Week 15 Revisiting your view of yourself as a literacy leader

Each of you have come a long way on your journey to be literacy leaders where ever you are now and in whatever role you take on. I'd like for you to reflect on your growth as a literacy leader from the beginning of the semester.  Revise your glog to demonstrate that growth.  When you respond to this blog, embed your link to your glog in the comment.  Also briefly summarize where you think your greatest area of growth has been and why you think that is your greatest area of growth. Please do this by Dec. 3 at 5 pm.
Return to this blog after that time.  Using the links provided you, visit the glog of each of the other class members. What else do you see as their growth? Give one compliment about teh glog in general adn one compliment about how they have grown.  Please do this by Dec. 7 at midnight.  I'll be visiting as well.
By the time you read this, I'll have been in Kenya for about 10 days working with teachers there.  Part of our job is to help them become teacher leaders in early literacy. If I can, I'll upload pictures, or I'll add to this blog about my experiences, and what I am learning about myself as a literacy leader.

Week 14 Thinking about your learning

There is only one more week after this one in the semester. I have seen each of you grow as a literacy leader through your projects and blogs. I know I have grown in my understanding of what it means to rethink teaching and learning using new literacies as tools for thinking, collaborating, communicating. I've learned new things about myself as a teacher as well, and changes that have to come to my view of scaffolding, discussion, and time as well as what values I hold about teaching and learning that I don't want to change. I'd like you to think a bit about what you have learned, and about how this format has helped or how you may have had to change views of what it means to take a class when it doesn't meet face to face each week. So this week, while I'm in Africa, I'd like for each of you to respond to these  questions:
1. What are the 3 most important ideas that you learned about literacy leadership and coaching this semester? Why are each of them important to you? How will they inform your practice as a literacy leader, either as an informal one or as a reading specialist/literacy coach/director?
2. Which new literacy practices were supportive to you of your learning? Which ones do you think I need to modify and how to better support your learning?

Respond to these by 11/23. I appreciate your input and feedback.

Have a great Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for each of you and for the work you do to support the learning of the children that you teach.  

Week 13: Advocacy, Collaboration, Professionalism

This week you are only responding to my blog as we are meeting on Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15. chapters this week are related to advocacy, collaboration, and professionalism.  All three are key to being a successful literacy leader.  Think about your context. What opportunities are there for advocacy? As I write this on Nov. 5, I'm getting ready to be an advocate for research based reading instruction that is based on assessment of learners and is designed to meet their needs, and for teaching this in  my undergraduate classes. I will spend tomorrow afternoon with other professors and other stakeholders in a meeting to discuss "scientifically based reading methods" to teach children who may have dyslexia. I am an advocate for the preservice teachers and for children to ensure we are not mandated to teach one particular curriculum to teachers that they would unthinkingly use with all primary grade children. Next, think about collaboration. Why is it important? What does it mean to you? Finally, how do you define professionalism? I am going to have to try hard to remain professional tomorrow afternoon as I know we will be bombarded with messages about what others think should be taught in teacher education classes as well as the idea that if a curriculum package is good for some children with special needs, it is good for ALL children, and that it isn't really necessary to assess children to meet their particular needs.  Before reading, think about why advocacy, collaboration, and professionalism are important to a literacy leader. Write about what you think, and how you are defining each of those terms.  Then, when you read, compare what you said with what you think the authors are saying, and think about how what you read for the coming week is related to those concepts.
There are a number of chapters to read this week.  In the L&T book, everyone should read all of the chapters. In the WSQ book, half of you should read chapter 15 and half chapter 16. Finally, the EP&L part 5 has 6 sections, each of which has a reading specialist/literacy coach addressing challenges that a literacy leader or literacy coach might encounter as they are doing their job. I'll list below what the challenges are.  You should each choose a different one to read.  Be prepared to work with the other 2 people who read your WSQ chapter to share key ideas from your chapter and tie them to the concepts of advocacy, collaboration, and professionalism. Be prepared to describe the EP&L challenge you read about and answer questions about it.
 Previews to help you choose:
WSQ 15: What are new literacies/New Literacies? This chapter defines both of these concepts and provides principles for helping others integrate them into classrooms.
WSQ 16: This chapter discusses the role of parents in a literacy program, how to keep them involved adn how to connect to the community.
EP&L profiles: working with administrators (1), building credibility and relationships (2), working with resistant teachers (3), staying positive and involved (4), embedding literacy coaching in all of your other duties (5), becoming/staying organized (6)

