Two Literacy Coaches Take a Closer Look at History
"If you get, give. If you learn, teach." - Maya Angelou
This blog is the result of much collaboration around our experiences at the Study in American History and Content Area Literacy at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Columbia University’s Teachers College Institute. We were fortunate to receive scholarships to this institute from a generous donor who had a vision to impact learning through two foundations knowledgeable within their expert areas of the content of history and literacy. It was through this generosity that we are further driven to share our learning with others. As we continued to bring this work into classrooms and share with colleagues, it became clear that we needed to expand our scope to include more educators across grade levels. We decided to move forward by creating a collegial circle to foster this learning and collaborate with as many people as possible. In using a blended model for our work, it is our hope to grow through content as well as through digital and social media such as Twitter chats and discussions on Voxer. When educators learn and share through blended instruction it creates opportunities to transfer these experiences to our students, not only in our own schools, but those we are connected to digitally.
Amy Brennan is a literacy coach at Pulaski Street School, in Riverhead, NY. Prior to serving as the 5th and 6th grade literacy coach, Amy was a reading specialist in grades 5-8 and a special educator working at the early childhood level. Amy is certified in literacy K-12, special education birth to 21 and elementary education. In addition, Amy completed an Advanced Graduate Certificate Educational Leadership from Stony Brook University and is certified as a school building leader and a school district leader.
During the 2013-2014 school year Amy collaborated with 6th grade teacher Chris Gatz and co-authors Maggie Beattie Roberts and Emily Strang Campbell to pilot a unit for the book Research Based Information Writing from Lucy Calkins’ series Units of Study in Opinion, Information and Narrative Writing Grade 6. In September 2014 Amy was recognized by Riverhead Central School District as The Distinguished Elementary Educator of the Year. Amy enjoys sharing ideas and learning with students and adults alike, as such she has lead numerous collegial circles and professional development sessions related to literacy and learning. Follow Amy on Twitter
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Jeanne-Marie Mazzaferro is a literacy coach at Phillips Avenue Elementary School in Riverhead, NY. JeanneMarie has previously been a Reading Specialist (K4) and Special Educator (Elementary and HS) in Resource Rooms, Self-Contained and Life Skills Programs, as well as, an amazing year team teaching in a Regents English Class. She states, “Collaboration, teamwork and collegiality are integral to all work in education and have allowed me to work with some wonderful educators and mentors.”
Jeanne-Marie has enjoyed teaching collegial circles and Professional Development InService classes on various topics including Reconsidering Read Aloud, Language Acquisition Room, Close Reading of Text, Grammar, Usage and Mechanics within the Writing Process, Small Group Reading and A Framework for Understanding Poverty. She has presented at the Annual New York State Reading Association Conference and the National Literacy Coaching Summit at Texas A&M University. Follow Jeanne-Marie on Twitter
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