Call for Posts

The Literacy Booth exists as a place for literacy coaches to share and develop their expertise. Generally, posts come from a small group of literacy coaches spread throughout Wisconsin. Their names appear in the right-side menu.

June and July, though, are all about you!

Consider writing about your practice in the form of a blog post and submitting it to be considered for publication on The Literacy Booth.

Read previous posts for ideas about content and format. Generally, posts:

• are relatively short
• sometimes include links to supporting or ready-to-use resources
• do not express political views

Possible topics include:

• coaching
• standards
• intervention
• assessment
• universal instruction
• planning professional learning
• book reviews
• sharing professional resources

Submit your post via email to barb.novak@dpi.wi.gov. The post can be a Word or Google document.

Welcome (Back) to the Literacy Booth

Welcome, Friends and Colleagues.

You've found The Literacy Booth, a blog by Wisconsin educators working as literacy coaches. Posts feature honest reflection, learning, and knowledge about both literacy and coaching.

I (Barb Novak) moderate the blog. I handle technical things and occasionally share my thinking. The real work and thinking, though, comes from the literacy coaches pictured above who bravely and honestly write about their practice.

Here's how it works (generally):

• There will be a new post several times a week. There are no rules or specific topics; each coach writes about something that is on her mind.
• Each post will be open to readers' comments. The conversation that happens in your comments will make this a true professional learning community. Please, please, please comment! Comment to share links to resources. Comment to ask questions. Comment to continue the conversation.

You can visit the blog regularly to read posts. You could also sign up for email updates using the link in the right sidebar. You can read every post, or you can use the tags in the right sidebar to read posts from coaches doing work similar to yours.

Meet the Coaches:

• Andrea Reichenberger: District Literacy Coordinator (4K-12), Ashwaubenon
• Barb Novak: Literacy  Consultant, Wisconsin DPI
• Carrie Sand: Literacy Specialist, Mishicot
• Diane Jenquin: Sevastopol
• Heather Zimmerman: Literacy Coach, Middle School, Oshkosh
• Jaimie Howe: Intervention Specialist, Menomonie
• Julie Schwarzbauer: K - 2 District Literacy Coach, Appleton
• Lisa Weiss: Secondary (6-12) Literacy Coordinator, Oshkosh
• Maggie Schumacher: Literacy Coach/Reading Specialist, Middle School, Baraboo
• Meghan Retallick: Literacy Coach/Reading Specialist, primarily grades 4-12, Rhinelander
• Sharon Seely: Instructional Coach, K - 5, Tomah

Welcome (back) to The Literacy Booth

Today's post is brought to you by Barb Novak.

Welcome (back) to The Literacy Booth: A Place for Wisconsin Coaches.

I am so very glad you're here.

We literacy coaches? We're a unique bunch. We're teachers, but we are also mentors. We are coaches, but we we may also be interventionists. We are readers of research. Wait. We are - more than likely - readers of just about anything you put in front of us. We cultivate relationships. We are passionate about literacy. We advocate for teachers; we advocate for students. We are masters at facilitating meetings and designing professional learning opportunities. We are leaders. We are listeners. We are learners. And, those are just the things that we are in our professional lives. . . 

We cannot do this important work alone. We need a place to call our own, and that's just what The Literacy Booth strives to be - a place for literacy coaches.

Specifically, The Literacy Booth is an online professional learning community especially for literacy coaches.

The Literacy Booth will be filled with reflections, practical tips, and conversations built upon the work of eight Wisconsin literacy coaches (along with the occasional special guest) and coordinated by yours truly. 

Here's how it works (generally):

• There will be a new post several times a week. There are no rules or specific topics; each coach writes about something that is on her mind.
• Each post will be open to readers' comments. The conversation that happens in your comments will make this a true professional learning community. Please, please, please comment! Comment to share links to resources. Comment to ask questions. Comment to continue the conversation.

Please use the comments on this post to introduce yourself. Who are you? What's your job? What are you learning right now? What do you still want to know more about?