Finally, bring a draft of Task 3 of the PD program development for peer review.  Bring a few ideas about possible grants as well, but remember, we will draft those in class. I would suggest that if you are in a school district that you look up your school foundation for grant requirements, and we will look for other sources as well. You won't be writing a blog this week as we will be together in class. Be sure to bring questions, ideas, etc.  I have chocolate for you.
See you all soon!

Week 12 Program Improvement 3--Strategies for small groups for program improvement

The previous 2 weeks have been broad strategies for whole school improvement and supporting change.  Sometimes, however, literacy leaders and coaches need to work with small groups for improving instruction, supporting achievement/learning, planning curriculum. Before you begin reading, review the guidelines for supporting adult learning from the E-P&L book and the L&T book that you read and we discussed earlier in the semester. For the first part of your entry responding to this blog entry, apply them to what you have learned about program improvement as a way of thinking how they might be used to facilitate that improvement. The four strategies for program improvement that you will read about for this week include creating implementation guides, using assessment data and student work to plan and reflect on instruction, and reflecting on units of study for revision to enhance student learning and engagement. Have you ever participated in any of these activities at your school? The second part of your response to this blog should include how you think these terms fit in with program improvement or one of the strategies you will read about: essential questions, data, student work, unit of study, academic vocabulary, standards, assessments, rubrics.

Everyone should read all four of the Strategies for coaching small groups for program improvement this week. However, each person will be responsible for leading the discussion or application activity for 1 or 2 of them, so be sure to negotiate who will do what in your blogs. I will describe what I'd like you to do/discuss below, and you can, of course add to what I am suggesting if there are key points that you would like to bring up or discuss with everyone in your group. This is also a reminder that Task 2 of the PD plan is due by Nov 3.  Please upload it in the PD plan dropbox folder on D2L.

Strategy 8: Be the coach/facilitator to create an implementation guide together using the form in the book for either literacy related early learning standards OR a set of PASSkills from Grade 5 in the ELA section (like vocabulary or research skills or comprehension).

Strategies 9 and 10: How do you think these strategies support each other in program improvement? What are the strengths and challenges of doing each, do you think, in your setting? How would they help the faculty you surveyed to make change?

Strategy 11: Describe a unit of study that you have taught this semester. What were The essential questions you wanted the students to be able to answer? What were some of the ways you would respond to the questions in the reflection form in the book? What feedback would you like from your group?

Happy Halloween!

Week 11 Program Improvement 2--how to support and sustain change

Thanks for your suggestions for my presentation in Slovakia. Adding some reflection on what their students might say really involved the participants.  I brought you all chocolate which we will have when I see you Nov. 14-15.

