Changing

Instructional

Practice and

Building a Culture of

Collaboration

MASSP EdCon 2014

Cont

act

Info

rmat

ion

Ben Mainka, PrincipalHartland High School

benmainka@hartlandschools.us

If you could create the

perfect school, what

are a few of the key

elements that would

exist?

Question 1:

If you could

change just one

thing in your

building what

would it be?

Question 2:

Marz

ano

and

Hatti

e sa

y th

e TE

ACHE

R is

the

mos

t im

porta

nt v

aria

ble

in

whet

her o

r not

a st

uden

t le

arns

.

Therefore, the instructional decisions made by teachers every lesson matter…BIG TIME.

What does

collaboration

currently look like

in your school?

Question 3:

Key

Lear

ning

Go

als

1. See how you can to help ALL

teachers in your building increase

instructional skill/proficiency right

away - The most important

function of a teacher!2. Develop ways to help teachers to

work as a team and collaborate

consistently in secondary classrooms.3. Learn how to monitor, provide

feedback, and implement the

Gradual Release of Responsibility

Instructional Model (Fisher &

Frey).

The

Inst

ruct

iona

l Mo

del

At HHS we knew we needed a consistent instructional model that was easy to grasp and made sense for ALL teachers.” This is critical for the

formulation of a common language as well as an anchor for feedback.”

The

HHS

Inst

ruct

iona

l Mod

el“I do it”

“You do it alone”

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

Independent Learning

Direct InstructionDirect Instruction

“I do it”

Guided Instruction“We do it”

Collaborative Learning“You do it together”

SHIF

TING

THE

COG

NITI

VE LO

AD

*Taken from Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, Fisher and Frey (2008)

Takin

g th

e Fir

st

Step

s

Once we knew that we had a sound instructional model,

we decided that we would have barriers to implementation.”

We decided to utilize Instructional Rounds as a collaborative and learning format for teachers.”

Inst

ruct

iona

l Ro

unds

Instructional Rounds (IR) is

a teacher learning model adapted from medical rounds in hospitals by Richard Elmore. It involves teams of

teachers and administrators visiting teachers during instructional periods and then reflecting on the instruction that was observed.

Barriers are Present

Collaboration Barriers

How

Do W

e Do

It?

Model teachers are selected by the admin or recommended by staff. Teachers use a Google Doc to sign up

for one of three sessions to participate in. Teachers observe and

reflect/debrief in 2-hour chunks of time.

Try it out!IR Practice

The

Debr

ief

Some PD and modeling work needs to be done to

prep this phase. Teachers utilize a protocol

for sharing about the lesson. The protocol keeps people

on track and focused on instruction. Careful selection of model

teachers is critical to avoid hurt feelings.

Impl

emen

tatio

n Pl

an

Year 1 – Readiness and comfort in classroom observation. Year 2 – Focused

instructional feedback with purpose Year 3 – Targeted

rounds for parts of lessons or specific strategies/subjects.

The

HHS

Inst

ruct

iona

l Mod

el“I do it”

“You do it alone”

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

Independent Learning

Direct InstructionDirect Instruction

“I do it”

Guided Instruction“We do it”

Collaborative Learning“You do it together”

SHIF

TING

THE

COG

NITI

VE LO

AD

*Taken from Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, Fisher and Frey (2008)

Staff Meetings, PD, reading, watching others perform in the instructional model

Staff work with colleagues on how they could implement this, reflect on practice, and have expert teacher and/or administrator support

Staff implements instructional components into their own classroom and then teach for their colleagues to get feedback.

Nuts

and

Bol

ts

6 subs are hired each day we do IR ($600)

18 teachers get two hours of PD when we do IR Administrators are

present during IR, but are simply members of the learning team.

All teachers are required to participate.

Revis

iting

the

Ques

tions Could Instructional

Rounds or a model like it benefit your school, the collaboration in your building, and teacher expertise?

The

Resu

lts

Teachers are talking more about instruction in our building than EVER before. Common language is

being solidified and carried over in the evaluation process.

Collaboration has led to many instructional improvements for ALL teachers.

What Questions

Do You Have?Thank you for attending!