The Literacy Coach's Survival Guide: Essential Questions And Practical Answers

Often, literacy coaches are former classroom teachers who have little or no coaching training. Although confident in their knowledge of reading, literacy coaches may feel daunted when faced with the practical aspects of coaching. This book provides tools and tips to guide literacy coaches as they work in schools to promote more effective literacy instruction. Author Cathy A. Toll has organized the book around three sections—How Do I Promote Change? What Does a Successful Literacy Coach Do? and How Do I Coach in Difficult Situations?—to answer the main questions you may have about coaching. The first section will help you better understand various issues of educational change, and view change as beneficial. The second section will assist you with the practical matters of coaching, such as starting out, working with individuals and groups, and approaching problems in a helpful manner. The third section shows you how to overcome challenges, with information on dealing with resistant teachers and responding to pressures from administrators. The questions addressed in the book are listed by topic in an appendix for easy reference. Plus, a narrative bibliography is included to provide a discussion of the professional literature and topics covered in the book. Literacy coaching is best when you approach it with the belief that coaching is at heart about relationships and growth. This book will show you how to be a literacy coach who is successful in supporting teachers and, most important, students.