 
This week the readings focus on how to support and sustain change in a school's literacy program, regardless of the level of the school.  The example will be from elementary schools, so those of you in secondary (high school or middle school) need to think carefully how it applies to you. WE have gone through several changes in our undergraduate literacy program  and in our graduate one as well. Change for our undergraduate students was not easy as they had preconceived ideas (from listening to their peers) about what would be happening, and the change, even if for their own improved learning, made them uncomfortable. I think it is easier for our program to make change because there are 4 of us and we collaborate to think about new standards and how to build and enact the curriculum.  In your school settings, there are many more faculty to involve. Think about a change in your schoolwide or grade level/team/department's program that was discussed adn our implemented.  What are some things the literacy leader or school leaders did that facilitated the faculty making the change?  What are some things that got in the way? Tell me about them.
You will be reading a chapter (WSQ 5) that focuses on whole school curricular change to improve student achievement.  The second chapter (WSQ 11) is specifically about evaluation and change in a school program and the role of the literacy specialist.  You will all read both chapters.  I'm going to provide 3 different prompts for your own blogging and discussion this coming week. I hope it will make the blogs more like discussions.  I read blogs on Wednesday, so please make sure your blog is up by the day and time you decided on and you have responded at least once to the other 2 people's blogs by Wednesday evening and then remember, you need to go back again for the discussion aspect which I will read and respond to on Thursday afternoon.
I appreciate your involvement in this class as we all work to figure out how a hybrid class works and is different from a regular face to face class that meets weekly.  When I see you again on Nov. 14 I"ll be asking for advice on how to make things smoother.....I'm learning too.
Now for the prompts for your own blogs.....remember, you need to divide them up so each is addressed by someone in your group.
1. Respond to the reflection questions in the gray box on page 83 of WSQ 5
2. Also on page 83 of WSQ 5 is a second gray box titled Project Assignment. It sets up a scenario with three questions for you as a literacy leader. How would you answer them?
3. On page 163 of WSQ 11is a table that describes the 10 guiding principles that will help a literacy leader support change in a school.  Choose the 2 that either you find the most challenging for your setting or that are most germane to supporting change in your setting. There are self-reflective questions with each one.  Respond to those questions for the 2 principles that you chose.
Remember to respond and provide suggestions to each other about what the blogger wrote in response to the task. Let me know if you have questions..... (note:  make sure you have notifications enabled on your blog so you know when someone responds to your blog....)
Hope your week was good.

Week 10 Program Improvement 1

As you are reading this, I am in Slovakia and am probably presenting my workshop there.  Thanks for your feedback before I left on my description of my presentation. I'll bring you each something from my travels to have on our next weekend together.

As you all noted on our Adobe Connect class on Sept. 29, Program Improvement is all about making what you have better.  In the case of literacy, it is about improving the school wide literacy program, including how literacy is taught across the disciplines.Think about your own involvement in program improvement. What strategies do you think helped support change and improvement?  Literacy programs should be a collaboration of the educational community in and around the building. It should be built around common goals and expectations for all children, and be comprehensive so that in addresses all aspects of language and literacy. Program improvement, you all noted, is ongoing across all age levels in your educational institution. It is systemic and not just aimed at a classroom or a teacher. Before thinking about how to improve your program, you need to think about the aspects of a program that you will need to look at to see if or what needs tweaking, adjusting, or transforming. Those aspects include the following: the curriculum (what is taught and learned), instruction (how literacy is taught and learned), assessment (how learning is determined), materials (what is used for teaching and learning, such as books, technology, manipulatives, real life materials, games, etc.), the organization and environment (what happens when with whom, time, grouping, staffing, PD, school and classroom climate), and parent and community involvement in the program.
An important piece of program improvement is PD.  It can either precede plans for improvement or it can be an integral part of the improvement process. Describe what you think is the role of a literacy leader (whether a reading specialist or a regular classroom teacher) in program improvement?

There are 7 chapters to read for this week in WSQ.  I've divided them up into 4 pairs of chapters.  You will need to decide (and let your group know via this blog) which of the 2 chapters each of you will read.  Each pair of chapters needs to be read by one member of your group.
A) WSQ Chaps 4 adn 6 which discuss programs for early learners and adolescents
B) WSQ  chaps 7 adn 12 which discuss materials and writing in literacy programs
C) WSQ Chaps 13 and 14 which discuss programs for linguistically diverse and learning disabled students
D) WSQ Chaps 10 an 14 which discuss issues of achievement, assessment , and children needing RTI

When you write your own blog, you will need to discuss the key points of what you read,connecting the 2 chapters together and relating them to the aspects I listed above of literacy programs. Please ask for questions about the topics and for your group to make connections to their own chapters.  Remember that you will have to return to your blog several times before Thursday to check if there are questions and to respond to any that are there.  You will also have to visit the blogs of others to see what the answers to your questions are and perhaps ask for clarification. Think of this as a jigsaw discussion.

