Becoming a Literacy Leader chronicles the work of Jennifer Allen, an elementary teacher who moved to a new school and a new job as a literacy specialist, and found herself tackling everything from teacher study groups to state-mandated assessment plans. The book is rooted in Jennifer's belief that teachers know what they need when it comes to professional development in literacy, and the best literacy leaders are those who listen to and respect the educators in their midst. Grounded in research but thoroughly practical, Jennifer shares advice on:organizing a literacy room with resources for classroom teachers, including book lists, bins of children's books tied to craft and strategy lessons, bulletin board ideas, and files with instructional materials;developing intervention classrooms for struggling readers and writers built on collaboration between teachers and literacy specialists;setting up assessment notebooks for teachers, and preparing new and veteran teachers for student assessments across grades;creating model programs for dealing with schoolwide problems like reading fluency, and then moving from the pilot to implementation in many classrooms;coaching new and veteran teachers in the latest literacy practices, without taking on the role of expert;analyzing and using books, videos and journals in professional development programs;infusing routine staff meetings with discussions of new literacy curricula;leading teacher study groups using a variety of formats;finding and budgeting money for professional development programs in literacy;protecting time and scheduling priorities, to ensure the literacy specialist position doesn't become a “catch-all” for the random needs of teachers or administrators.At a time when all administrators are urged to be literacy leaders, this insider's view helps to define what leadership looks like and shows how to create an environment that fosters professional development. Jennifer Allen shares the balance leaders struggle with, as they strive to support and honor the fine practices of teachers, even as they nudge colleagues to improve their literacy instruction. Ultimately, Becoming a Literacy Leader is a hopeful book, an optimistic and realistic portrait of life in schools among teachers committed to doing their jobs well.
Author(s): Jennifer Allen, Karen Szymusiak, Franki Sibberson
Edition: 1
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 152
Contents......Page 5
Foreword......Page 7
Acknowledgments......Page 9
I Am......Page 11
We Are......Page 12
My Stories......Page 13
2 A Room of One’s Own for Literacy......Page 15
Wall Space......Page 19
Literacy News Bulletin Board......Page 20
Library of Mentor Texts......Page 21
Professional Library......Page 25
Read-Aloud Corner......Page 26
Study Group Meeting Area......Page 27
Staff Picks......Page 28
Community Resources......Page 29
Personal Office Area......Page 30
Book Swap......Page 31
3 “My Life in Seven Stories”: A Model for a Required In-service Program......Page 34
A New Start......Page 36
The Beginning of “My Life in Seven Stories”......Page 38
Instructional Strategies Moving into Classrooms......Page 43
The Nuts and Bolts of Classroom Implementation: A Three-Day Writing Cycle......Page 47
In the End......Page 53
4 Study Groups: Developing Voluntary Professional Development Programs......Page 56
Meeting the Individual Professional Needs of Teachers......Page 57
What Should You Expect from a Study Group?......Page 58
Finding a Focus and Resources......Page 59
Planning and Scheduling Groups......Page 62
Establishing a Predictable Routine......Page 65
Providing Additional Resources......Page 70
What Teachers Say About Study Groups......Page 71
A Worthy Investment......Page 73
How the Literacy Intervention Rooms Came to Be......Page 75
Supporting Students on the Bubble Through Inclusive Support......Page 76
Summer Literacy Jump Start......Page 84
Starting the Year: Establishing Predictable Routines......Page 88
Fall Assessments to Inform Instruction......Page 90
Breaking Down and Chunking Out Instruction......Page 91
A Snapshot of One Morning in the Literacy Intervention Classrooms: Working with Students Through the Process of Research......Page 92
Evaluating the Success of the Program: A Snapshot of Students Who Completed the Two-Year Intervention......Page 97
6 Coaching in Classrooms......Page 103
Getting Started in Classrooms......Page 104
Coaching and Collaborating......Page 105
Time Frames......Page 111
Blanketing a Grade Level with a Strategy......Page 112
Collaborating with Master Teachers......Page 114
Supporting New Teachers......Page 116
Revisiting Lucy’s Classroom......Page 118
Other Kinds of Support......Page 121
Supporting Change......Page 122
7 The Fluency Awareness Project: Piloting Reform Initiatives......Page 123
Using Technology to Support Fluency Instruction......Page 125
Incorporating Fluency into the Classroom......Page 130
Improving Fluency Through Modeling Read-Aloud......Page 131
Using Series Books to Improve Reading Stamina......Page 132
Layering Texts to Improve Fluency in Content Areas......Page 133
A Snapshot of Data......Page 134
What We Learned......Page 135
8 Support for Assessment......Page 137
Literacy Curriculum and Assessment Notebooks......Page 138
Release Time for Administering Assessments......Page 140
Another Set of Eyes......Page 142
Literacy Team Meetings......Page 144
Evaluating and Tracking Student Achievement......Page 145
Supporting the Literacy Assessment Framework......Page 147
9 Scheduling and Budget......Page 148
What’s in a Week......Page 149
Overview of a Month......Page 152
Rhythm of a Year......Page 153
Mentor Texts for Teaching Comprehension......Page 161
Mentor Texts for Teaching the Craft of Writing......Page 166
Professional Books......Page 174
Top 20 Professional Resources......Page 179
Bibliography......Page 181
