Leading Educators in Authentic Development: Supporting School Improvement

Display slide 8 and inform participants that you will be modeling a professional learning session that they can easily adapt and take to their schools to support their colleagues. We call the format of this kind of session an Instructional Strategy Café. They will be given options of what strategies they want to explore, like courses of a meal at a restaurant.

Display slide 9 to share the Instructional Strategy Café session objectives with participants. 

Transition to slide 10 and inform participants that they can use this link to access digital versions of all of the materials we will be using in the session today. 

Pass out the attached Instructional Strategies Café Menu. Ask participants to review the menu and choose three instructional strategies they want to explore, one from each category: Appetizers, Main Courses, and Desserts.

Once participants have selected three instructional strategies, they will complete the Sticky Bars strategy. Display slide 11 and ask them to take one small sticky note and place it on the poster paper for each category, creating columns above or below the name of the strategy they would like to explore further. You will present and use the three strategies that most of the group chose.

After participants have voted, update and present slide 12 to reveal the winning strategy for each course. Inform participants that several new strategies will be introduced throughout the session today, and we will reflect on and discuss how these strategies can be used to support improvement in their schools. 

Make sure each participant has a copy of the attached Agenda and Note Catcher (pictured on slide 13). Explain that we will return to this page multiple times to take notes throughout the session and add ideas on how each strategy we explore can be used in their school. 

Appetizers 

1. Commit & Toss: Introduce the strategy on slide 15 and then move to slide 16 to present the prompt, “What is freedom?” Then have participants write their response on scrap paper, crumple it, and toss it across the room. Participants will pick up another person’s paper, uncrumple it, and read it. Ask for some volunteers to read their papers aloud to the whole room.

2. Paper Telephone: Present the strategy on slide 17 and pass out the Paper Telephone Prompts handout. (Ideally, these are printed on color paper or slightly thicker paper, so participants can’t see through it when folded.)

   Ask participants to arrange themselves in groups of five and have pens or pencils they can use to draw. Hand out the prompts to one person per group and instruct each person to ensure they are the only person at their table who can read their prompt. 

   Designate a bell or cue to let participants know when to pass their handout. First, each player reads the prompt at the top of their template, folds the page back to hide the prompt from the next person, and then draws their first illustration of that prompt. At the cue, everyone will pass their folded handout to the person on their right. This person will look at the illustration in front of them and then write words to describe the illustration in the next section of the template. They will fold the illustration back to hide it from the next person and pass to their right. The next player will create a new drawing to represent the words written by the person before them, then fold the section with the words the previous player wrote back and then pass to their right. The final participant will write one more time a few words to describe what they see in the drawing and pass to the right one final time. This should bring it back to the first person who had the prompt. This person will unfold the handout and share their handout with their whole table from the original prompt through all interpretations.

3. Take a Chance: Introduce the strategy on slide 18 and divide participants into groups of 3.  Move to slide 19 with instructions for the activity and give each group two dice or one double die. Confirm that everyone is clear on the instructions, and then move to slide 20 with the questions for each round. Tell groups they may take some time to think about the questions individually. Then have each person in a group take turns responding. A turn looks like this:

   (1) Roll the die.

   (2) Add the numbers, and say the sum. 

   (3) Answer the question using a number of words equal to the sum.

   Continue until all group members have answered the first question, and then do another round with the second question. 

Main Courses

1. Detective Board: Display slide 22 and create groups by counting participants off 1–5. Provide each group of 5 with their group number and a poster with one of the Es from the 5E model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Evaluate) written at the top. Display slide 23 and instruct participants to make a poster showing how they can make their E engaging as presenters. This could include a list of strategies, characteristics of facilitating that E, components of Authenticity, etc. 

   Then move to slide 24 and facilitate a share-out. Each group will share one item from their poster. If that same idea is on another group’s poster, use string to connect them. Have groups take turns sharing items and making connections for as long as time allows. 

2. Thinking Hats: Display slide 25 and arrange participants in groups of 6. Assign a color to each group member (White, Green, Yellow, Red, Black, Blue). Then move to slide 26 and give participants time to find their hat assignment based on their color:

   • The detective (white hat) - values facts

   • The creative (green hat) - no-bad-ideas attitude

   • The optimistic (yellow hat) - champions others’ ideas

   • The thoughtful (red hat) - considers feelings

   • The cautious (black hat) - identifies risks

   • The conductor (blue hat) - summarizes ideas.

