Read by Example Newsletter

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -30:49 Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. 👋Hi, it’s Matt. This week, I spoke with Jen Schwanke, former principal, current deputy superintendent, and author of Trusted. (Full subscribers can watch the video of our conversation below.) Enjoy! Also, my feedback survey closes soon. If you have a few minutes to spare, I’d love to know more about your experience here.

Thank you for your support of Read by Example. This is a video recording of my conversation with Dr. Jen Schwanke, author of Trusted and other books for school leaders, available only to full subscribers like you. Take care, -Matt Jen Schwanke has spent her career inside schools as a teacher, a building leader, and now a deputy superintendent in Ohio. She is the author of five ASCD books, including her most recent, Trusted: Trust Pillars, Trust Killers, and the Secret to Successful Schools.

Hi, it’s Matt. Thank you for your readership and leadership. If you haven’t already, please provide feedback on Read by Example here. Your insights are appreciated! “Every student is not the same, nor is every context.

Hi, it’s Matt. If you haven’t already, please provide feedback on Read by Example. Your insights and shared experience will help make this space even better for readers and literacy leaders. Thank you in advance! Join me for a conversation with Jen Schwanke, author of Trusted. Monday, June 9 at 1:30pm CST Jen Schwanke has spent her career inside schools as a teacher, a building leader, and now a deputy superintendent in Ohio.

Plus a request for feedback Hi, it’s Matt. If you have a few minutes, I am looking for feedback on Read by Example. The link is below.

On what I learned in 2012 as a new elementary principal Hi, it’s Matt. This article is an update to a blog post I wrote in 2012. You can read the original here. Thank you for your leadership and readership! In 2012, I was in my second year as an elementary principal. Like all job changes, I was still figuring out what I was supposed to be doing (this generally takes me three years). Upon my arrival in 2011, the school had already embarked on a multi-year literacy initiative.

“Don’t be afraid to answer the questions. You will find endless resources inside yourself. Writing is the act of burning through the fog in your mind.” - Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones For as long as I have been a writer, why do I still struggle to write? Not to say I don’t have a practice. Anyone who identifies as a writer has one. It’s just that mine has not been very consistent over time. I would prefer to write first thing in the morning, but I am not always awake early enough.

I sat in the classroom next to other students. While they wrote in their journals, I wrote in my notebook. I would document comments they made to me or their peers, talking aloud about their writing ideas. If it was silent, I would notice the classroom and write a rich description of the experience, such as how the desks were positioned in small groups to encourage peer interactions. I also noticed that the teacher would subtly follow me around the classroom.

👋 Hi, it’s Matt. I write a weekly about literacy and leadership. Last week, I wrote about what actual science looks like in reading instruction. This week, I reflect on the consequences of centering literacy instruction on programs and testing instead of on students. Subscribe today to receive all posts! My daughter texted me the following photo. “Uhh
is that Millie and me?” I asked? “Yup!” she replied. The image is a picture she took from a coloring book created by a local artist.

The student dreaded reading intervention. The moment his Reading Recovery teacher called his name, he’d shut down. Sometimes he would refuse to leave the classroom entirely. The reading interventionist knew something had to change. Learning more about the student’s background and interests, the teacher decided to place a venus flytrap in her room. She invited this student to feed the plant a dead fly every time they came to work with her.