Karen Smith is an Elementary Language Arts Coordinator in St. Vrain Valley School District and is Cognitive Coach trained.

Episode Notes:

-Model of coaching to onboard for literacy depends on the individual she is coaching and the context.

-Pull from Jim Knight’s Impact Cycle - Identify, Learn, and Improve

-Minimum Skills Competencies - What do our Students need to know, understand and be able to do.

-Elevation, refinement and improvement of instruction.

-Observation protocols

-Cognitive Coaching - conversations around goals and practice being the mediator of thinking

-Diane Sweeney’s Student Centered Coaching - Data driven coaching process around student work - needs to cultivate, look at data, talk about practice, and engage in teaching and learning cycle

-What is the most high leverage model to impact practice?

-All components of Scarbrough’s Reading rope are vital and teachers understand the synthesis of all of the components. Word recognition and language comprehension rungs are interconnected. We are cultivating the synthesis between all components and owning the science of reading.

-Support in the pandemic is acknowledging the work is hard right now. Opportunity to talk about high yield instructional practices

-Learning did happen last year, honor that.

-3 stages of Literacy proficiency: 1. MultiSensory instruction 2. Knowledge Stage 3. Automaticity Stage

-Are their literacy skills transferable?

-Being able to coach and mediate another person's thinking brings her to her core.

-Impact teams story 5th grade

-Coach, Collaborator, and Consult - intentional as to when and how we navigate these roles.

-The future relies in the science of reading and giving time for shifts in practice.

-Stay present in the moment, remain present in that moment!

-Pause, paraphrase, and pose a question

Connect with Karen:

Twitter: @smithkaren51