Reading Recovery: Organizing Paperwork

As Reading Recovery teachers we have a significant amount of paperwork to keep organized.  When we keep our paperwork organized and up-to-date we are better able to use what we know about our students to effectively plan future lessons. To help myself start out the new school year organized I follow my Reading Recovery beginning …

The Danish Way of Parenting: Not just for parents

Written by Gen Last year, in preparation for my daughter's toddler years, I started looking for books to prepare myself for the inevitable "terrible twos." That's when I stumbled upon the book, The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Capable Kids, by Jessica Joelle Alexander and Iben …

5 Tips for Reading with English Language Learners

I have greatly enjoyed working with English Language Learners as a reading interventionist.  The students I work with range from minimal knowledge of the English language to a more advanced knowledge of English. I consider myself lucky because I share a room with our school's English as a New Langauge Teacher.  She has been a …

100 Positive Experiences: Experience #2 Work harder than the teacher

Written by Gen This one might make you feel indignant. You work hard. Who am I to tell you to work harder? This positive experience isn't about you, it's about the classroom teacher's trust in you. Let's face it, most of the time literacy coaches do not face the same pressures as classroom teachers. Days …

Reading Recovery: Organizing Materials

I must admit that one of my favorite things to do is get organized.  I have found that having an organized classroom space is such a timesaver.  I am able to find what I need quickly and I am less distracted when I am planning and teaching.  I enjoy looking at other teachers' spaces to …

Steps to Analyzing a Running Record

Teachers are busy people with so many responsibilities!  Sometimes it may feel like we don't have enough time to go beyond the numbers that we calculate from the running records that we take.  When we stop our analysis at the accuracy rate the only information we learn is whether the text is at an appropriate …

What Do I Do During Roaming Around the Known?

As I mentioned in my previous post about roaming around the known I like to do some reading in Literacy Lessons Designed for Individuals before I jump into roaming.  It is easy to become uncertain about what to do during roaming because it is not as structured as lessons.  I think that if we spend …

6 Tips for Designing Engaging Professional Development Sessions

"...asking participants to go out of their comfort zone is counter productive..."

Staying Neutral During Assessment Season

Written by Gen As a teacher trained in Reading Recovery, I am always painfully aware of my own actions and intentions, particularly this time of year, as I am administering the Observation Survey to a new group of wide-eyed first-graders. In our Guide Book, Marie Clay is always careful to remind us that, when encountering …

Preparing for Roaming Around the Known

I really enjoy the time I spend in roaming around the known.  This is such a fun time to get to know the students that you'll be working with, build rapport, and help your students see themselves as readers and writers.  There are a few things that I like to do before I start roaming …