In Fall 2009, South Shore School added two new dedicated Literacy Coaches who work with teachers, providing valuable on-site professional development and support services.   South Shore is unique in having its own Literacy Coaches.   Within the Seattle school district, approximately 10 schools have district-funded literacy coaches on site.   However, budget cuts continue to reduce the number of district-funded positions.   So, five Seattle schools, including ours, have elected to spend part of their budget for their own on-site literacy coaches.   

Literacy Coaches provide effective professional development on a daily basis.  In the past, most professional development was accomplished by attending conferences.   Back in the classroom, teachers often struggled to gather lesson materials and to apply what they learned on their own. Literacy Coaches help teachers develop reading and writing lesson plans, identify specific goals for student instruction and practice effective delivery of lessons.  In addition, they help gather materials to support lesson plans.   Historically, teachers have been on their own to gather reference materials, handouts, and book sets to support their plans.   Literacy Coaches help gather materials, allowing teachers to focus on teaching.      

Julia Schumacher coaches PreK through 3^rd grade teachers, and Bruce Patt coaches 4^th through 7^th grade teachers.  Both have teaching backgrounds.   Julia has been teaching since 1990 in Kindergarten, 1^st and 2^nd grades, and has also served as a Mentor Teacher supporting first year teachers.   She previously worked as a Literacy Coach for 3 years at Beacon Hill Elementary.    

Bruce and Julia both appreciate the opportunity to grow in their careers without following the traditional career path into administration.  And they get a great deal of satisfaction from supporting fellow teachers and helping to bring high-quality instruction to South Shore students.   

Despite their teaching backgrounds, both admit that teaching adults requires a different skill set. They use a variety of coaching methods, tailoring the approach to each teacher’s needs.   For example, they sometimes deliver a lesson in a classroom, while the teacher observes.   Other times, they observe the teacher and provide feedback.   Or, they may debrief with an individual teacher who has recently delivered a new lesson, discussing questions, what went well, what didn’t.   They sometimes meet with all the teachers from a grade level to discuss an upcoming unit.   While formulating a lesson plan, coaches bring data on building-wide trends across grades and across time, while teachers bring an intense knowledge of the classroom.   Together, they formulate an effective plan which is both tailored to an individual classroom and will achieve measurable results.   We are very fortunate to have Bruce and Julia at our school!