On-Site Facilitation Institute

Long Branch Elementary School

November 12 & 14, 2008

DAY ONE

Developing a Conceptual and Experiential Understanding of Facilitation

OPENING MOVESGetting Started with Ready Schools Miami

Guiding Questions

• What tone do we want to establish at the start of a session?

• How can the activities we use to initiate a session help us set the tone for learning?

Introductions

1. “KWL”• One thing you know about facilitation?• A burning question you bring?• Something you want to make sure you learn by

the time you leave here?

2. Questions• What is the one thing you provide your students

that is special—unique to your teaching philosophy or style?

3. Zen Cards

4. Block Party

Agenda Review & Frame

• Why are we here?

• What are we going to learn?

• How are we going to learn it?

Intended Outcomes

• Understand the design principles and standards that make up the Ready Schools Miami Initiative;

• Understand the role of facilitation and develop facilitation skills to enhance collaboration among school faculty and staff;

• Facilitate protocols at school-wide sessions to increase collaboration within and across grade level teams, content area departments, and special area teachers;

• Understand the differences between leading a group/team and facilitating adult learning around DAP;

• Adopt an inquiry stance and work with school leadership to adapt school practices and policies in ways that improve school culture and increase student achievement for all students.

Suggested Agreements

• Acknowledge one another as equals.

• Speak from your heart.

• Get what you need.

• Assume good will.

• Trust the process.

• Expect it to be messy at times.

• Watch your “air time.”

Changing the Conversation

Why use protocols?

How can protocols help us change the way we talk to each other about our practice?

Listening as a Basic Skill in Collaboration

Dyad

Purpose:

To create a safe space to become better at listening and talking in depth. Constructivist listening dyads help us as we work through feelings, thoughts, and beliefs that sometimes produce anger, passivity, undermine confidence, or cause interference in relationships with students or colleagues.

Basic Principle

I agree to listen to and think about you for a fixed period of time in exchange for you doing the same for me. I keep in my mind that my listening is for your benefit so I do not ask questions for my information.

Guidelines

1. Each person is given equal time to talk. (Everyone deserves to be listened to.)

2. The listener does not interpret, paraphrase, analyze, give advice or break in with a personal story. (People can solve their own problems.)

3. Confidentiality is maintained. (People need to know they can be completely authentic.)

4. The talker does not criticize or complain about a listener(s) or about mutual colleagues during their time to talk. (A person cannot listen well when she/he is feeling attacked or defensive.)

Microlabs

1. Why did you decide to become an educator? What drew you to this profession?

2. Who is the one teacher—inside or outside of your formal schooling—who stands out as having made a difference in your life? If you could write to her or him right now, what is the one thing you would like to tell her/him?

3. When you think about your practice, what one element of it won’t you give up? What’s at the heart of what you do? What do you stand for?

SHIFT HAPPENSDistal to Proximal

Guiding Questions

• What are we most concerned about?

• What aspects of teaching and learning do we control?

• How do we go about improving teaching and learning?

CHALK TALKIdentifying Issues That Really Matter

What are the major issues we will have to address at our schools in order to significantly improve student learning?

TWO CONSTRUCTS

DISTAL

PROXIMAL

Working on proximal issues together provides us with an agenda for collaboration focused on improving teaching and learning.

Proximal Issues

Teaching Metaphors

When I’m at my best as a teacher, administrator, external facilitator I am…

Create

Draw a picture, symbol, or some other graphic representation of your metaphor.

Reflect

What guidance might this metaphor offer me in tough or sticky situations? What are the “shadows” of this metaphor?

Share

In triads or quads…

1.Present (3 min

2.Clarify (2 min.)

3.Discuss (5 min.)

4.Reflect (2 min.)

Debrief

• What did we learn?

• How did the process contribute to our learning?

• How might you use this process during a faculty meeting or any other staff gathering at your school? How might you modify it? Why?

HAVING “FUN”Team Builders that Deepen the Conversation

Compass Points

GROUP ACTIVITY

Acting—”Let’s do it;” likes to act, try things, plunge in.

Caring—likes to know that everyone’s feelings have been taken into consideration and that their voices have been heard before acting.

Speculating—likes to look at the big picture and the possibilities before acting.

Paying attention to detail—likes to know the who, what, when, where and why before acting.

1. What are the strengths of your style? (four adjectives)

2. What are the limitations of your style? (four adjectives)

3. What style do you find most difficult to work with and why?

4. What do people from the other “directions” or styles need to know about you so that you can work together effectively?

5. What do you value about the other styles?

Focus Questions

1. What important lesson do you take away from this experience?

2. How can these activities help us be more effective collaborators?

Debrief

Drilling Down

“Mining” Successes

Guiding Questions

• How can we support and enhance each other’s teaching?

• How can we facilitate learning conversations?

• What can we learn from sharing our successes?

Success Analysis

1. Write a short description of a success you have experienced related to teaching and learning. Describe the specifics of the success. Be sure to answer the question:

“What made this experience so different from others like it that I have had?”

