Literacy Now

Every year, millions of people tune in to professional sports championships. Adorned in their team colors, fans rally behind the players. During these big games, whether fan, foe, or advertising exec (commercials = $), we are captivated.

Unfortunately, most people are not as mesmerized by education. In fact, I’d bet (if I were a betting person) that most people would groan, twitch, or have some other apathetic response if the topic of education stumbled into a room. This is understandable, I guess. For most of us, schools don’t exude enough “je ne sais quoi” to sit with for four hours at a time.

Yet there are a few folks willing to don face paint and go toe-to-toe with big, bad monsters (let’s call them poverty, limited literacy, and homogeneity) every day in order to alter real fates. They tackle variances in learning, family origin, and their own “stuff” in an effort to promote progress. No “shade” to my sports-loving family, but teachers are part of a critical team in American society. By empowering them, the culture of American classrooms will change.

Teachers are in an invaluable position to shift classroom culture because they can do the following:

• Insist on individual understanding—Classrooms are dynamic, living organisms and cannot survive if suffocated. Teachers (and students) need to know, appreciate, and reflect continuously on their individual and collective identities. The adage of “know thyself” both as a practice and as a vision for classrooms can help dismantle cultural, linguistic, and geographic barriers. When everyone in the classroom knows he or she is valuable, the team functions better.
• Play around—Too often, “boring” is the adjective of choice when people describe learning. For the most part, however, teachers are masters of improvisation. When I instruct teacher candidates, I model methods that engage their senses. Although there is debate on the notion of multiple intelligences, it is a fact that most people would rather get up and do rather than sit and stay. To “learn” is an active verb, so whenever and wherever possible, do so.
• Garner feedback from students—This may very well be akin to asking teachers to willingly kiss death, but student feedback harkens back to insisting on individual understanding. I’ve had my fair share of prepubescent or righteously indignant adolescents but, more often than not, there are worthy compromises to be made when teachers hear directly from their students.
• Never, ever skip or skirt around major issues—Abortion. Eric Garner. Rape culture. Yes, they’re uncomfortable, but students (with appropriate disclosure based on age) confront these issues too. Don’t be afraid to “suspend” or postpone a planned lesson when history is in the making. Heck, the Philadelphia Phillies winning the MLB World Series in 2008 opened a discussion in my classroom that may not have occurred if I were adamant about sticking to the schedule.
• Connect and collaborate—Not only with students, but also their parents, other teachers, and the community. Sometimes changing the culture of a classroom means providing everyone involved with an alternate reality. Do authentic community service (I avoid “raising” money whenever possible) and maintain those relationships. When I taught at The Haverford School, my boys worked with the Norris Square Neighborhood Project to beautify community gardens in North Philadelphia as a co-curricular service learning and field trip. I wanted my boys to see real connections between our readings and in the region where they live. Invite other voices into the classroom so that students recognize knowledge is multinational, multigenerational, and exists in multiple ways.

Teachers need fans. In the age of 21st-century skills, Common Core, and intense scrutiny in education, classrooms have become a unique gridiron. And although policy, administration, parents, and other stakeholders play a role, shifting classroom culture requires everyone to be tuned in to the huddle.

Nakeiha Primus is an assistant professor in the Educational Foundations department at Millersville University in Millersville, PA. Prior to that, she was an English teacher at the Haverford School in Haverford, PA. She completed her undergraduate studies in English and American studies at Tufts University, obtained her masters in teaching from Duke University, and is a PhD candidate at the University of Delaware. Her research merges curriculum and literary theory and sociocultural approaches to learning. Visit her blog mid/scribble and follow her on Twitter.

There is no doubt digital technology has a dramatic impact on the world of publications and their readerships; it is an impact we can no longer ignore. Online periodicals are quickly beginning to replace print versions. Major newspapers and magazines offer online versions as well as mobile-compatible versions of print media. There is a wide array of reading, writing, and publishing tools, all connected through the Internet and mobile devices including not only computers but also electronic readers (e.g., Kindle), smartphones, and tablets (e.g., iPad). In this dynamic environment, academic journals have been slow to change. This void presents a unique opportunity to be a leader in online publications.

