It’s not too late for adolescent readers & writers to get better!

YOU HEARD IT HERE:

Cris offers a range of support options to help you re-engage students and plan smarter, not harder. Whether you're looking for hands-on modeling, coaching, or individualized planning time, these services are designed to meet you where you are—and better equip yourself to help students monitor and repair meaning.

Well, Cris is here to remind you there’s still hope. When students can make sense of the texts they’re assigned, teachers can cover more content. By working with Cris, you’ll start to notice how you think when you read. And when you slow that thinking down, you’ll be better equipped to monitor student comprehension and guide them through strategies that repair meaning in real time.

You don’t have time to teach students to read, and even if you did, you were only taught how to teach your subject, right?

LET ME GUESS...

WORKSHOPS

Cris plans with the teacher so that her demos aren’t dog and pony shows.
Cris shows teachers how to model a strategy and then provide time for students to read, write, and discuss.
Cris will highlight the use of learning targets and matching success criteria. She will model how to use the learning targets to give students timely feedback.
Highlight the use of learning targets to get and give feedback.
Handouts, a variety of text options for the unit of study, a planning guide.

Specific thinking strategies teachers can implement for different disciplinary literacies.
Think Sheets so teachers can see students’ thinking in real time.
Handouts with research excerpts and ideas that will serve as a reminder for work with students

demonstration teaching

comprehension-driven solutions

All services include individual planning time with teachers, admin or workshop organizers to plan for your specific needs.

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1:1 and Small Group Coaching

Individualized sessions
Handouts
Personalization and follow up

Cris and/or Samantha Bennett will observe and provide a coaching letter labeling why what she sees matters to instruction.
Planning for engagement strategies

personalized zooms

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The Latest Book

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Words from Happy Educators

— Heather Hopkins, Ed.S. | ELA Teacher

When I was working towards earning my education degree, we spent countless hours discussing, analyzing, and idolizing Cris Tovani's work. So when Fort Osage brought her into our learning community and enlightened us in the flesh, you could say I was stoked! Tovani sympathizes and also challenges all educators she encounters to up our game instead of ever becoming stagnant with our practices. She easily motivates us to increase student engagement through student ownership, voice, and choice. Tovani also uses research and data to support her hands-on, real-world learning application for students. She makes us rethink our teaching philosophies and continue taking risks with innovative strategies. I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from Cris Tovani and am forever grateful Fort Osage made this happen for educators.

Cris Tovani creates tailored PD related to the goals of the building. She seeks out, currates, and delivers research-based materials that compliment building initiatives. This experience reinforces the choices our Instructional Leadership Team is pursuing and provides direction on next steps for the building; however, our teachers are determining what that next step is. Her ideas are intuitive and practical, which enhances our methods to support teacher growth in the classroom. The role Cris Tovani plays is purely support, not providing direction or selling a product with a quick fix to a problem.

I want everyone to know my perspective from the principal's seat.

— Josh Luke, Ed.D. | Principal

In my personal opinion, this was some of the most beneficial PD I have attended in my nearly 10 years of teaching. Watching our instructor guide a lesson and seeing the strategies in action was one of the best ways to envision how I could put the practices into place in my own classroom. I also really appreciated how much time we had to plan collaboratively during our time. So often we are overloaded with great information, but we don't have time to work on incorporating that information into our planning and delivery. Cris personally sat with me to find appropriate materials, helped design student activities, and even helped expand that work to most of a unit rather than a single lesson. Our students' literacy skills need improvement across all grade levels. As an elective teacher, getting some new tools to work on this in my classroom was really helpful. I was able to take Cris' guidance and increase the amount of reading and analyzing opportunities I was putting in front of my students.

— Sarah McIntyre, M.A. | Business Teacher

This is for you if...

You believe every student is capable of learning when given the right support.

You’re intentional about planning lessons that meet your students where they are.

You value student voices and want to create a classroom where they feel heard and engaged.