   Next, set up the space where groups have a partner group. One group will discuss using these hats/roles, and their partner group will observe and take notes. Later, they will swap. 

   For the first group, use prompt #1 on slide 27, “Discuss what you’ve learned about professional development and supporting your school through this program.” Set a timer for 2–5 minutes. After the time is up, move to slide 28 and ask the observing group to share what they noticed. This can be more organic in this first round. If it doesn’t naturally come up in the sharing, ask if every “hat” had a chance to speak and if they could easily tell who was wearing which hat.

   Have the groups switch roles so that those who were observing are now in the middle and those who were discussing are observing. Display prompt #2 on slide 29, “Brainstorm issues students might want to address with a school administrator” and “Write a mock proposal.” Set a timer for 2–5 minutes. After the time is up, ask the observing group to answer the questions on slide 30, “How did the group organize their conversation?” and “How did having roles enrich the process?”

3. Picture Yourself: Move to slide 31. Have participants work with a nearby elbow partner, or intentionally pair participants with different roles/schools/backgrounds. Make sure everyone has paper and art supplies of some kind. Display slide 32, and ask everyone to individually draw a picture of themselves as an early-career teacher experiencing a PD for the first time. Explain that when partners are done drawing, they should discuss what they drew and how they would support the teachers represented in their drawings. After discussing, provide time for participants to add to their drawings based on what they discussed. 

Desserts

1. Aha! Huh? Uh-uh: Display slide 34 and distribute the Authenticity Reading and sticky notes. Count participants off in groups of four and assign them the numbered sections of the reading. Each participant should read the introduction and the conclusion along with the section matching their number. Then move to slide 35, displaying the reflection prompts. After they have read their section, have participants respond to the prompts, writing their responses on the sticky notes. This should take 5–10 minutes. Once everyone has read the prompts and written their reflections, reorganize participants into groups that read the same section and have them share and respond to one another’s reflections. After about 5–10 more minutes, conduct a whole-group discussion, allowing each group to share a summary of their discussion. 

2. Give, Get, Reflect: Display slide 36 and distribute the Authenticity Reading and Give, Get, Reflect handout. Each participant should read the introduction and the conclusion along with the section listed at the top of their Give, Get, Reflect handout (these can be printed on different colors to help differentiate). Then move to slide 37 with instructions. Participants will read their section and write in the “Give” section of their Give, Get, Reflect handout key ideas to share later from their section of the reading. Move to slide 38. Have participants partner with someone who read a different section and share their “Give” notes, writing what their partner has shared with them in the “Get” portion of their handout. Participants should switch partners until they have met with someone from each of the four reading sections, taking notes in the “Get” section of their handout each time. After everyone has switched partners three times, move to slide 39. Have participants write in the “Reflect” section of their handout ideas about how they can support their colleagues with the development of authentic teaching and learning practices. 

3. List of 8: Display slide 40 and divide participants into teams of 3–4 as evenly as possible. Each group will need a utensil to write with and something to write on, such as a whiteboard, chart paper, etc. Each group should assign one person to be the recorder, who will write down responses from each group member. Move to slide 41 and show the instructions for the activity. There will be three rounds. Each round will have a theme/prompt. When the timer starts for the round (about 1 minute) each group member should go in turns clockwise, coming up with an answer to the prompt. Team members can say pass if they don’t develop something quickly enough. The first team to 8 answers wins the round. Slides 42–44 have the prompts for each of the three rounds. Feel free to modify these prompts to topics that are relevant to the learning for your professional development day.

After modeling the selected strategies from the list above, have participants reflect using the Rose, Bud, and Thorn strategy. Display slide 45 with the following prompts:

• Rose: What strategies are you already using that work great?

• Bud: What new strategies would you like to try?

• Thorn: What barriers are still in the way of implementing new strategies?

Encourage participants to add their reflections to their Note Catchers.

Have participants discuss at their tables or discuss as a whole group, inviting volunteers to share. After this is a good place for a break. Display slide 46 and allow participants 10 minutes.

Following the break, use slides 47–52 to give participants practice applying strategies they have learned and exploring new strategies as they would apply to particular scenarios a teacher leader might face in their school. Make sure everyone has access to the Strategy Links document for a curated list of strategies they can explore, to choose one they feel is a match for the scenarios as they are presented. Pause on each slide, present the scenario, give participants some time to select a strategy, and then ask for a handful of volunteers per scenario to share which strategy they chose, how they would use it, and why. The Agenda and Note Catcher can be a place for them to write down their reflections for each scenario.