Changing

Instructional

Practice and

Building a Culture of

Collaboration

MASSP EdCon 2014

Conta

ct

Info

rmati

on

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 a

nd H

att

ie s

ay

the T

EA

CH

ER

is t

he m

ost

import

ant

vari

able

in

wheth

er

or

not

a s

tudent

learn

s.

Therefore, the instructional decisions

made by teachers every lesson matter…BIG TIME.

What does

collaboration

currently look like

in your school?

Question 3:

Key

Learn

ing

Goals

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

ional

Model

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 H

HS

Inst

ruct

ional M

odel

“I do it”

“You do it alone”

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

Independent Learning

Direct Instruction

Direct Instruction

“I do it”

Guided Instruction

“We do it”

Collaborative Learning

“You do it together”

SH

IFTIN

G T

HE

CO

GN

ITIV

E L

OA

D

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

Taki

ng t

he F

irst

Ste

ps

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

ional

Rounds

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 D

o

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 D

ebri

ef

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.

Imple

menta

tion

Pla

n

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 H

HS

Inst

ruct

ional M

odel

“I do it”

“You do it alone”

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

Independent Learning

Direct Instruction

Direct Instruction

“I do it”

Guided Instruction

“We do it”

Collaborative Learning

“You do it together”

SH

IFTIN

G T

HE

CO

GN

ITIV

E L

OA

D

*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 B

olt

s

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.

Revi

siti

ng t

he

Quest

ions Could Instructional

Rounds or a model like

it benefit your school,

the collaboration in your building, and teacher expertise?

The R

esu

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!