Workshops The isolation of teachers is a universal condition of school culture, one which defeats education reforms and discourages professional development. We offer workshop series that help schools develop a collaborative workplace where teachers learn to observe and teach each other, develop and analyze materials, plan, and solve problems together. The outcome of these workshops is the re-energizing of teachers in their practice, enhanced student performance, and the evolvement of schools into places where everyone works and learns. These workshops give schools and districts the opportunity to create a powerful inservice experience for teachers. Workshops are varied, interactive, and can be tailored to fit the needs of large groups of participants in lectures, mini-courses of up to 30 participants, and ongoing study groups. A broad audience of K-12 practitioners who focus on instructional issues will find these workshop series especially beneficial. Teacher Leadership and the Culture of Schools Mentoring/Teacher Induction Analyzing Student Work Teaching Rounds - Adopting the Medical Model for Teacher Professional Development Peer Coaching Action Research Cooperative Learning Classroom What Do Your Teachers, School, or District Need? Teacher Leadership and the Culture of Schools In the ongoing debate about education priorities, little is said about the role of the classroom teacher in setting the agenda for education reform. How do we shift the discussion from a criticism of teachers and teaching to how teachers can assume leadership in the improvement of schools? Given the isolated, egalitarian nature of teaching, how can leadership emerge from the ranks of classroom practitioners and what new models of leadership can be created? Understanding the culture of schools - how isolation and egalitariansim impede professional development initiatives and all other education reforms - is critical to any discussion of reforming teacher practice. This workshop series address four questions: How have the history and culture of schools and teaching affected classroom practitioners? How do the power relationships among students, parents, teachers and school administrators affect the culture of the school, and how can we redefine these relationships to make schools more productive and satisfying workplaces? Given the egalitarian structure of the teaching career, how can leadership emerge from the ranks of classroom practitioners, and how must the institution adapt in order to support teacher leadership? What new models of leadership have been created, and what strategies can be employed to implement a workable model for teacher leadership in your school? Mentoring/Teacher Induction The future of education depends on the quality of new teachers, but half of all beginning teachers leave the classroom in the first five years. Research has shown that mentoring can make a significant difference in retaining qualified teachers and helping them complete their first few years with positive results. By building the quality of both beginning and experienced teachers, mentoring leads to school improvement. In these workshops, participants learn strategies and components necessary to create a high-impact induction program that results in improved teaching and learning. This workshop series guides teachers in developing and reflecting on their practice as mentors responsible for initiating a new teacher into the profession. Mentors are given tools for co-planning, co-teaching, observing and documenting practice in order to promote a culture of shared inquiry and collaboration. Mentors also explore their own views about good teaching and examine teaching standards as a framework for thinking about what good beginning teaching entails. Finally, they work together to understand the impact of their setting and beliefs on their decisions as mentors and teachers. In this workshop series, teachers develop: A new sense of themselves as school-based teacher educators responsible for helping a new teacher learn to teach A repertoire of mentoring skills and strategies such as co-planning and co-teaching, pre-observation, observation and post observation frameworks, communication and problem solving Frameworks for thinking about mentoring, teaching, learning to teach - for example, the standards movement, planning frameworks, etc. An appreciation for collaboration and experimentation as tools for the ongoing improvement of teaching practice Analyzing Student Work Analyzing student work is an exceptionally powerful strategy to help students achieve high standards. In this interactive workshop series, participants learn to use a protocol to examine student work with the goal of developing common standards for student performance. By looking closely at several students' work, teachers learn to assess the appropriateness of the learning goals for a group of students and evaluate the students' progress towards the learning goal. Teachers develop a range of instructional modifications and strategies that can be adapted to diverse groups of students. Participants also investigate how to select student work, facilitate conversations and practice the process of collaborative discourse on students' work. In this workshop series, teachers learn skills and strategies for: Identifying the standard and presenting essential understandings of the lesson Explaining how the lesson fits into the unit addressing this standard Sharing the assignment to address central teaching and learning goals Examining student work for evidence of essential understandings