Karen Haag's on-site workshops in both writing and reading mix dynamic videos, anecdotes from three decades of teaching and detailed reader-response daybooks.

Teachers appreciate the easy-to-replicate lesson plans and tips, offered by a classroom veteran who still teaches children. Most important, the techniques learned from Karen are backed by solid research by some of America's leading educators.

Karen's approach has brought results in schools as diverse as Vance High School in Charlotte, N.C.; Pittsford schools in suburban Rochester, N.Y.; and Irvin Elementary School in Cabarrus County, N.C. Karen has most recently been working with two independent schools, Charlotte (NC) Country Day School and Cape Henry (Norfolk, Va.) Collegiate School, and with Thomasboro Elementary School, a Title 1 public school in Charlotte, N.C.

 

Residencies

Karen developed her residency-coaching model over a four-year period while working with the Pittsford Central School District, New York. Karen works closely with the principal and teachers in tailoring staff development, grade-level meetings, and demonstration lessons for each school.

Workshops and demonstration lessons

Karen often teaches workshops and conducts demonstration lessons at client schools. She typically spends 2 hours with teachers after school or a full day either on workdays or when school is in session. Most recently, schools have been hiring Karen to spend 4-day residencies at their schools to demonstrate lessons or coach teachers.

Other in-depth instruction

Saturday Seminars and retreats also give teachers time to study a topic in depth. In addition, Karen leads Summer Institutes of 1-10 days.

Daybooks and reflection

A key component of Karen's workshops and coaching residencies centers on teaching teachers and students to write reflections in journals called daybooks. By observing and discussing videotaped interviews with Karen's students, workshop participants explore how these notebooks can improve students' comprehension in any content area. Karen is a co-author of the 2008 Heinemann release, Thinking Out Loud on Paper: Student Daybooks as a Tool for Learning where she and her colleagues outline their ideas for introducing and sustaining daybooks.