Print academic journals are way behind in making the transition to online publications: One author refers to academic journals as “the most profitable obsolete technology in history.” A look at an outstanding example of a commercial periodical is informative. We have chosen Sports Illustrated (SI) and its digital platforms to make our point. It is important to note that the comparison is limited: According to Statista, an online database, SI in 2014 had a readership of 19.9 million for print and digital additions, 5.7 million for web (desktop/laptop), and 7.5 million on mobile web. Such a versatile readership provides a huge financial advantage in developing a sophisticated web presence. But the sheer number of digital readers is also noteworthy.

Given this, let’s take a quick tour of an online edition of SI. The online edition contains all the articles and features of the print edition. One of the first obvious enhancements that you will notice is that there are multiple covers; SI often uses regional covers to highlight the sporting events for particular areas in the United States. A second difference is “Leading Off,” a sectionthat provides multiple high-quality photos of athletes and sporting events. The online publication will usually have three to five additional photos, and you can zoom in with any device with that feature. In addition to these and other enhancements of the features in the printed additions, SI offers digital-only features. These include

• Bonus content: related articles from previous issues and online videos
• Social media: a live Twitter feed as well as live Twitter feeds of all the SI writers
• SI.com: links to related articles on the Sports Illustrated website
• Sports Illustrated Instagram: photos and short comments
• “SI Digital Bonus”: videos and digital links embedded in articles and features throughout the issue
• “Now See This”: a collection of the week’s best sports videos

Articles often include additional photos and links to related resources and there are navigation tools that help the reader move around within the issue. Of course, not all of these multimodal enhancements would be appropriate for an academic journal, but there are enhancements that would be unique to academic journals.

There are currently very few strong examples of what is possible for academic journals. One exception is Hybrid Pedagogy, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal. Among its stated goals are “to interrogate and investigate technological tools to determine their most progressive applications” and to create “an ongoing discussion that is networked and participant-driven, to an open peer-reviewed journal that is both academic and collective.” Articles include many strategic hyperlinks that both support and expand the text and provide readers with technological tools. There is also a strong emphasis on visually oriented layouts. There are direct feeds to Twitter, Facebook, and Feedburner.

ILA has a history as a leader in online publications. Three efforts are worth mentioning. First, from 1997 to 2005, the International Reading Association (now ILA), published Reading Online(ROL), an early effort to take advantage of digital technology. ROL was a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. Each article included navigational tools that allowed the reader to move easily within the article and links to other ROL articles, related websites, and the reference list. There was also an active discussion board.

The Reading Teacher (RT) and the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL) have begun to move toward more interactive and digital publications with mobile-compatible access and the use of social media into and in conjunction with print journals, for instance, inclusion of podcasts to enhance print journal articles and use of Facebook pages connected to journals as a platform to interact with readers. JAAL now features related live Hangouts on Air facilitated by a department editor. ILA journals are eager to feature author-submitted hyperlinked content within articles would well serve a 21st-century readership.

All journals need to be more technologically sophisticated to have a strong appeal to younger literacy educators and build a more vibrant literacy community. Authors  are encouraged to include online features such as podcasts or related social media interactions (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) in their articles. These interactive digital features could include within-article navigational tools, links to related websites and articles, embedded audio and video, and expanded appendices, graphs, charts, and even links to primary data.

Building on the SI example, we share an example of how to foster reader and author interactivity through use of social media in conjunction with an ILA journal print or online article. An ILA journal article could include links to Flickr or Instagram images of the topic being described; readers could participate by contributing additional images that connect to the topic and tagging them. Or, a social bookmarking site such as diigo could include related reading and news that connects with a journal article; readers could add their own resources and links.

To foster “real-time” interaction, more live synchronous sessions such as Google Hangouts on Air should be instituted. Tools that would allow readers to interact with authors and other readers should be identified and implemented. ILA already hosts Twitter chats; journals could sponsor them as well within the larger framework.

It is crucial to carefully analyze what actions are needed to make publications successful online. We strongly believe the investment in technologically sophisticated journals will pay great benefits for educators, including younger educators, and we hope authors will rise to the challenge before them. This would also create a more a dynamic, interactive, and connected online community. Certainly the intellectual resources exist within the membership. These resources need to be marshaled to bring about needed technological change.

Gary Moorman is Professor Emeritus at Appalachian State University. He has PhD and Masters degrees in Second Literacy Education. His scholarly interests include multiple and digital literacies, teacher education and reading comprehension. Peggy Semingson is currently an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Arlington in the College of Education where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in literacy studies. She is a 2013 UT System Regents' Outstanding Teacher.

