Knowledge Base

Early Literacy Podcast Appearance

Posted on by Kathy Collier

Taping a podcast is definitely a bit out of my comfort zone, and sharing it feels even more out of my comfort zone. However I’m trying to model productive struggle and risk taking for my students, so here it goes:

I’m excited to share my second appearance on a podcast!

This episode is with two people I respect greatly:

  • Superintendent Dr. Clardy and
  • Karyn Stocks Glover, Director of Teaching, Learning and Innovation.

I am honored to have been invited into this rich conversation. Thank you to Marcie Pfeifer-Soderbloom for facilitating!

In the Loop with the Sup: Early Literacy

Strategies for Irregular High Frequency Words

Posted on by Kathy Collier

On September 30, I shared a strategy from Read Naturally for explicit instruction on regular high frequency words. Today I want to share strategies from research and my colleagues for systematic, explicit instruction around irregular high frequency words.

Continue reading “Strategies for Irregular High Frequency Words” →

Two New Strategies: Fluency and Phonics

Posted on by Kathy Collier

As I continue to deepen my knowledge of foundational skills to support reading and disciplinary literacy, I am grateful for resources such as the Teaching foundational reading skills Part 2 webinar I recently watched. It included many useful strategies, two of which are new to me and stand out as useful for others. In this post, I want to summarize these: Sound Out Words and Fluency Practice.

Continue reading “Two New Strategies: Fluency and Phonics” →

Developing Collective Efficacy Through Inquiry

Posted on by Kathy Collier

Collective efficacy is the belief that a group of teachers can have a strong impact on student learning. According to Hattie’s meta-analysis, collective efficacy has an effect size of 1.57 which is nearly 4 times the .4 average effect size for one year. In this post, I would like to describe one way in which effective Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) can feel more efficacy as a group: the Collective Teacher Inquiry.

Continue reading “Developing Collective Efficacy Through Inquiry” →

Empower Students by Cultivating Agency

Posted on by Kathy Collier

My fourth article was published last week!

Empowering Students by Cultivating Agency

Thank you to all of you who have taken time to read the article and provide feedback. If you want to comment on the article you can do so here on my personal blog… or find the article on Twitter (Twitter Link).

Coaching Partnership Tools: Part I

Posted on by Kathy Collier

As I engage in mid-year reflection on my goals as an instructional coach, I would like to share some of the tools I use to plan and engage in coaching meetings. I call these coaching meetings “partnership meetings” because both my colleague and I are learning together. It is my job, as a coach, to reflect on, and plan for the conversations. Intentional planning focuses on ensuring that conversations focus on my colleague’s goals and priorities, while centering students, especially our formerly marginalized students. In this post, and an upcoming part two, I want to summarize some useful coaching tools. Continue reading “Coaching Partnership Tools: Part I” →

Shifting the Balance: Disciplinary Literacy Connections

Posted on by Kathy Collier

I’m finally making time to read Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom, thanks to a colleague who is reading it with me and discussing direct application of the reading to her classroom. As I’m reading, I’m making connections to Disciplinary Literacy. In this post I want to explore some of my initial connections and takeaways. As always, I look forward to feedback and ideas from my readers, as I know many of you are reading, or have already read the book!

Continue reading “Shifting the Balance: Disciplinary Literacy Connections” →

Making Space for Student Feedback and Voice

Posted on by Kathy Collier

 

“My job as a teacher is not to teach the curriculum or even to just teach the students; it is to seek to understand my kids as completely as possible so that I can purposefully bend curriculum to meet them.” – C. Minor

“Creating a collaborative culture is the single most important factor in school improvement for those seeking to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and learning.” – R. DuFour and B. DuFour

The quotes above are on my mind as I celebrate the publication of my second piece, Making Space for Students in PLCs. The processes I describe in the article are built off what we learned from our students and what we learned together as collaborative teams of inquiry.

As always, I look forward to feedback as you read the article!

The Four Pivots, Part Four

Posted on by Kathy Collier
This post is the fourth of four based on Shawn Ginwright PhD’s The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves. The Four Pivots include: 
  1. From Lens to Mirror (see The Four Pivots, Part One)
  2. From Transactional to Transformative (see The Four Pivots, Part Two)
  3. From Problem to Possibility (see The Four Pivots, Part Three)
  4. From Hustle to Flow

The themes of From Hustle to Flow include: Flow, Rest, and Wild. They are the focus in today’s post.

Continue reading “The Four Pivots, Part Four” →

The Four Pivots, Part Three

Posted on by Kathy Collier
This post is the third of four based on Shawn Ginwright PhD’s The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves. The Four Pivots include:

  1. From Lens to Mirror (see The Four Pivots, Part One)
  2. From Transactional to Transformative (see The Four Pivots, Part Two)
  3. From Problem to Possibility
  4. From Hustle to Flow

The themes of From Problem to Possibility include: Perspective, Possibility, and Outlook. They are the focus in today’s post.

Continue reading “The Four Pivots, Part Three” →