My principal in New York City engaged our staff in a few video studies every year. A teacher and his/her class would be videotaped doing a minilesson, independent work session, and a share. Then, a few weeks later, the faculty would gather to watch the video twice. We’d watch it a couple of times, following a specific protocol. The teacher, whose class was videotaped, would speak. As a faculty, we could ask him/her questions. Then, we’d discuss what we saw in small groups and as a large group. My principal used to remind us that the video studies were “an example, not an exemplar.” That stuck in my mind, both as someone who was the teacher whose lesson was studied twice in a video study and as someone who studied other teachers’ videos. Having one’s teaching viewed as one way to go about teaching rather than the only way to teach successfully took a lot of the pressure off!
Today I’m consulting about an hour south of my home with fifth grade teachers. The lab site will be with students who are immersed in opinion writing. The teacher and I have worked together on his minilesson. He will engage his students in a full writing workshop (i.e., minilesson, independent writing with conferring, and a share session). While he is a skilled teacher of writing, I will remember the words of my former principal when I begin the debrief session since all teachers must remember that what they see today are “examples, not exemplars.” I will repeat those words because I believe it takes the pressure off of the teacher who will open up his classroom and the teachers who are observing (since they, too, are good teachers of writing).
Here are some of the questions I bring to a debrief session. Not all will be addressed. However, I like to have a breadth of questions in front of me help me keep the conversation focused and moving:
- What did the minilesson look like during the connection, the teaching/demonstration, active involvement, and the link (e.g., pacing, repetition of teaching point throughout the lesson, think-aloud during demonstration)?
- How did the teacher support student engagement?
- How did the teacher support students who…
- Struggled?
- Were off-task?
- Finished early?
- Worked on different parts of the writing process?
- How did the teacher help writers establish a purpose for writing?
- How did the teacher manage the classroom during the minilesson, transition times, independent writing time, the share session?
- How did the teacher demonstrate the teaching point?
- How did the students share in making meaning out of the lesson?
- How were the students trying out the writing strategy in their independent writing? How will they be able to transfer what they learned today (i.e., in the minilesson, during a writing conference, and/or in a strategy lesson) to another piece of writing?
- How did the teacher help writers engage in conversation (during a writing conference) to help them as writers rather than just help the piece of writing the student was working on today?
- How did the teacher provide opportunities for young writers to make reading-writing connections?
- What’s something new you learned today?
- How was today’s lab site helpful?
- How will today’s session impact the writing workshop you lead?
Just like the video studies we did in New York, debriefs of lab sites also provide the classroom teacher with ample time to talk about and reflect on his/her practice.
If you’d like to take a look at the note-taking and reflection form I use attendees, click here to view it.
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The session was very powerful and worthwhile. I came away with many ideas and changes to my own teaching. I have also decided to video myself and reflect on what I am doing in the classroom. Thanks Erik and Stacey for making us all better writing teachers!
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Stacey – I facilitate the Lab Teacher Program for our district. It’s powerful. Giving teachers the time and tools to be more reflective is one of the most important things we do as coaches, I think.
I’m wondering if you’ll blog more about the mini-lesson format you wrote about? You have me curious….
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@dmurphy: Check out this old post on minilesson format, https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/back-to-basics-minilesson-parts-part-of-twts-bigpicture-series/.
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Being the teacher that was part of the lab site yesterday, I learned a great amount being a teacher of writing and my teaching. Call me a dork but I loved being a part of this lab with teachers from my district and Stacey. A week before the event, I had to send my minilesson to Stacey to look over. Around fifteen emails back and forth about the lesson, I finally had a well looking lesson for my students.
The lab was great in part because the technology of using an iPad and laptop to Facetime worked as it should have for the teachers to peak into my classroom. After the lesson and workshop time, Stacey lead the conversation using the above questions which helped me listen and explain the my thinking. Thankfully, the teachers shared some things they learned and made suggestions for other parts of the lesson.
Overall, it was a great experience that I would suggest you try and set up in your district. I suggest using the evaluation form Stacey posted so that teachers can document their thinking as they observe the lesson. It helps drive the conversation that takes place after the lesson.
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@Erik: Thanks for your kind comments. I’m thankful you opened up your classroom for the lab site. We all learned a lot on Thursday!
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Love the questions. We have used a simple reflection that that we have used that comes out of the arts. The questions are easy but powerful if you stick to them. 1. What did you notice? (Important to just notice – no judgement! Facilitator needs to coach for no judgement. It is hard to just notice .). 3. What connections can you make to this work? 4. What questions do you have? 5. If the presenting teacher wants feedback – them we move into first warm feedback. Then cool feedback – always and only in the form of a question. If it is not a feedback session we have the teacher then answer any questions that were raise that they want to answer.
I alway find it interesting to see how people reflect on their work.
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The questions you ask about what you observed in the workshop are questions I need to pause and ask myself at the end of every workshop. Thanks for posting this, Stacey.
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@Tara: You know, I hadn’t thought about using them for self-reflection, but I think you’re on to something. That’s a great idea, Tara!
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I was a literacy lab teacher in my district for many years before moving into my current coaching position. I loved the lab setting for PD… I learned so much by going into others’ classrooms as well as the observations of those who visited mine. Embedded PD such as this is incredibly powerful.
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This will be helpful when I do a video session with my interns, Stacey. Thank you for explaining through the background & for the form as well. I also like the idea of ‘example’ vs ‘exemplar’-they will be nervous enough, so the terms will be useful.
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Really love this idea. It’s fairly simple, yet gives ideas and strategies quickly and effectively. Nice way to use PD time.
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