Support Meetings

Start each Support Meeting with a few minutes for people to share "success stories". It will get the group talking and provide a positive start to the meeting. Try it - it works.

Source: Jim, Park Lakes Elementary

The Good Teacher

305 Broward County Elementary School students were ask to list five characteristics of a “Good Teacher”. The students identified 48 attributes, behaviors, and attitudes they like to see a teacher demonstrate. The chart represents the top 8 characteristics that the students identified most often in their responses. The percentages are a comparison of the 8 characteristics identified by the students. The survey results are not scientific but could be used by your faculty for developing a common language and understanding of “Good Teaching” and what it means to your staff and the students at their school.

The following is an agenda you could use for a faculty or a department/grade level meeting.

1. Ask the group to brainstorm, What are the characteristics of an “Effective Teacher”?
2. Next, share what the State and District have identified as the characteristics of an “Effective Teacher” and the responses by the students above or your own students.
3. Then have the group reexamine their list and discuss any possible additions or revisions.
4. Finally, have the group identify the top five characteristics of an “Effective Teacher”.
5. A possible follow-up could be using future meetings to discuss those characteristics and what they look like in real practice.

Study Group Protocol: Diversity Begins at Birth

Most of us believe that everyone looks at the world the same way with just a few minor differences. This may not be a true assumption. Dr. Kevin Leman author of The Birth Order Book says that there are some recognizable differences in patterns of behavior in people that are partially due to the order of their placement in the family. It is a fascinating field of study, and certainly worth exploring if one works with children and families.

Procedures
1. Explain to participants that: birth order plays a role in our development; there are often common experiences and feelings shared by people of the same birth order; this is an opportunity for us to discover those commonalties.
2. Ask participants to gather themselves into four corners of the room by the following birth orders:

• oldest child,
• youngest child,
• middle child,
• and only child.

Explain that middle means anyone who is not an oldest, youngest, or only child.

3. After participants move to their corner's ask them to identify a recorder and a presenter. The recorder writes down the major points of the discussion and the presenter will share the team’s discussion with the large group.
4. Then the team shares their experiences as the (oldest child, youngest child, middle child, or only child) in their family with each other identifying commonalities for the recorder.

5. Next the team answers and records their agreed-upon responses to the following questions:

• What were the advantages of being a _________ child?
• What were the disadvantages of being a _________ child?

4. When each team is ready, ask the persenter in each team to share the responses with the large group.

Question for Debriefing:
1. If birth order has such an effect on a person’s behavior, “What effect would race, religion, cultural, and ethnic background have on a person’s behavior?”
2. Knowing this, “What is a teacher’s responsibility in dealing with diversity in the classroom?”

Leman, Kevin (1985) The Birth Order Book. New York: dell Publishing

Study Group Activity: Exploring HRD Podcasts and the Induction e-Letter

Purpose: Help teachers access and explore the Podcast and the Induction-e-Letter Blog on the HRD website.

Preparation: Meeting should be in a computer lab or ask participants to bring their laptops to a wireless location.

Access: Demonstrate how to enter the HRD website.
1. Start at www.browardschools.com
2. Click Departments on left side of webpage
3. Click HRD-Professional Development
4. On the HRD Homepage - Click the Teachers bottom in the row near the top of the page
You are now on the HRD teacher homepage and can enter the Blogs.

Demonstrate Navigating Blogs: There are three ways to navigate a blog. The first method is chronological, assess articles or podcasts as they were entered in the blog; second method is enter a search word or phrase, same process when using search engines on the internet; and third is using the label cloud, assess articles using pre-selected search words.

Activity: Ask the participants to use all three methods to search each blog. Each time they use a search method they will view the podcast or read the article and leave a comment. Once everyone has viewed three podcasts, read three articles, and left their comments; they will recommend one of the podcasts or articles to the group and explain why they recommended it.

Debrief: How can blogs like these enhance a teachers practice?
Approximate time of activity: 45 minutes to 1 hour
Source: Joann Finnagin, South Broward High

SUPPORT GROUP ACTIVITY: Getting Started

I used a technique from The Power of Protocols, at the first meeting of our NESS support group and I think it really helped to set a tone of individual ownership in the process and cooperation in the group.

1. After introductions, and before setting any rules or agenda, group participants into teams of 4 or 5. Ask each team to write down responses to the following prompt: If this support group is the worst experience I have ever had, what will have happened or not happened? [This was really effective. Evidently people were thinking about this!!!]

2. After sufficient time to write the "negatives," ask the participants to write responses to this prompt: If this support group is the best group experience I have ever had, what will have happened or not happened?

3. After members record their responses ask each team to share what they have charted. Discuss the responses and how they should apply to the Support Group meetings.

