Matt Renwick

Every student is not the same, nor is every context. The complexity of teaching and learning is real, and it cannot be side-stepped by standardizing all activity in an effort to “teacher-proof” instructional environments. - Learning to Improve, Bryk et al

What I Look For When I Visit Classrooms On Develop a Rich, Nuanced Understanding of Instruction

What do all the "look-fors" I pay attention to in classrooms have in common?

They capture the complexity of instruction vs. reducing teaching down to a behavior or a score.

More:
open.substack.com/pub/readbyex...

Principals: Trying to visit classrooms, only to get pulled back to the office as soon as you leave?

Join me for a free webinar on December 4, where I share the processes I used to be present with teachers and students.

RSVP --> luma.com/m6om1q8n @middleweb.bsky.social @corwinpress.bsky.social

Principals Observing Instruction with a Curiosity Mindset The question isn't whether principals should observe classroom instruction, says Renwick. "It's whether we can observe it with curiosity rather than judgment."

New: OBSERVING INSTRUCTION WITH A CURIOSITY MINDSET.

The question isn't whether principals should observe classroom instruction, says coach Matt Renwick. "It's whether we can observe it with curiosity rather than judgment." #edusky @readbyexample.bsky.social

www.middleweb.com/52832/observ...

Design for the Edges Strategies for Supporting Unique Readers and Writers

The phrase "design for the edges" is about creating more inclusive and welcoming spaces for all students.

It asks that we think not about what the average person needs, but what people at the margins need.

open.substack.com/pub/readbyex...

The data won't change overnight, but the narrative can shift today - from 'these kids can't' to 'here's what we're learning works.'"

When a school struggles, do staff blame poverty? Attendance? "Those kids"?

The story a school tells about itself shapes everything—and leaders are the chief storytellers.

How to change the narrative: open.substack.com/pub/readbyex...

Two things students want, need, and appreciate when at school:

1. Teachers/staff care about them.
2. Teachers/staff expect great things of them.

#pbisforum

Seeing the Whole Reader: Teaching Through Three Asset-Based Lenses Part 1 of 3: Understanding the Framework

I write more about this here: open.substack.com/pub/readbyex...

Reading screeners and diagnostics are lagging data.

They are a product of a) how engaged students are as readers and b) how they see themselves as readers.

Isolated skill-based interventions for students ignores the root cause of why they are not succeeding as readers.

Three measures of a reader

Claude's response to my request for a character and theme map between two of David Mitchell's novels

AI-assisted reading comprehension

One of the best ways to recommend a book is to be seen reading the book.

Other readers want to know what has you so engaged.

You are leveraging FOMO in a healthy way.

MW Substack 032: All Kinds of Leadership Has keeping our schools on course ever been more challenging? We've gathered some of our most insightful and encouraging articles about school and teacher leadership.

MW Substack 032: ALL KINDS OF LEADERSHIP

Has keeping our schools on course ever been more challenging? We've gathered some of our most insightful and encouraging articles about school & teacher leadership. #edusky #edleadershipchat @readbyexample.bsky.social

middleweb.substack.com/p/mw-substac...

Four Questions to Challenge Your Reading Beliefs On the importance of putting your literacy ideology to the test

Four Questions to Challenge Your Reading Beliefs open.substack.com/pub/readbyex... #edusky #edchat

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson - a hopeful vision for our future

Opinion | Thinking Is Becoming a Luxury Good

"Research indicates that kids who are exposed to more than two hours a day of recreational screen time have worse working memory, processing speed, attention levels, language skills and executive function than kids who are not." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/o...

Sketchnotes from Crucial Influence training this week. Excited to bring these ideas to regional schools!

The Leadership-Reading Brain Is literacy a tool for empowerment or oppression in your school?

The Leadership-Reading Brain open.substack.com/pub/readbyex... Is literacy a tool for empowerment or oppression in your school? #edusky #edchat #cpchat #educoach

What if principals spent only 10% of their classroom time evaluating teachers and 90% actually coaching and supporting instruction? Imagine the influence. #cpchat #educoach

Without Trust, Professional Learning is Just Compliance Theater Including a simple staff activity that immediately builds trust

Without Trust, Professional Learning is Just Compliance Theater
open.substack.com/pub/readbyex...

Why We Should Read During Challenging Times A Case for Books as Balm, Healthy Habit, and Resistance

The news cycle wants us anxious and reactive.

An antidote: read.

Just wrote about why books matter during challenging times. Reading is balm, habit, and resistance.

When we say yes to books, we say no to urgency traps.

open.substack.com/pub/readbyex... #edusky #elachat #cpchat #educoach

Opinion | The Naval Academy Canceled My Lecture on Wisdom

"the pursuit of wisdom is impossible without engaging with (and challenging) uncomfortable ideas." www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/o... via @nytimes.com

"What I've learned is that it's easy to keep busy in just about any job. What's difficult is to discern what I should be focused on at the moment while ignoring everything else that I've committed to or been assigned." @middleweb.bsky.social #edusky

Are you not seeing the promised results from a recent literacy initiative? Try this journaling activity:

Fill in the blank: “We can work smarter and not harder by _____________.”

Keep writing with this line thinking until you arrive at a unique insight. Share it with a trusted colleague. #edusky

“You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
― Ray Bradbury

Urge Congress: Save Public Media Save your local stations. Call your Members of Congress now!

Urge Congress: Save Public Media protectmypublicmedia.org/rsc-calls/ @baldwin.senate.gov @markpocan.bsky.social

Verghese tells an American story at Commencement — Harvard Gazette Physician, novelist underlines immigrants’ contributions to Harvard and the nation, urges grads to show courage in face of hardship.

“If you don’t read fiction,” Verghese said, “my considered medical opinion is that a part of your brain responsible for active imagination atrophies.”

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Striking a Balance Between Reading and Writing What I learned from a week of no reading

Reading is the main event in schools, often at the expense of writing. I think part of this comes from the perception that reading is easy to measure, at least from a phonics-first approach.

Conversely, writing presents as more of a process and involves the inherent messiness of creativity.

There’s no science of reading without the art of teaching readers.

Bridging the Belief-Practice Divide in Literacy Instruction Three steps to help teachers align their values with their instruction

Feedback is most effective when it goes both ways.

When everyone positions themselves first as a learner and are willing to regularly examine the beliefs they hold about literacy instruction, collective practice improves.

open.substack.com/pub/readbyex... #edusky #edchat #cpchat #educoach