Literacy Coaching

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Literacy Coaching

• Michele Zwart
• Literacy Coach
• Brady Elementary School
• Aurora East District 131
• mzwart.brady_at_d131.org

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• What does a Literacy Coach DO all day?
• Challenges and Promising Practices
• My favorite go-to websites

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Job Description Highlights

• Work collaboratively with building administrators
  and literacy leaders.
• Manage all core reading, supplemental and
  assessment materials.
• Offer ongoing support, modeling, coaching,
  co-teaching and training to teachers provide
  collegial feedback when necessary.

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• Work with teachers and students to ensure the
  pervasive use of consistent instructional
  approaches and methods to actively engage
  students in the five essential components of
  reading.
• Collect, interpret and mange all required
  assessments.

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• Work with teachers to analyze data for the
  purpose of informing instruction and determining
  appropriate interventions or using additional
  diagnostic assessment for at risk students.
• Attend all necessary training sessions described
  in the Reading First Professional Development
  Plan.

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• Actively participate in developing and offering a
  variety of staff development opportunities for
  individual teachers, grade level teams and small
  groups within the school.
• Follow all other responsibilities assigned by the
  building administrator .

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LITERACY COACHINGChallenges and Promising
Practices
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Roadblock 1 Defining What Coaching Means

• Issues
• Differences within a district
• Half-time
• Reading First
• Promising Practices
• Administrator Support
• Credibility

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Roadblock 2 Getting Into Classrooms

• Issues
• Teacher Concerns
• I cant.. I dont
• Perceived role as evaluator
• Promising Practices
• Building Rapport
• Getting in through the back door

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Roadblock 3 How To Differentiate Coaching

• Issue
• Different teachers need different things
• Promising Practices
• Understanding change
• Consider teacher needs and wants

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CBAM (Hord, 1987)Concerns-Based Adophtion Model
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• LEVEL 0 AWARENESS
• Teacher knows nothing about innovation. What
  is it?
• LEVEL 1 INFORMATION
• Teacher collects information about innovation.
  How does it work?
• LEVEL 2 PERSONAL
• Teacher wonders how innovation will affect
  her/him personally. How does this impact me?
  Whats my plan to do it? Will I have enough
  time and energy to do it?
• LEVEL 3 MANAGEMENT
• Teacher addresses practical issues related to
  the innovation. How will I fit it into my
  schedule? How will I manage the materials?
  How will I organize and manage the classroom to
  implement the innovation?

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• LEVEL 4 CONSEQUENCE
• Teacher determines effect of innovation on
  her/his goals and on student achievement. Is it
  worth it? Is it working?
• LEVEL 5 COLLABORATION
• Teacher elaborates on innovation, making
  modifications and sharing ideas with others.
  Its working fine, but how do others do it?
• LEVEL 6 REFOCUSING
• Teacher is satisfied with innovation and is
  interested in moving on to new problems,
  challenges, and questions. Is there anything
  else thats better?

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Roadblock 4 Managing/Prioritizing Time

• Issues
• Ebb and flow of coaching
• Half-time
• Teacher schedules
• Promising Practices
• Document and analyze time
• Use research findings
• Master schedule

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Roadblock 5 Coaches Need Support Too!

• Issues
• Not a teachernot an administrator
• One coach per building
• Promising Practices
• Mentor for coaches
• Find a support system
• Resources

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Special Thanks..

• The Literacy Coaching Challenges and Promising
  Practices presentation was co-authored and
  previously presented with
• Dr. LAllier and Dr. Laurie Elish-Piper from
  Northern Illinois University.
• It has been edited for the audience of todays
  presentation.
• The full length article can be found in the
  Winter 2008-2009 Illinois Reading Council
  Journal.
• Elish-Piper, L., LAllier, S.K., Zwart, M.
  (2009). Literacy coaching Challenges and
  promising practices for success. Illinois
  Reading Council Journal (37), 10-21.

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My Favorite Websites

• Choice Literacy
• www.fountasandpinnellleveledbooks.com
• http//hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3
  /index.htm
• http//www.literacycoachingonline.org/
• www.readinga-z.com
• http//bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do