Even though I"m out of the country, I'm on e-mail and will be back late Monday.  If you need anything or have questions, send me an e-mail.

Week 9 Professional Development 3

This week is also about professional development, but it is a time for you to discuss with your group the program you are developing, and what,if any feedback you have gotten on it. I also have been working on a presentation/workshop combination for my conference next week in Slovakia. I"m going to detail my plan for you below.  Use what you know about powerful and engaging professional development, and give me some feedback on what I'm doing. I'd like to include the materials I've created but I can't attach them.
The purpose of my workshop/presentation (and it is a combination of the two) is to introduce the concept of a knowledgeable engaging teacher and have participants reflect on their own status as a knowledgeable teacher.  I also want to share what children in my research said about what knowledgeable teachers do to provide opportunities for engaged literacy learning. My plan is to ask them to pair discuss what they think a knowledgeable teacher is and what engagement in learning looks like.  Then I will share the theory and research. Then I'll have pairs interview each other with some question prompts about who they are as engaged knowledgeable teachers and we will share what they learned about themselves. We will focus on what the children in my study said about knowledgeable teachers and what they did to provide opportunities for engaged literacy learning.  Finally, I'll ask them if they would like to participate in the knowledgeable teacher research that I"m starting with a group of international colleagues.
I know that the description is pretty brief....but what do you think is 1 thing that might make this an engaging presentation? Do you have any questions or suggestions for me?

I have uploaded a video describing the different roles a leader can take on in a PD session/program.  Please view it this week and integrate the roles into the descriptions of your activities in your overall plan. It is in the Planning and Creating PD programs section on D2L.

For your own blog, Talk about where you are in your PD program planning process and in your coaching practice. You might want to solicit input from your group and talk about feedback you have gotten.  You might also want to start talking about which one of the activities on your plan you intend to plan in detail and how that would relate to your grant proposal.

Have a good week!

Week 8 Professional Development 2

This week you will be reading about different types of PD besides workshops as well as how to plan a workshop. These will be useful as you plan your own PD program. Most of us, myself included, see PD as being a workshop with an outside expert telling us about new research or teaching methods.  I do quite a bit of this kind of PD, especially in my international work. But it is really important that literacy leaders know about alternative formats, ones that may address large groups but be more informal or ones that are focused on small groups who are interested in a specific topic. The formats you will read are  different types of PD aimed at supporting teacher knowledge development. They are article study, pd at faculty meetings, and lesson study. What do you know about each type?  Have you ever participated in one of these formats? Strategy 7 is about planning powerful PD. I'd read this strategy last after you have read the others. What has made a PD workshop powerful for you?
After you read, think about how these strategies will help you plan your PD program.
When will you get together to give each other feedback on your drafts of program plans, and help each other incorporate the feedback that you got from the faculty and administration?  How can I help you?

Week 7 Professional Development 1

As you know, coaching is a type of professional development that can be done with teams or individually.  Most coaching related to improving teaching or learning how to implement a new literacy teaching strategy is done individually. This week we will look at other types of professional development that could occur in small or large groups and what makes effective PD. What do you think are characteristics of effective PD?
First read the chapter in WSQ about professional development. You might want to note the characteristics of effective PD from the research, the different types of PD besides whole group workshops, and suggestions for creating site based PD.  All of these will be important to your PD plan you are doing for your school.  Next read the article.  As you do, think about how this example of sustained PD fits with the WSQ chapter.  You might want to blog about that.  Or you might blog about how do the ideas from the article (one example of sustained PD that effected change) and the chapter will help you think about planning your site based PD plan based on your survey.
I'd like to remind you that writing about your reading in your blog is one way to help consolidate your own understanding.  Talking with others brings multiple perspectives to bear on the ideas, adn that discussion of the ideas is important. Discussion means more than just 1 response to each person's blog.  Check your rubric that has been posted for each group. I'm going to remind you that one of my expectations of you is that you spend 2 hours per week online, outside of your reading or working on assignments.  You would spend more than that if you were coming to class. Please make the blogs a discussion forum. Thanks.
I'll be seeing you online at 6:30 on Adobe Connect on Monday, Sept. 29.  Let me know if you need for me to resend the link. In your blog response, let me know what YOU would like to focus on in our discussion. Be prepared with questions as well.
See you soon.

