Coaching & Support

Coaching refers to the release of exemplary teachers on a full or part-time basis to work in partnership with experienced colleagues to accelerate professional learning. The spotlight is on content development and the instructional strategies used to enhance student learning and achievement.  Read more »

As other college students learned to play racket ball or joined a sorority, I was driven by a need to leave campus and get into the city, that city being Philadelphia.  Part of the pull to the people was probably a longing to make up for lost time, a longing to understand who America was, to know the people I had been so loosely connected to living as an ex-patriot in Europe for most of my childhood.  And so I made daily treks my junior and senior years of college from my nice little women's college in Bryn Mawr to the University of Pennsylvania located in the heart of downtown Philadelphia.  From there, I often continued on to a church in the heart of one of the worst ghettoes in North Philadelphia or one of several schools.  Read more »

I didn't appreciate all the things my parents had imparted to me until I began to have my own children.  Suddenly it was important to think about what I wanted them to know and be able to do.  There were other things I wanted them to avoid like the plague.  With my first son, we were careful to talk to him in the womb and read to him regularly, everything from children's books to passages from the Bible.  Growing up, language acquisition was a critical skill.  My parents read to us as small children.  They read for hours to themselves and encouraged us to do the same.  To be honest, as one son became a toddler and the other was born, I could think of no skill greater than that of communication in both the written and spoken word.   Read more »

Our family is headed to a party to celebrate the 160^th anniversary of the liberation of the Republic of Liberia.  As my daughter heads out the door, I call her back, "What are you wearing?" I ask with a note of frustration in my voice.  She has on a bright orange pair of men's basketball shorts, a blue t-shirt, a black headband with skulls-and-crossbones and a green pair of flip-flops.  I think she's covered just about every color of the rainbow.  Read more »

Educator and author, David Funk (2002), asks a question critical for all teachers to answer:  Read more »

Scanning files of teacher applicants shows quickly their diverse backgrounds-professional, cultural, academic. High-tech industry employee, engineer. Recent college graduate, immigrant with experience in finance, technical college instructor. All ages.

When hiring these new teachers, you know how hard the first year can be. You know training, retaining and sustaining them is essential. And you know that deep teacher learning is vital for them to become skillful practitioners who engage students in authentic learning.  Read more »

An Excerpt from Returned Receipt Requested

A novel following the first year of a Special Education teacher.

This excerpt is from the second chapter, "September" .

Tuesday morning brought a rush of excitement.  Trina arrived at school an hour before the bell rang.  She found comfort sitting alone in the quiet of her classroom.  Although not perfect, everything was ready.  She wondered when Julie and Dave would be arriving.  She busied herself with posting the class routine, setting out supplies for the day and some last minute rearranging in the science area.  Read more »

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