Using colleagues' reflections to improve the lesson and student achievement Teaching Rounds - Adopting the Medical Model for Teacher Professional Development In most schools, there are classrooms where outstanding teaching takes place. However, teachers rarely have the opportunity to demonstrate lessons, techniques and teaching strategies for other teachers. Rounds gives teachers the chance to share their expertise with their colleagues - both new and experienced - and helps establish and perpetuate a school culture in which teachers are learners. Borrowed from medical schools where residents and interns regularly observe doctors at work and where individual doctors present their particular specialty to novices and colleagues in formal sessions, rounds allows beginning and experienced teachers to get a glimpse of how teaching colleagues present material. Through rounds, more experienced practitioners can pass on knowledge and experience to other teachers in the school. Rounds encourages all teachers to observe, discuss, and analyze teaching which, in turn, allows them to create strategies to improve their own teaching. The end result of rounds, in addition to helping teachers at all grade levels add to their repertoire of best practices in teaching, is ending the school culture in which every teacher must struggle alone through the early years of practice with a frustrating and often defeating trial-and-error method of learning. Using the model of a professional learning community, this workshop series provides teachers with : Practical resources including protocols for lesson discussions and observations Strategies for developing a common vocabulary for talking about teaching and learning Tools and approaches for creating optimal learning environments and schedulingplans Peer Coaching Peer coaching helps create and maintain a collaborative workplace where teachers interact to observe and teach each other, develop and analyze materials, co-plan and address curriculum and instruction. There is a focus on sharing of successful practices through collaboration. This series of peer coaching workshops can be used as a follow-up for professional development initiatives that will enable participants to master the new strategies learned. Using explanations, demonstrations and group interaction these workshops teach a reflective model for coaching. Participants in this program receive ongoing instruction and support in observation and conferencing skills and have opportunities to discuss problems they may be experiencing. The training encourages teachers to develop a shared language and set of common understandings necessary for the effective implementation of new curricula. The goal is to build a community of teachers that continuously engages in the study of improving its practice. In this workshop series, participants learn: Ways to provide feedback to improve instructional decision making Methods for planning, reflecting and problem solving in one-to-one and small group interactions Process and logistics of peer coaching Communication skills Action Research Teacher inquiry is a means of tapping the collaborative power of colleagues to reflect on and improve teaching and learning. In the education world, research is most often conducted "from above," that is, by experts whose findings are published in journals rarely read by teachers. Yet it has been shown that when teachers conduct research into their own practice their roles expand beyond that of "deliverers of knowledge." They create knowledge by working on research in their classrooms and across schools and communities. This workshop series provides teachers with invaluable research skills. The research cycle begins with teachers identifying important questions about their own teaching and their students' learning, and moves to gathering "evidence" to address those questions; analyzing the evidence with colleagues; and developing new instructional plans and strategies based on the data. In these workshops, participants will: Learn how to design their own research Identify sources and gather data Use evidence to make decisions Ensure accountability Engage stakeholders Act on findings Lead strategically Cooperative Learning Classroom Cooperative learning refers to a set of instructional strategies which include cooperative student-student interaction over subject matter as an integral part of the learning process. It is a peer-centered pedagogy that promotes academic achievement and builds positive social relationships. This workshop series provides an in-depth look at how teachers deliver curriculum using a range of cooperative learning structures to support specific curriculum goals in their classroom. In these workshops, teachers learn to: Generate higher-level thinking among all students Implement memory techniques Use cutting-edge structures that promote success Create a caring, cooperative classroom through energizing class-building activities Save time with proven management ideas Foster belonging for students of all ability levels What Do Your Teachers, School, or District Need? The above listed workshops series are representative of the range of issues we are prepared to address. Each of these may be configured to suit particular needs and situations, and other areas of concern are within our experience and expertise, such as: Creating School-College Partnerships (Professional Development Schools) Parent/Teacher Partnerships Team Building Restructuring Schools Narrowing the achievement gap (c) 2003 Vivian Troen, Katherine Boles; All Rights Reserved.