Well, this has certainly been a leap of faith by starting a blog. Now, I feel like I am jumping into the "big" kids pool for sure.  I am so so excited to share that not only have I taken the plunge into blogland, but I have opened my very own little TpT store.  I am launching  with my very first product (which is a freebie- I might add). This first product is a resource list of hyperlinks to many of the on-line literacy websites I use each and every day working with teachers and students. It's an expanded and enhanced version of what I distributed to administrators, teachers, parents and students to provide meaningful online literacy activities for students this summer, but I am sure it will support you in literacy instruction throughout the year. I included not only reading and writing content websites but also websites that would be helpful to teachers in implementing reading in history/social studies and science that are integrated into the Common Core K-5 reading standards. I hope you will check out my new TpT store when you get a chance I am hoping to have more products up very soon.

Hope you'll check out my new product at my very own TpT store 

A heartfelt thanks for all your kind words of support, encouragement, and welcome on my blog. You are the best!

Kathi

What's all this talk about Bloglovin'

All of this is new to me anyway but I hear that Google Reader is going away as of July 1st. Since my blog is just in it's beginnings this problem doesn't really effect me, but you as bloggers will be effected because one of the benefits of blogging is getting notified when our favorite bloggers post. So if you want along and be notified of my posts when they are posted be sure to click the follow me button in the right hand column.
Happy Blogging!
Kathi

New Beginnings

 I have a confession, if you have a teaching blog, I have probably been stalking you for a bit.  Blogs, teaching blogs in particular, provide such inspiration to me. I happily peek at many of them as often as I can, scribble down ideas and add them to my bulging idea folder. You provide the fuel for my creativity and commitment to teaching. Teacher bloggers are amazing!  It's like a virtual village of creative collaboration and inspiration out there!  

 After the prompting of many teacher friends, very supportive family members, and one person in particular who is the she-who-must-not-be-named -nod/wink to Harry Potter but honestly you know who you are...  I have finally decided to come out of the shadows and create a blog of my own!

So here it is- my first post...

 I have so many ideas for this blog swirling around in my head. Mylifeasaliteracycoach is designed to be a work in progress (kinda like me). I'm still updating the sidebar with links.I hope to provide some tried and true tips about literacy,  instructional coaching, share my expertise and passion for teaching young children from my own daily experiences working with students and teachers.  I'd love for you to follow along so grab a cup of coffee and cozy up to my blog.  

Now for a little bit about me. This is me, so you can see I'm hard at work learning new technology tricks. I've been in elementary education for thirty-eight years. I've experienced the pedagogical pendulum swing over the years, but I have always set my instructional compass to what's best for kids. Over the years, I've been a reading recovery teacher, elementary counselor, and a long time avid practitioner of balanced literacy at just about every grade level K-6.   

Currently, I am the ELA Literacy Instructional Coach for the San Luis Coastal school district in California on the Central Coast. Most of my current responsibilities are related to curriculum and staff development supporting best literacy instructional practices aligned with the Common Core. I hope to be blogging about my work with students and teachers implementing the Common Core. My district embraced the CCSS by beginning implementation through Writers Workshop. Last year,  I had the magical experience of going to Teachers College and attending a week-long institute on writing instruction for coaches. I was totally convinced after attending that institute that we needed to bring TCRWP staff developers to our district. (Look for more about that in up-coming posts.) Last summer, we launched our work in Common Core writing with a week-long summer institute with staff developers from TCRWP. My work this year has been to continue the work the staff developers initiated by providing staff development training, coaching and providing literacy leadership.  In this blog, I hope to share about this work and my work as a literacy coach. 

 The Common Core demands will place on us requiring shifts in instruction as we prepare our students to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. If you believe, as I do,  we need to promote instruction that floats on a sea of inquiry.  That as educators, we need to encourage our students to be creative, flexible and engaged learners by differentiating their instruction. That we need to foster and encourage our student learners to embrace cultural diversity, critical thinking and collaborative problem solving. I hope you will come back regularly to visit me here and respond to my posts. Gosh, I hope that didn't come off as preachy-but passionate. You see, my current role has really required me to become invested in the Common Core and I am very excited about what these standards mean for our children. And as you can see by this post, I embrace life long learning. 

With the help of my business partner from Hello Two Peas In A Pod  curriculum on TpT and blogger extraordinaire, Jen Jones, of Hello Literacy.  I am making the leap into a whole new beginning for me...blogging!

I thought it symbolic to kick off my new mylifeasaliteracycoach blog with a first post about visiting my good friend Jen. She is a reading specialist in North Carolina at Lake Myra and I was fortunate enough to spend the week with her visiting her school.

It was an extraordinary week with lots of growth and new learning taking place. But I am thrilled to be starting and look forward to continuing to make new BFFs (that would be Blog Friends Forever). 

Thank you for your interest in checking out some of my TpT products! In the next few weeks, I'll be adding more items to my TpT store. You can sign up to follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers to be notified when I add items to my store. Thanks for following!

~Kathi