09/30/2026
20+ years in Title I schools, and this is still my favorite place to be!
For six years, I've built teachers from the outside. Now I'm back in the classroom again, coaching teachers in their own spaces.
Here's a moment from this week:
A read-aloud lesson stalled. The teacher asked a question. Silence. Asked it again. A few wrong answers.
No one was misbehaving. But nobody knew the answer either.
So I leaned in and asked the teacher: "Where can they find the evidence for the correct answer?"
The teacher went back and re-read the line that held the answer. This time, hands went up.
Fact: a quiet room can look like a focused room. But confusion doesn't stay quiet for long. It turns into side talk, heads down, and sometimes a trip to the office.
The next classroom move:
When a question stalls, don't repeat it louder. Go back to the source; for a read-aloud, give them a purpose for listening. Students get something to listen for instead of something to guess.
Teachers, be honest: every one of us knows the look of a room that has NO idea what you just asked.
What's your tell?
The blank stare?
The kid who suddenly needs to sharpen a pencil?
I'm truly interested to know. Drop your comments below.