Advanced Training for Reading First Coaches Section 4 Facilitating Meetings

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Advanced Trainingfor Reading First Coaches
Section 4 Facilitating Meetings
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Facilitating Meetings

• Getting Improved Results From..
• Teacher Meetings
• Principal Meetings

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Facilitating MeetingsContent

• Revisit What You Know
• Seven Powerful Procedures for Successful Meetings
  
• Sharpen Your Skills
• Dynamic Teacher Meetings
• Effective Principal Meetings
• Consider Tips and Cautions
• Determine Next Steps

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Facilitating Meetings

• CONSIDER

• Leading Team Efforts/Sharing Leadership
• How do you use meeting structures to lead in a
  way that uses time well and engages people in
  achieving improved results?

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Facilitating Meetings

• Which ongoing meetings are essential?
• Which are as productive as you would like?
• CONSIDER regular meetings
• With grade level teams
• With your buildings reading leadership team
• With your principal
• With other groups

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Facilitating Meetings

• Revisiting What You Know

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Facilitating Meetings

• THE PROCESS Powerful Procedures
• Focus/Communicating Goals
• Meeting Structures/Roles
• Group Process
• Shared Leadership/Planning
• Follow-Up
• Research Base/Professional Development
• Motivation/Celebration

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Facilitating Meetings CONSIDER
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Powerful Procedures Focus/Communicating Goals

• Questions to Consider
• What is our focus?
• Over time?
• At each meeting?
• How do we keep our goals visible?

Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment
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Powerful Procedures VISION The First Step in
Focusing

• Revisit the Reading First vision for your school.
• How can you align this vision with the actions
  you will take within your classrooms?
• How can you help your team(s) envision what will
  drive their work for the school year?
• We can make each student in
• our care a successful reader!

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Powerful ProceduresAchievement Goals

• Put Your Vision into Action by
• Setting high expectations for the achievement of
  your students
• Translating those expectations into specific
  goals
• Knowing what it takes to reach those goals
• Sharing responsibility for ALL students at each
  grade level reaching those goals

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Powerful ProceduresMeeting Structure/Roles
Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment

• Questions to Consider
• What predictable procedures organize our work?
• Who does what?
• How can I make sure each meeting will maintain
  its focus?

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Powerful Procedures Meeting Structure/Roles

• Remind
• Discuss
• Inform
• Train
• Demonstrate
• Brainstorm
• Plan
• Organize
• Solve
• Update
• Encourage
• Recognize

• Organizing the Work Around
• DATA
• INSTRUCTION
• MATERIALS
• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• PROBLEM SOLVING and ACTION PLANNING
• CELEBRATION

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Powerful Procedures Meeting Structure/Roles

• Participant Roles
• Facilitator
• Time Keeper
• Recorder
• Engaged Participant
• Roles can be rotated as the group decides.

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Powerful Procedures An Agenda is Essential

• Provides a targeted focus for the meeting
• Communicates important information
• Ensures that all information is covered
• Gives participants an opportunity to come to the
  meeting prepared

Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment
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Powerful Procedures Group Process

• Questions to Consider
• How do I help groups work together?
• How do we solve problems?
• How can we manage the little time we have?

Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment
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Powerful Procedures Working Together

• NORMS can be useful to you .
• IF they are truly the standards for how you agree
  to operate while you are in a group.
• IF they are jointly developed and owned by each
  team member.
• IF they are available and used early on by
  members when standards are not being met.

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Powerful Procedures Time Management

• TIME
• How
• do we manage
• the little time we have?

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Powerful Procedures Shared Leadership/Planning

• Questions to Consider
• What are our student achievement goals?
• Are they the stretch we need?
• How are we doing?
• Are our actions getting us where we want to go?
• What needs to change?

Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment
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Powerful ProceduresAppropriate Stretch

• It is not enough to simply move students forward
• Do your goals bridge the gap between where
  students are and where they need to be?

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Instructional Planning
Area for Action Plan New Summer 1 New Mid-Year 2 Action to Be Taken Person Responsible Report on Progress of Implementation
Materials and Instructional Practices
Time/ Coverage/ Mastery and Grouping Practices
Assessment Practices
Data Utilization Practices
Schoolwide Organization and Support
Professional Development
Principal and District Leadership
Reading First Coach
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Powerful Procedures Follow-Up

• Questions to Consider
• What steps need to be taken?
• Who needs to know what to help us meet our
  student achievement goals?
• How do we make these things happen?

Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment
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Powerful Procedures Research Base/PD

• Questions To Consider
• What does research say about what we need to do?
• What do we need to know to do our jobs better?
• What new skills will help us get our kids to
  benchmark?
• Research is the lens through
• which we view our work.

Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment
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Powerful Procedures Bringing Research to the
Table

• Professional conversation centered around best
  practices that are proven to work.
• A high-quality meeting will bring research into
  the discussion.
• Professional publications
• Research articles

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When Is Help Needed with Professional Development?

• If a team is at its wits end, plans arent
  working, and no one knows of resources that will
  address the problem
• it is time to ask for help!
• Consultants
• Technical Assistant Providers
• Publisher Training

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Powerful Procedures Motivation/Empowerment
Focus/ Communicating Goals Meeting
Structure/Roles Group Process Shared Leadership/
Planning Follow-Up Research Base/ Professional
Development Motivation/ Empowerment
Questions to Consider How do we stretch and
celebrate? At each meeting? Over time?
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Revisiting What You KnowPowerful Procedures
Reflection

• Reflect on what you have in place and what needs
  work within the meeting procedures you use
• Turn and Talk with a partner

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Facilitating Meetings

• Sharpening Your Skills

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Sharpening Your SkillsPart 1 Teacher Meetings

• The Focus
• Four Key Elements within Meeting Agendas that
  will Yield Improved Results
• Partner Activity Analysis/Reflection
• Gallery Walk Best Practices/Areas Needing
  Improvement

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Facilitating Meetings Ask the Experts

• A teacher is verbally negative to each new idea
  and often blames the students, families, or
  society for low achievement. Her comments often
  pull us away from our agenda and prevent us from
  having a successful meeting. Help! What do I do?

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AgendasKey Elements That Will Improve Results

• Focus on Data
• Clear Expectations
• Roles
• Time
• Follow-up Strategies
• Action Steps/Accountability

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AgendasFocus on Data

• Your teachers need to know
• What data to bring to each meeting
• What format for analysis will be used
  consistently
• How teachers will turn the analysis into program
  delivery and intervention decisions

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Agendas Clear Expectations Roles/Use of Time

• Roles
• Teachers need to know who is responsible for
• Facilitating
• Recording
• Reporting out
• Taking action
• Use of Time
• Facilitators need to help the group
• Stay within your projected timeframes
• Complete priority items
• Stay focused on student achievement
• Realize the urgency of their work together

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AgendasFollow-Up Strategies

• Information from your meetings needs to be
• Recorded
• Shared in a timely way
• Put in the hands of all those who are responsible
  for the results of your students
• Reviewed over time by you and your principal

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Agendas Action Steps/Accountability

• Your meetings need to result in specific action
  steps that tell
• Who has agreed to do what
• How agreements will be monitored
• How you will know you are successful
• Your action steps need to directly relate to what
  your student data show.

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Sharpening Your Skills Teacher Meetings

• Meeting Agendas REFLECTION
• LOOK FOR
• Focus on data
• Follow-up strategies
• Clear expectations roles and use of time
• Action steps/accountability
• Examples

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Teacher MeetingsIndividual Reflection

• Brainstorm generalizations from the sample
  agendas that will help you improve results.
• What three things can you do to improve your use
  of meeting agendas?

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Teacher MeetingsOther Key Elements

• Preparation Be sure
• Agenda is organized
• Agenda is sent out ahead of time
• Reminders are sent regarding...
• date/time
• what to bring
• who has responsibility for what
• Support is provided
• To brainstorm issues prior to meetings
• To prepare scenarios

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Teacher MeetingsOther Key Elements

• USING TIME
• Best Strategy Meeting Format or
• Written Communication?
• Meeting Frequency/Time
• Common Planning Time for Teachers
• Periodic Extended Meeting Times
• Strategic Use of Time Over the Year
• Timed Agendas

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Teacher MeetingsOther Key Elements

• USING TIME
• 90 focus on student achievement goals
• 2-minute vent
• Applying the bell to bell rule to your team
  meetings
• Quick demonstrations

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Facilitating Meetings Ask the Experts

• We have meeting NORMS about coming prepared. I
  have reinforced these expectations. Yet I have
  three teachers who consistently show up late
  without any preparation on student data. Help!
  What do I do?