At the end of the day it’s all about the kids. I am a classroom teacher. I am a mentor, a guide, an awakener, a keeper of confidences, an actor, a partner, a learner, a thinker, a doer—the list goes on. In all areas of my life I am a bottom line type of person. So what’s the point? What does this look like? Where will this lead? How do I do this? It makes sense that this type of thinking transfers to the work I do each day with students and colleagues. While I enjoy, and indeed love, talking and listening to the people who have grand visions of education and offer the what-ifs, give me another bottom line thinker any day. I believe we get things done. My experience learning with a literacy coach married these two ideas for me—getting things done and appreciating the purpose and vision behind them. The literacy coach worked alongside me and the students in the classroom and was an invaluable resource offering guidance in terms of instructional practices and growing my knowledge base. I wanted to do the best I could do—for kids.

Bottom line: How do I create the necessary environment for kids to learn, find, and confidently trust their voice and grow into the people they are to become?

As a classroom teacher, working with a literacy coach changed the way I think about this bottom line. It now involves we, instead of I, because from my perspective the nature of teacher collaboration changed as a result of literacy coaching. How do we create the necessary environment? Not only did I have the opportunity to work and learn with a literacy coach, but so did my grade level colleagues. Based on our experiences, the focus of our collaboration shifted from talking about “the what” to understanding and learning about “the why”. This understanding and learning enhanced our instructional practices and our ability to collaborate meaningfully and led to an improved environment for kids to learn and grow.

Collaboration practices

I assert the purpose of literacy coaching is to improve instruction and student achievement. There is research that coaching has a positive impact on teacher collaboration (Schwartz & McCarthy, 2003) and teacher collaboration structures are related to student achievement, as written by Roger Goddard and Megan Taschannen-Moran. I believe collaboration allows us to grow as educators because we can inspire and learn from each other. My experience with collaboration involved the traditional structure of sitting together with our school calendars and planning lessons, activities, projects, etc. In our planning time we would open our calendars and pencil in the date for the narrative writing publishing celebration, the date to assign the latest social studies project, the date and time for the building team meeting with the principal, etc.—all necessary. We would also talk about how word study was going, share a new strategy to introduce vocabulary, find out where each class was in terms of math lessons and assessments, decide who will make the copies for the upcoming science lab, etc.—all necessary. We would discuss the list of min-lessons outlined in the reading curriculum, ask each other questions about which mentor texts seem to fit the learning goal the best, offer book titles to suggest to our reluctant readers, etc.—all necessary. But, were we really inspiring each other and growing as educators?

Bottom line: How can we take what we gained from working with a literacy coach and collaborate in a more meaningful way to help kids do better?

The shift from the what to the why

While part of our collaboration as teachers still included the what of our work, we began to talk about the why. We were able to do this because we had the benefit of working with a literacy coach. We had gained confidence in our thinking and in our practice. We had the language to offer to our conversations. This confidence allowed us to share openly—without fear of judgment—our questions, attempts, successes, failures, etc. We felt a shared camaraderie that we were in this together. We were in this together to understand the why of what worked for kids and what didn’t. We began to see the what was the easy part, understanding the why would take some serious thinking and we could do that thinking together.

Example of that shift:

• The what is to keep the mini lesson short. Why is that important?
• The what are the components to balanced literacy. Why do they work together to create independent readers and writers?
• The what is to offer kids choices of titles to read. Why is choice so important?

The very nature of our collaboration practices changed. It was still necessary to sit around a table with our school calendars open, but there was now a value added. Planning now included rich conversations about our deeper understandings of the decisions we made and they allowed us to grow as educators and improve our craft. Yes, we were inspiring each other. Yes, we could help kids do better. These conversations took place during our scheduled planning time, but an additional shift in our collaborative structure was that they now happened readily and anywhere: in the hallway, in the lunchroom, by the office mailboxes, in an email, etc.

Bottom line: When you know better, you do better.

Working with a literacy coach was, in reality, working with a mentor—a wise and trusted counselor.This experience led to a shift in the nature of our collaboration.My colleagues and I now work with one another to improve our instructional practices, develop our skills, and most importantly, deepen and grow our understanding.We were also in a new position to raise questions about the effectiveness of some instructional choices and make decisions to implement some changes. Empowering. Now we could go back to our classrooms to take a risk and try something new because we were confident practitioners. Reflective and critical inquiry was now at the core of our collaboration, and it was a natural next step to create the same learning environments for our students.

