Susan T. Kelly
Literacy Consulting Services
Teachers matter more to student achievement than any other school-related factor. Evidence-driven public policies have identified professional development as a key component in building systems of professional learning. When teachers use what they learn in professional development, and when administrators and literacy coaches support teachers as they learn, their practice improves in ways that benefit all children.
Susan offers targeted, focused support on reading, writing, foundation skill, and assessment practices. Professional development is tailored to support a wide range of literacy goals that meet the needs of administrators, literacy coaches, teachers, and students in your school or district.
Susan has been a professional educator for over 40 years. She was a classroom teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, literacy consultant and, most recently, Director of Elementary Language Arts for a diverse urban school district . In that capacity, Susan led the work of 22 literacy coaches , was responsible for helping teachers implement literacy curriculum, and provided training, support, and staff development for Administrators, school leaders, and PreK-5 grade teachers in 24 elementary schools.
Professional Development Options
Workshops
Days can be structured around:
- Individual grade levels
- K-2 grade teachers
- 3-5 grade teachers
- Coaches/literacy leaders
- Administrators
Engaging and interactive sessions can be onsite or online.
Consultation
Consultations with administrators and school leaders includes classroom learning walks, studying student assessment results to determine trends and determining opportunities to elevate teaching and improve student literacy.
Site-based Staff Development/Coaching
Days can be structured around:
- grade level teams
- vertical teams
- coaches/literacy leaders
- administrators
Participants meet in small, focused professional learning communities tailored to your school’s needs followed by in-classroom demonstrations and opportunities for staff to practice their skills in classrooms with feedback.
For best professional learning opportunity, a school contract for a package of 3-5 days in either K-2 or 3-5 classrooms is recommended.
Listen and watch Susan provide online training on Shifting Practices Based on Science of Reading
Reading Topics
- Implement an effective Readers Workshop.
- Design Assessment-based small group work in reading skills including phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, and writing (K-2).
- Plan read-aloud and shared reading lessons to teach comprehension and response skills (K-5).
- Structure knowledge-building lessons using note-taking strategies while researching, and creating ways to share learning (2-5).
Writing Topics
- Implement an effective Writers Workshop.
- Writing matters! Strengthen your current writing practices (K-2 or 3-5).
- Establish success criteria using mentor texts, including teacher-generated texts, to help students improve writing skills and set goals (K-5).
- Lift the level of comprehension: Teach students how to think and write about texts (2-5).
Assessment Topics
- Study student work to determine next instructional steps.
- Use efficient, formative decoding assessments to plan foundation skill lessons.
- Implement formative assessment practices.
- Improve grading practices: create a standards-based report card for K-2.
- Learn how to give meaningful, specific, actionable feedback to help students set learning goals.
Listen to Susan as she delivers online training on Providing Specific and Meaningful Feedback
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