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Teacher MeetingsOther Key Elements

• Reward, Recognition and Celebration No Longer
  An Option
• Research and common sense point hard to the
  supreme importance of continuously recognizing
  and celebrating specific, short-term
  accomplishments that bring us closer to our
  goals.
• Schmoker, 2006

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Teacher MeetingsOther Key Elements

• Motivation and Recognition
• Highlights of good practices
• Sizzle and Fizzle
• Host teacher/
• Grade Level Team Meeting celebrations
• Modeling enthusiasm for positive change
• Keeping the goal in front of us

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Sharpening Your Skills Part 2 Principal
Meetings

• The Focus
• Making sure principal meetings are used
  effectively to achieve improved results for
  students
• Reflect on ideal principal/coach working
  relationships
• Deepen understanding about how effective
  principal meetings can lead to results
• Consider some experience-based tips and cautions

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The Role of the Principal in Reading First

• There seems little doubt that both district and
  school leadership provide a critical bridge
  between most educational reform initiatives and
  their consequences for students.
• Leithwood et. al., 2004
• The work of coaching is highly localized and the
  principal plays a key role in the program.
• Neufield and Roper, 2003
• Coaches identified their relationship with the
  principal as a key factor for success.
• Bean and Zigmond, 2006

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Sharpening Your Skills Principal Meetings

• Ideal Reading First Principal/Coach Leadership
• Six Key Aspects
• Shared vision and goals for Reading First
  performance
• Clear roles and responsibilities
• Joint efforts at instructional leadership
• Collaborative focus on data
• Active roles in grade level meetings
• Sense of urgency to improve reading achievement

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Sharpening Your Skills Ideal Relationship

• REFLECT
• On your current principal/coach working
  relationship in each of the six areas by rating
  each with a plus () or a minus (-).

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Principal MeetingsFour Key Strategies

• Making Sure you are Working Together
• You can use meetings to
• Clarify/maintain focus on Reading First
• Involve the principal in key teacher meetings
• Build knowledge over time
• Promote sustainability

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Principal MeetingsFour Key Strategies

• Clarify/maintain focus on Reading First
• Primary focus student data and changes in
  teacher behaviors
• Clarifications about your own job
  description/role
• Regular review of your work with teachers at each
  grade level
• Need for additional supports

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Principal MeetingsFour Key Strategies

• Involve the principal in key teacher meetings
• Principal will
• Address specific teacher issues
• Remind staff of the broader influence of Reading
  First
• Attend grade level team meetings, data meetings,
  curriculum/staff development meetings

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Principal MeetingsFour Key Strategies

• Build knowledge over time
• Short bursts of Professional Development
• Open-ended discussions
• Explanations about student data
• Brief research articles

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Principal MeetingsFour Key Strategies

• Promote sustainability
• Prepare for decrease in funding
• Build capacity
• Share forms you use, e.g., classroom observation
  tools

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Facilitating Meetings Ask the Experts

• Im beginning the year with a new principal who
  was just transferred from the middle school. She
  has been a successful principal, but knows little
  about Reading First or teaching reading to K-3
  students. Shes starting to do classroom
  observations and Im concerned about the feedback
  shes giving to teachers. Help! What do I do?

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Part 2 Principal MeetingsRoles and
Responsibilities

• Principal/Coach Distribution of Responsibilities
• What is Working?
• What Needs Work?
• Possible agenda items for Next Principal Meeting
• Group Share Principal meeting agenda items

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Facilitating Meetings

• Tips and Cautions

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TipsTeacher Meetings

• Including the Right People
• Leadership team
• Interventionists
• Reading specialists
• Special education teachers
• Speech and language pathologists
• English as a second language providers
• District personnel
• Parents

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Cautions Teacher Meetings

• Meeting resistance
• Careful consideration of protected time

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TipsNetworking with other Coaches

• Monthly meetings to share ideas
• Networking ideas for solving tough problems
• Practicing/role playing communication challenges

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Tips and Cautions Principal Meetings

• Frequency
• Schedule at least once per month/once per week if
  needed
• Reconfirm
• Length/Preparation
• 30 - 60 minutes
• Bring two copies of data
• Timing
• Be flexible/reschedule as needed

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Facilitating Meetings Ask the Experts

• I have scheduled meetings with my principal for
  the entire spring semester, but this is the third
  time the principal has canceled the first
  meeting. I have had to press her for a time to
  reschedule after each cancellation. There are
  many important topics to address including the
  discussion of mid-year data and upcoming
  professional development needs. Help! What do I
  do?

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TIPS and CAUTIONS Effective Principal
Meetings

• Be prepared with an agenda
• Make sure agenda follows same rules as those for
  teacher meetings
• Focus on data
• Action steps/accountability
• Use caution about teacher trust issues
• Avoid being known as principals eyes and ears

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Facilitating Meetings

• Final Reflection Think of a principal or
  teacher meeting that did not go well. What have
  you learned today that would have helped?
• Turn and Talk Share your reflection with a
  partner.
• Next Steps What meeting facilitation skills
  will I work on?

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Facilitating Meetings The Final Point

• If you put a good teacher up against a weak
  system, the system will win every time.
• Schmoker, 2006
• We as coaches need to understand systems and
  sharpen the ways we work within them in order to
  achieve improved results.