Bottom line: At the end of the day it’s all about confidence. And the kids.

Gail Cordello has been teaching fifth grade in Wyckoff, NJ for 14 years. She has presented at national conventions and often opens her classroom to teachers looking to learn from her students. In one mid-sized school district she collaborated with Grace White, a school administrator, Chris Fuller, a literacy coach, and Gravity Goldberg, a literacy consultant, to establish a literacy coaching program and years later, the team continues to meet and share. This post is one in a series from these educators in which they share their greatest take-aways from their collective experience. You can follow Cordello on Twitter.

After 19 years in the classroom, I was a literacy coach. It was a leap of faith, a natural extension of what I was already doing in my daily practice, and I was ready, or so I thought. This was a new initiative in our district and, like anything new, was met with trepidation and uncertainty. Who is this person who will be coming into my room? What is she like? Why is she coming? The questions began to circulate. I could sense the tension and I needed to do something about it. It became clear as my interactions with teachers increased. I had to make them feel comfortable with me in the room. I had to create a new normal. I had to earn their trust.

Teachers experience with someone coming into their room was mostly based on being observed by an administrator and evaluated. I was not an evaluator, and although evaluation was not part of my role, being in the classroom as a supporter went against what experience told them.

Building Trust, Trusting Myself

To build trust with others, I first had to trust myself. I had to remind myself that coaching was not only new for the teachers I was coaching, it was new for me. It wasn’t always easy walking into a classroom when the climate wasn’t always very welcoming. Swallowing any apprehension and trusting in my ability was the first step. A smile, positivity, and self-trust were my allies.

Teachers are more than just teachers, they all go home and have another life. They are husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers. Showing an interest and concern in that life honors each teacher, makes a connection, and builds trust. Remembering a conversation from the previous week and asking, “How was your daughter’s birthday celebration?” shows a teacher you care. You connect and become a person to them, not just a coach. Little gestures go a long way in building trust.

Be Patient and Honest

When I first started coaching, I used to carry a small notebook to jot down what I discussed with a teacher and next steps. One day, a teacher I coached approached me and asked, “What are you writing in that notebook, and who are you giving that information to? My principal? The superintendent?” I was taken aback. Although she had asked to work with me and we had formed a relationship, she was uncertain. It never occurred to me she thought I might be reporting back to administrators. I opened my notebook and encouraged her to read what I had written—trust grew.  

Teachers have a lot to say. They are the pulse of the classroom and know better than anyone else what is and is not working for the children in their rooms. As a coach, it’s important to remember that you are a visitor in teachers’ rooms; you don’t hold all the answers. Listen to what teachers have to say. Listening not only gives important information, it validates the teachers and builds trust between teachers and the coach. Listening lets teachers know the coach believes what teachers have to say is important. Teachers want to tell their story and listening is the coach’s entry into their world. Be honored you are trusted and welcome.

Do What You Ask Teachers to Do

As a coach, it’s important to remember what it was like to be a classroom teacher, so it is necessary for the coach to do what you are asking teachers to do. In a classroom, I would first model the strategy I was asking the teacher to try. Then we would try it together before the teacher would try it alone. “I do, we do, you do,” was the framework and you are providing a gradual release and making yourself vulnerable before you ask the teacher to do the same. The playing field is leveled and you are not just the observer, but the doer, working together with the teacher, in tandem.

All roads here lead to trust and trust leads to a successful coaching experience.

Chris Fuller began her career teaching first and second grades in New York City and has taught through the seventh grade. She has also worked as a reading specialist and literacy coach. In one mid-sized school district, she collaborated with Grace White, a school administrator, Gail Cordello, a classroom teacher, and Gravity Goldberg, a literacy consultant, to establish a literacy coaching program, and years later, the team continues to meet and share. This post is one in a series from these educators in which they share their greatest take-aways from their collective experience. You can follow Fuller on Twitter.

What does a literacy coach do? I continually asked principals, superintendents, teachers, parents—even students. Everyone’s response differed. In the early implementation of coaching, some viewed the coach as a resource provider, others saw the coach as the fixer who would remediate teachers. A few thought of the coach as another collaborator, someone who could inspire their work with students. Our district was new to coaching. While energized by our coaching model, I also experienced a tinge of doubt. Quickly, I learned if coaching were to have any chance of being successful in our district, its purpose needed to be clear to all stakeholders.

