Learning Log

Theme 5

Being a literacy coach, in today's education system, must be tough. Imagine being the person going into a room of very veteran teachers and showing them ways to "change". When I was asked to be a reading coach-- starting this school year-- that was one of the things I thought about. And though I understand the point of a reading coach, I wonder what others think about reading coaches.

Some complaints descriptions I have heard:
   1. People who give me useless trainings.
   2. Someone who just comes and watches us teach reading.
   3. While she watches us teach, she writes things down.
   4. Did I do something wrong?

#4 is the most common complaint because teachers by nature are controlling in ways. So the moment someone drops by for an unannounced visit- WATCH OUT! While, I don't care-- especially if you know the reading coach walks around EVERY Tuesday-- but I hear it a lot as the fourth grade team leader.

After reading chapter 12, I might just start handing people the textbook. I think this chapter lays out nicely what a literacy coach can be used for. This year we received numerous new reading coaches at the district level, due to retirement numbers. We also got a new, common core ready, complex text analyzing reading series. :)  So while we learned the new series, so were the reading coaches. The 12.1 figure, p. 403, is a neat way to graphically see what Literacy Coaches are for. And this is what I would like to share with teachers. Reading coaches are not there to spy, but it is their job to realize when a teacher is not doing something that is working. Our reading coach, who is just wonderful, has even said it's not about doing it the same, but getting the same results. We all want kids to get it, but of course the process for one class or even teacher may not work for another.



A huge job of the reading coaches is to provide Professional Development (PD) to teachers. I think the survey on p. 411-- figure 12.3-- is great. It is simple and basic. By doing this at the beginning of the year, reading coaches can then decide if certain trainings are needed/wanted by grade levels or by individual teachers. If it is individual teachers maybe they can come model a lesson.This year, our new reading coach has done an awesome job at trainings. Collaborative structure is a big piece of the newer puzzle and before this year I was really good at cooperative learning, but not even close with collaborative structure.

I chose an article about reading coaches and found quite a few. The one below talks about a Lit coach in an urban school.

Pomerantz & Pierce (2013) also reiterate the usefulness of having reading coaches. Their study showed the importance of having a reading coach and how it helps failing schools. Of course this is important. Urban schools tend to be "troubled" schools that have parents who may not know how to help their child or just don't. But shouldn't we be pumping all schools with these tools.Because as a non-failing, middle of the road school I get upset. We share our reading coach with other schools-- we only have ONE day a week when we get our reading coach for sure. We are a K-8 with 40+ reading teachers. In the eight years I have taught-- all at the same school, I have watched our parent support go down and our school population become more transient and poor-- county unemployment rates are pretty high. We have dropped from an A to a C and probably will be a low B or high C again this year. But since we are not Title 1, we do not have a reading coach on an almost daily basis. Because we are title one we don't have math or science or writing coaches either. So while I understand studies like Pomerantz & Pierce (2013), it actually is upsetting. For schools like mine, where we are middle of the line. We have a 60% free and reduced lunch population, but not title one, I feel as if we are like the students that slip through every year with a C. Why don't we get reading coaches all the time too? If all students are going to test with the same standards shouldn't all schools get the same tools?

Pomerantz, F & Pierce, M. (2013). When do we get to read? Reading instruction and literacy
    coaching in a "failed" urban elementary school. Reading Improvement, 50(3), 101-117.