Week 6 Coaching anc Communication

A key to being an effective literacy leader and coach is being a effective communicator. We are all teachers that communicate daily with the students that we teach.  What do you do well when you communicate with your students? I like to think that I actively listen to what my students are telling me in class. You all would know how effective I am as you are the students (no, you don't have to tell me :)  ). Before you begin to read, think about these phrases: ethical communication, delivering hard messages, proactive communication, critical communication, collaborative communication. How do you think they are connected and what do they have to do with coaching and with being a literacy leader in general?
I am suggesting that you read the readings in the following order: L&T Chapter 5 is explicitly about communication skills and strategies. When you are done reading, you might jot down your responses to questions 1 and 2 on page 102. Then I"d read EP&L Strategy 1 and complete the form about your own readiness for coaching before completing the one about your school's readiness for coaching. Filling out the form in that chapter might help you as you think about the professional development plan you will soon be planning. Finally, think about how communication skills are important as you read about working to create a shared knowledge base.
For this week's blog, besides having a conversation about the readings and what you thought about in relationship to my suggestions above, please have a conversation about when you would like to "get together" online to discuss your surveys. You will also need to let me know if you want me to arrange the meeting on Adobe Connect and if you would like me there to facilitate/model/co-plan.
Have a good week.  Remember, survey results are due this week along with a small group online meeting.
SB

Week 5 Coaching 2

What insightful blogs you all have.  Thanks for your thoughtfulness in your own blog and in your responses. And don't worry about a few blips in this technology thing.
This week, the readings are detailed discussions about the different aspects of the coaching cycle. They include goal setting, modeling, co-planning, co-teaching, and observing. Remember that although all of them are part of the coaching cycle, each can be done separately when you are coaching (such as creating SMART goals for learning with the person you are coaching before deciding which other parts of the cycle you need to implement. Before you read, think about the brief descriptions that you read in Strategy 18 this past week. Which of the activities do you think you have a good idea of how to do so it is a strength? Which one are you most interested in reading about and discussing with your group?
You will need to read all of the strategies, and as you do, think about if and how you will implement it with the person you are coaching. Blog about what learned and if you have questions that you would like input from your team. Be sure to let me know if you have questions for me to weigh in on as well.  I'll be reading your responses to my blog on Monday and your blogs on Wednesday and Thursday.
Have a good week.

Week 4 Coaching 1

As we discussed in class, the purpose of my blog has now changed from helping you think about what you read and connect to your own practice, to helping to focus your reading and blogging.  The purpose of this week is to really begin to think about the coaching cycle and the meaning of coaching.  You are reviewing WSQ 3, reading an in depth view of the coaching cycle in EP&L, and reading 2 articles on the principles for coaching and how coaching is related to professional development.
 Before you begin to read, Think about your own strengths as a potential coach.  What do you think they are? Who are you planning to  approach to work with as a coach?
 I'd suggest reading in this order: guiding principles article, WSQ 3 review, EP&L strategy, and team coaching.
Blog about how you think the ideas in the readings are related to each other and to our class discussion.  What are the 2 most important ideas about coaching that you learned? How do you think team and individual coaching are similar and different?