Coaching as Everyday Professional Development

Coaching, I knew, was professional development. Not the sit and get model where a teacher attended a session for a day to learn something, and then returned to the district, left alone to implement. Having taught for 30 years, I participated in many of those days and recall longing to work alongside a colleague, a critical friend with whom I could try out new ideas, give and receive feedback, and grow our learning in our own classrooms. I understood the coaching our district embraced had to be the type of professional development that would allow for this exchange. It needed to be woven into the everyday fabric of teaching.

The classroom was at the heart of that learning—the place where a coach could support a teacher which, in turn, served students. The purpose of coaching, in the end, was to impact student learning. Through our coaching model, we were able to redefine professional development by giving it life within the school district.

Leadership, A Matter of Visibility, and Trust

As an instructional leader, I viewed my role as one of a guide. Too often, I observed teachers feeling discouraged—they were given curriculum and told what the latest, greatest initiative. They were told to immediately embrace and implement in their classrooms. They mostly worked in isolation and were congenial, but not very collegial. I resolved to ground my work with teachers by finding a place where their voice was valued. I felt strongly teachers needed to be empowered to examine their own strength and weakness, to seek feedback from others, and make curricular decisions that worked for their students.  Coaching was the vehicle that would pave the road to empower our teachers to do these very things.

Leading does not happen from sitting behind a desk in a remote office. I wanted to support our coaches in an authentic way. My visibility was an essential component of making the coaching model a welcome part of our professional culture. I spent as much time as I could in classrooms with our coaches so I knew first hand what challenges and successes they faced. Both teachers and coaches recognized I was there to support coaching partnerships. I also carved out time to talk with and listen to teachers, asking them about their experiences with the coaching model. How is it going for you and your students? was my simple question of choice. It became clear to me my firsthand involvement was important to teachers. Often, as I walked through the elementary school hallways, teachers stopped me to share anecdotes of working with a coach. As our coaches focused on building trust, I noticed how teachers endorsed and sought out opportunities to work alongside a coach. At the same time, the coaches worked to establish trust with teachers, I was focused on growing trust with the coaches. Our shared vision to deepen best practices around a balanced literacy model was clear. They were knowledgeable, talented, and committed to supporting teachers! By giving the coaches autonomy to make decisions and try out their innovative ideas, trust flourished. I trusted in them, valued their judgment, and continually sought their input as literacy leaders.

Feedback Matters

As we implemented the coaching model, we were mindful of how essential feedback was for its success. We thought about feedback in two ways.

Teachers needed feedback from coaches. With our consultant’s lead, we thought it most respectful to offer several types of feedback methods to teachers.

The coach could whisper in to a teacher during the lesson by offering them feedback during the lesson, tweaking it together in real time. Some teachers involved the coach in the actual lesson, while others selected to have a brief conversation with the coach on the spot as students worked independently. Or, the coach could leave a note for the teacher with points for praise and points for growth. Of course, face-to-face follow-up happened at a later time. Additionally, the coach could follow up with an email giving some general feedback and setting up a convenient time to meet to discuss the lesson. Finally, the coach was open to any unique feedback process a teacher may suggest.

Most importantly, coaches shared these feedback choices with teachers, and left the decision to choose one or several with the teacher.

Coaches needed timely feedback. Whenever possible, the coaches, our consultant, and I set aside time to talk immediately following a classroom coaching block. The coaches reflected on how effective they felt their coaching had been. What went well? What could they have done differently? As a result of taking the time to examine their process, coaches adjusted strategies, and teachers could work with those adjustments in another classroom that same day.

One of our biggest take-aways from the creation of a literacy coaching model was the importance of viewing each coach and teacher as a thought leader. If you are in the midst of creating your district’s literacy coaching model ask yourself, “How can I create a culture where everyone is empowered to contribute to the coaching model in meaningful ways?”

In our next post, we will share our third take-away: establishing the relationship between the coach and the teacher.

Grace White has worked in education for more than 30 years, teaching grades 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8. In addition her experience designing and writing curriculum helped her transition to become Wyckoff School District’s first literacy coach. In one mid-sized school district, she collaborated with Gail Cordello, a classroom teacher, Chris Fuller, a literacy coach, and Gravity Goldberg, a literacy consultant, to establish a literacy coaching program, and years later, the team continues to meet and share. This post is one in a series from the educators to share their greatest take-aways from their collective experience. You can follow White on Twitter.