Reading Coaches Attend International Reading Association

Paine reading coaches, Edra Perry and Kelly McGough, along with 6,000 other professionals, attended the International Reading Association 2015 Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, July 18-20. The goal of IRA is to work to further student learning and achievement - and to make this accessible to all students in every corner of the world.  Keynote speakers were Shaquille O'Neal and Octavia Spencer.  Featured speakers included Stephanie Harvey (Thinking Intensive Learning:Close Reading Is Strategic Reading), Stephen Layne (In Defense of Read-Aloud), and Julie Ramsay (License to Learn: Putting Students in the Driver's Seat of Their Own Learning Journey).

Edra and Kelly attended sessions designed specifically for reading teachers, reading specialists, and coaches.  They gained valuable information about how to use the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Coaching Model to focus teachers' attention on strategies that increase teacher effectiveness and student learning.  They learned about concrete strategies that help students both identify and analyze text evidence.  Tips for helping students sift and weigh evidence in order to strengthen their claims about texts were shared.  Author Christopher Lehman shared innovative work and practical strategies, gather from years of study with teachers and students across grade levels, that can help students develop more rigorous thinking and more authentic, voice-filled writing.

The reading coaches will collaborate and turn their new learning around to K-6 reading teachers in our district.