4. Finally, ask members, “What norms do we need for our group in order to ensure that we have the best experience possible?” Then begin to chart the group norms (ground rules).
Source: Les Baker, South Area Student Services

Support Group Activity: Surfing the Net

Objectives:
• To explore the internet for resources on teaching and learning
• To use internet resources and web resources for teaching and learning

Materials:
A computer lab with a computer for each participant (or each pair – of participants)

Essential Question:
How can the Internet be used to improve a teacher’s practice?

Procedures:
Step 1 – The group brainstorms educational terms or phrases for searching the Internet. (Terms such as Classroom Management, FCAT, instruction strategies and so on.) Chart responses.
Step 2 – The group determines criteria for selecting a useful website. (For example, easy to navigate, relevant content.) Chart criteria.
Step 2 - The group has 30 minutes to explore the Internet using the search words from the brainstorming list.
Step 3 - Each participate will use the criteria to select at least two promising sites.
Step 4 – Each participate shares one site they selected and why they selected it as a promising site. (If you have a large group, divide the group into teams of four to share, then the teams can present one of the sites they discussed to the large group.)
Step 5 - Closing Questions: How can this activity help improve a teacher’s practice?

Source: Dr. Amy Tsukuda

Classroom Safari - Support Group Activity

The purpose of this activity is to examine how a teacher's arrange of classroom furniture influence student behavior.

Objectives:

1. Diagram the furniture arrangements in four classrooms
   
2. Discuss the effect of furniture arrangement on student behavior
   
3. Discuss the instructional strategies that work best with each room arrangement

Note: Facilitator pre-selects rooms with different furniture arrangements. Provide paper to diagram furniture arrangements.

Procedure: Take your support group on a tour of 4 classrooms at your site. In each room ask the participants to:

1. Describe the possible effect of each classroom’s furniture arrangement on student behavior.
2. Identify the instructional strategies that are most effective for that room arrangement.
3. Chart feedback, the teams should be prepared to give reasons for their responses.
4. Move to the next room and repeat the process.

Debriefing:
Ask each participant to think about how the furniture is arranged in your classroom and its possible influence on students.

1. What is one thing about your room arrangement that has a positive influence on student behavior?
2. What is one thing you would like to change about the furniture arrange in your room and how will that influence student behavior?

Source: Dr. Doug Miller

The Effective Teacher: A Study Group Protocol

One of the first priorities in working with new teachers at your site is developing a common language and vision concerning effective teaching behaviors. One way to begin the process is during orientation, a study group, or learning community ask the group to brainstorm the traits of an effective teacher, while they brainstorm record their ideas and thoughts on chart paper.

After the group completes the brainstorming process distribute the list of effective teaching behaviors listed in the Florida Performance Measurement System, the Domains, and/or the Classroom walk Through. Next, ask the group to compare the ideas in their brainstorming list with the lists provided by the State or District.Finally, ask each person to share one item that was on both lists and one item that was on one list but not the other that they believe has a significant impact on teacher effectiveness.

Here are some questions that may help the new teachers articulate the traits of an effective teacher.

• What knowledge do effective teachers possess?
• What skills do effective teachers possess?
• What attributes do effective teachers demonstrate?
• What attitudes do effective teachers display?
• What behaviors do effective teachers show?
• What do effective teachers look like and sound like?
Reflective/Follow-up question: How can this activity add value to my practice?
This is not the only way to identify effective teaching behaviors. Please use the comments section to share other activities that will help new teacher build a common vocabulary.
Source: Doug Miller

Consequences Protocol

Effective Liaisons recognize the importance of using activities that are energizing and create intense discussion. Here is a suggestion for your next Support Group/Learning Community meeting.

1. The whole group brainstorms and charts student behaviors that tend to disrupt the academic flow of a classroom. (The following are some ideas to get the group started. Students: chewing gum, tardy, out of seats, turning in sloppy work, etc.)
   
2. Then divide the group into teams the New Educators vs. the Instructional Coaches. (If you have a large group make multiple groups of New Educators and Instructional Coaches.) 
   
3. The teams will then discuss what they would do if the student exhibited each behavior on the brainstorm list. (You may want to time this section.)
   
4. Finally, let the New Educators share first and then the Instructional Coaches share their responses.
   
5. Debrief: How were the responses of the New Educators and the Instructional Coaches alike? How were they different? How do these types of discussions help New Educators? How do these discussions help Instructional Coaches?
   

Warning: On rare occasions ICs get carried away trying to impress the NEs with how tough they are, so prior to the meeting encourage ICs to recommend consequences they really use.
Source: Dr. Doug Miller