Process

2. Present (3 min.)

3. Clarify (2 min.)

4. Analysis (5 min.)

5. Presenter Reflection (2 min.)

Break ‘n READ

Read “Ten Alternative Classrooms ” and identify passages that you feel have important connections to the work we are learning about at this session.

BUILDING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

Text-Based Protocols that Encourage Reflective Dialogue

Guiding Questions

• Why incorporate text-based activities at faculty gatherings?

• How can we use protocols to promote reflective dialogue around relevant texts?

TEXT PROTOCOLS

Final Word

Three Levels of Text Protocol

CLOSING MOVESEnding with the Beginning in Mind

Guiding Questions

• How do we connect one learning episode to the next?

• What can we learn from session reflections?

Home Learning

• Read one of the following…“Facilitating Groups” by Elizabeth Gillard

“Constructivist Facilitation: When Zen is Not Enough by Nancy Mohr

“The Zen of Facilitation” by Joellen P. Killion and Lynn A. Simmons

• Describe a teaching and learning dilemma that you have experienced so far this year.

• Review the “Consultancy Overview” document.

Session Reflections

• What are you taking away from today’s session?

• What do you still need to learn by the time you leave tomorrow?

• How can we help you learn it?

At amazon.com

DAY TWODeepening and Applying Our Learning

OPENING MOVES

Guiding Questions

• How does it feel to come together again today?

• How does collaboration build and sustain relationships?

• How are these relationships different from our current professional relationships?

Day 2: Connections Starters

Something I didn’t say yesterday…

A thought I had last night is…

Something I’m looking forward to is…

A question I’m bringing into our work today…

An insight I had as a result of our conversations yesterday…

A realization I had…

The “Rules”

• Speak if you want to.

• Don’t speak if you don’t want to.

• Speak only once until everyone else has had a chance.

• Listen and note what people say, but don’t respond. Connections is not a time for discussion.

REFLECTIONS REPORT

Agenda Review & Frame

• Why are we here?

• What are we going to learn?

• How are we going to learn it?

Suggested Agreements

• Acknowledge one another as equals.

• Speak from your heart.

• Get what you need.

• Assume good will.

• Trust the process.

• Expect it to be messy at times.

• Watch your “air time.”

Free-Form Mapping

• Present main ideas and interrelationships, using words, pictures, phrases, circles, squares, or whatever creative form best portrays the analysis.

• Each map will vary.

• The most important factor is the thinking process that goes into it as the group creates its unique illustration.

Process

1. Discuss reading and main ideas. (5 min.)

2. List main ideas and decide how best to present them. (5 min.)

3. Create the free-form map. (10 min.)

4. Share with whole group. (2 min.)

HAVING “FUN”Team Builders that Deepen the Conversation

Traffic Jam

Rules

1. Only one player may move at a time.

2. A player may only move forward. Players may not move backwards at any time during the game.

3. A player may only move to an open space.

4. A player may only “jump” past a player from the opposite side.

5. Players may talk.

6. You may start over (reboot) when the two sides get into a “traffic jam.”

Hints

• The total number of moves will always be one more than the total number of players, alternating moves from one side to the other.

• The number of moves begins with one move from one side (“A”), then two moves from the other side (“B”), increasing by one the number of moves each time until you reach a number of moves that is half the total number of players (e.g., 5 of 10, 4 of 8). Then, this number of moves (half the total number of players) is repeated twice more alternating sides always.

• Then the number of moves decreases by one move for each side until the players have switched sides completely.

Debrief

• How did it feel to be vulnerable and not to “know?”

• How do we currently deal with dilemmas of practice?

SUPPORTING EACH OTHER

Addressing Dilemmas

Guiding Questions

• How do teachers deal with classroom dilemmas?

• How can we help each other manage professional dilemmas and develop new insights about teaching and learning?

Dealing with “Drags”

1. Present (5 min.)

2. Clarify (3 min.)

3. Focused Discussion as Feedback (12 min.)

4. Presenter Reflects (2 min.)

5. Debrief (3 min.)

The Right Family

GROUP ACTIVITY

OPENING DOORS AND BUILDING TRUST

Teacher Talk

Learning (Ghost) Walk

Peer Observation

Video Camera

Interesting Moments

Focus Point

Guiding Questions

• What have I learned?

• How did I learn it?

• What do I want my colleagues to learn?

• How will I help them learn it?

Assessment Continuum

1. What knowledge and skills have I gained? How did I gain them?

2. What do I now know and feel comfortable doing?

3. Before I came I thought…now I think…and therefore I will…

CLOSING MOVESEnding with the Beginning in Mind

Session Reflections

• What did you learn that was significant?

• How will you put it to use?

• What is the first thing you will do when you get back to your school?

• How can we help you get started?

Contact Information

Pedro “Pete” R. Bermudez

pbermudez@childreadiness.org

305 646-7227 Office

305 798-5655 Cellular