I seek not-so-bad prompts with multiple entry points. . . . more How to Be of Use: Starting Strong Heather Rader After I ask the question, "What do you already know about coaching?" teachers often tell me "Very little." There is also misinformation that coaching is only for the struggling or new educators, not teachers at the top of their game. Sharing with teachers a "This I Believe" reveals my intention and they appreciate repetition of my mantra, "I believe all teachers deserve coaches." . . . more How to Use a Coach: Four Things to Consider Heather Rader I'm not an expert in the classrooms I enter, but I often know enough to help a teacher move forward. As an instructional coach, I've worked with first year teachers, a thirty-two year veteran and many stages in between. Some teachers seem instantly comfortable with the coaching arrangement while others because of apprehension, misinformation or just being new to the process learn "how to use a coach" to their advantage through the process. . . . more Sarcasm Is a Useful Teaching Tool--NOT Heather Rader Technically, sarcasm is defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as "a cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound" and "a form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule." From its Latin and Greek roots it means "to bite the lips in rage." These words: wound, victim and rage suggest that the speaker has poor intentions. On the contrary, I don't believe any teacher gets up in the morning and says, "I'm going to go be a negative influence in the lives of children today." Not at all. So why do teachers use sarcasm with kids? In our conversations here is what they tell me . . . more A Coach's Perspective: Is Sarcasm in Style This Season? Heather Rader This isn't the first time I've encountered sarcasm in the classroom and while these are fifth graders, I've heard it all the way down to classrooms of five-year-olds. Like a Magic Eye picture that begins to emerge as I relax my focus, I see a positive correlation between teachers who are resistant to coaching and also struggle with classroom management. A commonality I've found among teachers struggling with classroom management is the element of sarcasm in their classrooms. . . . more