Leading the Way: Supporting Teachers with the Science of Reading
Leading the Way: Supporting Teachers with the Science of Reading
All About Lisa Russo:
Administrator in New York Public Schools at P.S. 152.
Became a teacher in 2002 at P.S. 152 and taught for 13 years in a variety of grades.
Pursued a masters and became assistant principal at P.S. 152 for seven years - the same school she grew up in!
Now serves as the principal at P.S. 152.
You mention that you have former students who return as staff members or with their own children. Can you talk about that?
It’s so incredible and unique - a true family.
It makes my job more important because I have a great connection with the families, staff, and kids. I grew up alongside them!
Having my own students come back or have their children is just so special.
Where did you start in your science of reading journey and where have you taken your teachers since learning about the research?
We used to be a balanced literacy school and we’re making the shift to structured literacy.
The Sold a Story podcast was a huge influence on me. It helped me understand that structured literacy was a better approach.
I became passionate about figuring all of that out, because as principal, I had the power to influence our teachers to teach reading the correct way.
I love that as the administrator you took charge of this. There are so many challenges in this, too. Can you share some of the hardships?
Change is scary, but it’s important. When I had my opening day meeting of structured literacy and informed teachers that we wouldn’t be using our old materials anymore, there was a lot of shock.
This is because we need to re-imagine our library, get to know the new curriculum, and completely change how we do things.
Changing people’s minds is a challenge, but we need to always give a why behind this change. Encouraging teachers to have an open mind to the change is so important.
People go into this profession wanting to make a difference - we’re all in this together.
One of the coolest things you’re doing is getting awesome speakers to come in and talk with your staff. Can you talk more about the professional development you’re doing at your school?
I try to find people who inspire me.
Last summer, I read Seven Mighty Moves by Lindsay Kemeny and it was really eye-opening. I reached out and asked her if she did professional development for teachers, so she came in and taught us about decodable books, multi-sensory approaches, sand trays, etc. She told me about Just Right Readers, too. She’s an amazing person and it’s a wonderful partnership.
We also had Sonia Cabell for a few sessions about her Strive-for-Five conversations and uses upward and downward scaffolds to support conversations and get kids talking. This is particularly good for our school since it has a lot of English language learners.
We had Natalie Wexler and she spoke so much about building knowledge and it came wonderfully into our instructional focus this year.
Meredith and Dave Liben, who wrote Know Better and Do Better came to our school recently as well to talk about background knowledge.
We’ve also built an amazing professional library for our staff, because all of these mentioned books we give to the teachers.
We’ve talked about bringing joy into the classroom. Can you tell us how Jake Daggett has brought joy and inspiration to your school?
I am so grateful I can call Jake my friend - he is joy in human form.
He’s a foundational literacy coach, so I try to help him with managing adults and he helps me with all things reading.
He set the tone for our entire year when he came in for our opening day. He comes to our building throughout the year for professional learning.
He’s so approachable, real, and gives our teachers advice that they can implement right away, such as morphology and engagement.
What advice do you have for administrators who are starting this science of reading journey?
Start small and be realistic - this is a huge shift for people.
Realize there will be growing pains and ensure you’re a safe place for teachers to come and vent or seek advice.
Help teachers when they stumble and support them.
The leaders must learn first and then have the teacher join in after that. A leader is only as good as what he or she can do within the classroom.
What does it look like when you walk into classrooms within your building?
I would hope you would hear noise and students telling you all they know!
This year, we’re encouraging our classrooms to be noisy. Anita Archer and Jake Daggett are two great people who talk about what good teaching should sound like and feel like.
We want kids involved and to hear their voices. We want them to be engaged, interested, and learning.
I want our school to be a place filled with joy, with happy children and adults who are there to support one another and learn from one another.
When you think of the word “joy” as far as literacy goes, what stands out to you? Can you talk about a joyful or an extraordinary moment?
I love the quote, “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little extra.” So that’s what we do - we add that “extra.”
One of the best moments this year was our kindergarten letter hunt.
We wanted to do letters quicker and with more intention. We got 26 pumpkins each with a letter on it and hid the pumpkins in the garden. Children and their parents were then going around the garden and searching for the letters on pumpkins and recording them in their clipboards. All of the kids were talking about the letters, telling each other what sounds they found, working together, etc. It was just such a fun moment and we got to see the impact of that in our classrooms.
You mentioned that families came to this pumpkin activity. How do you get your families involved in literacy in your building?
Parents are always asking us what they can do to help their children, so we’ve asked them to come to these events and have them leave with something they can work on with their child at home.
We’ve also brought in our families to learn about Haggerty so they can learn what the children are learning. We had fun capes for our “Haggerty Heroes” (the parents) that day!
When we partner with the parents, we have a much bigger impact on the students.
You’ve done so much within your building. What new ideas or practices are you excited about for your teachers?
We need to figure out writing instruction, which is really hard for kids.
It’s also hard for teachers. We often aren’t given a lot of support with how to teach writing.
After reading both The Writing Revolution books, I spent the summer setting up professional learning for my teachers. In January, we will start a “Writing Revolution” within our building.
What continues to motivate and inspire you to keep learning and keep your passion alive?
As you said earlier, reading should be joyful. Reading was full of joy for me as a child. We would visit the library, make friends with the librarian there, and receive special books from my grandfather. I want that for our students.
In a world of distractions, wouldn’t it be lovely if the kids in our building could find joy in reading? As the principal of this building, it’s my responsibility to infuse that.
Check Out Lisa Russo and her building!:
Instagram: ps152q
Literacy Edventures Resources:
Check out these awesome resources at Literacy Edventures that correlate to this interview!