Week 3 Literacy Leadership

The readings for this week focus on goals for literacy leaders, principles of adult learning, effective professional development, and beginning to think about coaching. In this blog, I want you to focus primarily on connecting your own experiences to the ideas about adult learning and professional development as we prepare for our weekend together.  We will spend time in class on coaching, but there are also three more weeks devoted to understanding coaching and how it works. Think first about the principles of adult learning that were discussed in L&T 4 and EP&L 1. For you as an adult learner, which of the principles are most important for you as you learn something new? For me, I have to know why I am doing an activity or reading a text, and it has to be tied to something I need and want to learn.  In fact, it is best if I choose to learn it.  Technology integration into my own classes has been an example of this--I sought out books on technology in classrooms, specifically tied to literacy learning for my undergraduates. What is an example for you?
Now think about characteristics of effective professional development from L&I 3. Think about PD sessions that you have attended that were effective for you  and ones that were not. How did they match up to the list on page 52? What can you learn from those sessions that you can apply to your work now and in the future as a literacy leader?  I'm looking forward to reading what you have to say.  Preview of coming attractions: We have a full agenda for Friday night and Saturday which should give us a good start on you personal learning plans, understanding technology as part of being a literacy leader, and creating the survey to find out the learning needs in your setting. See you on Friday at 6 pm in Rm 334!
SB

Week 2 Who are you as a literacy leader now? What are standards for literacy leaders and what do they mean?

Who are you as a literacy leader now? I know you will have been working on creating your Glog to introduce yourself as a literacy leader. I'd like you think about someone you know that you admire as a literacy leader. What are their characteristics? Describe that person. Then think about what you do now to be a literacy leader, albeit potentially an unacknowledged one in your setting. Describe that. Relate those thoughts to the readings for this week.
I have thought about what I do as one and what I would like to get better at.  I do know that I try to innovate in my teaching by using new tools that are available to support the learning of my students. I try to model being a learner by learning new technologies, and by keeping up with research. In my setting, that is important.  But I also see literacy leaders in the schools I visit as well, leaders who consistently look to make sure that all students are learning and who are not afraid to change what they do if it will support learning.  The International Reading Association has developed standards for literacy leaders.  The links to those standards is posted on D2L. Take a look at them.  If you are a reading specialist candidate, look at those standards.  If you are not a reading specialist candidate, I have posted the standards for teachers in elementary and secondary schools. Unpack the standards in terms of the L&T reading for this week. How do they relate to what the reading says literacy leaders who are ethical and critical do?
I look forward to reading both about you and reading your analyses. Be sure to respond to each other in the comments to my post as well as to me.
SB

Welcome to EDRG 5903 Week 1

Welcome to my blog! I"m new at this, so we will be learning together. This is the first blog of the semester.  You will be responding to my blog each week. My purpose is to activate your background knowledge of topics of readings or set purposes for readings when you have readings.  On some weeks, I"ll ask you to reflect on ideas or projects or give you instructions for jigsawing the readings. I'll want you to reflect and dig deeply into what you are reading and into your practice as a literacy leader.
This class is being held in a hybrid or blended format.  That means that we will have some face to face interactions, either in the classroom together on a weekend or online via Adobe Connect.  But it also means that you will be interacting with each other and me online via this blog or via small group discussion sessions. You will also be listening/watching to videos of mini lectures as necessary. Unlike a traditional class where you know when you will meet up with me each week at a specific time, you will need to be more independent in making sure that you interact with me and each other when there are big gaps in time between face to face meetings. Consequently I know I have some expectations of you, and I am sure that you have some expectations of me as the instructor and of each other as fellow members of the learning community. Here are my expectations for you:

• Keep up with the readings for each week so that you can reflect on them and interact with others around them. 
• Participate thoughtfully and think deeply about class content.  Think and reflect on how concepts and issues relate to your own situation.
• Read my blog early in the weekend and respond to ti before you do the readings. That will also guide your own blog posts.
• Plan to spend 2 hours per week during the work week online, blogging, responding to blogs, meeting with your small group.
• Be open minded about learning new tech tools. I"ll be here to guide you and help.  I also have 5 iPads to loan out for use in completing the assignments.
• Let me know if you need help, need to talk, need moral support, want assignments reviewed, just want to make sure that you understand.

What are your expectations for me as the instructor of the class? What are your expectations for the members of the class? What are your expectations for yourself?
I'm looking forward to reading your responses.
SB