Teacher Collaborative Routines Resources

How Teachers Can Use Reflection to Elevate Achievement

Summary  
Teachers who make it a routine to reflect on their lessons, in turn, have a positive impact on teaching and learning for their students. Reflecting on lessons is the metacognitive side of instruction, and it supports teachers in becoming stronger decision-makers. This article provides recommendations and resources for how to reflect on a lesson using Elevated Achievement’s Learning Model.

Kennedy, J. (n.d.).  How teachers can use reflection to elevate achievement. Elevated Achievement Group.

The Power of Collective Efficacy

  • The article can be used by building leaders to ground staff discussions around collective efficacy, school culture, and the impact that educator beliefs have on student outcomes. It could also be used by central office leaders with building leaders to center discussions around the impact of leaders on the school culture and collective efficacy.

Summary  
The concept of collective efficacy has been studied since the 1970s and has recently been reexamined by Jenni Donohoo, John Hattie, and Rachel Eels in their article The Power of Collective Efficacy. The article summarizes the early research and outlines how school leaders play a large role in building collective teacher efficacy.

Donohoo, J., Hattie, J., & Eells, R. (2018). The power of collective efficacy. Educational Leadership, 75(6), 40-44.

School Reform Initiative (n.d.) Protocols. https://www.schoolreforminitiative.org/protocols/

Collaborative Team Feedback

Summary
The four resources provide different options for collaborative teams to use to gather feedback on their use of collaboration time. Two of the options are surveys of their own perception on their use of collaboration. The other two resources are intended as feedback forms to be used by a building leader after visiting a collaborative team meeting. Gathering and analyzing team perception data and data from an outside observer help collaborative teams to monitor the progress of team effectiveness.

General Protocols

Summary  
School Reform Initiative and the National School Reform Faculty website include hundreds of protocols that offer structured processes to support focused and productive conversations, build collective understanding, and drive school improvement. Thoughtful use of these protocols is an integral part of building resilient professional learning communities.

  • Protocols are intentional structures that promote collaborative work. Protocols enable group members to have meaningful, sustained conversations about teaching and learning. They are structured to allow equity of voice and meaningful dialogue. Using a protocol reminds you to embrace a growth mindset and maintain a culture of learning and collective responsibility. Protocols also keep a focused lens on the purpose of looking at the data without getting bogged down by minute details.

  • Teacher Collaborative Routines Readiness and Planning Actions: Protocols

    The use of protocols compliments each practice found within Teacher Collaborative Routines

National School Reform Faculty (n.d.). Protocols. https://nsrfharmony.org/protocols/

School Reform Initiative. (n.d.). Protocols. https://www.schoolreforminitiative.org/protocols/

Collaborative Inquiry Action Research Protocol & Template

Summary  
“Collaborative inquiry provides a systematic approach for educators to identify professional dilemmas and determine resolutions through shared inquiry, problem solving, and reflection” (Donohoo, 2017). This resource, adapted from the research of Jenni Donohoo, provides practitioners with both a protocol and a template for conducting collaborative inquiry.

Donohoo, J. (2017). Collective efficacy: How educators' beliefs impact student learning. Corwin Press. 

MISA London. (2015, April 10). Introduction to collaborative inquiry [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brBce5STwWA&t=68s

Student Work Context Protocol

Summary  
This protocol asks for a brief description of the student work sample, the assignment or unit of study, and whatever additional teacher guides, assessments, and/or rubrics accompany the work. The teacher shares their question(s) of concern and why they are bringing this work sample to the group.

School Reform Initiative. (n.d.). Protocols. https://www.schoolreforminitiative.org/protocols/

Using Data to Support Teacher and Student Growth

Summary
This 4:14 video demonstrates how by tracking progress and building on it, a culture of improvement is created for the entire school.

Edutopia. (2019, May 10). Using data to support teacher and student growth [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhMkqjbiSaA&list=WL&index=6

60-Second Strategies

Summary
This is a series of short videos that break down effective classroom practices in literally one minute. As of January 17, 2023 there are 32 videos in this playlist.

Edutopia. (2022, May 3). 60-Second Strategies [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL10g2YT_ln2hGQkIsIJxXMLY7wv6kFIUF

Collaborative Planning: Empowering Teachers

Summary
Imagine Schools’ teachers participate in collaborative planning within their grade levels – and across grades – to create a common, coherent, viable curriculum centered on rigorous content. They make informed decisions to acquire the best tools and resources for each student. Teachers plan learning experiences that lead to comprehensive student understanding. 

Unit planning that makes cross-curricular connections is an essential collaborative planning step for the team for schools that might have departmentalized grade levels. For teams where teachers teach all subjects, it is important to delegate a leader for each subject area so that distribution of work and development of expertise improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the team.

In this video, teachers in a third-grade team are led by a facilitator who poses guiding questions, holds the group accountable for their decisions by recording plans, keeps the activities grounded in grade-level standards, and provides avenues for teachers to continue their professional learning.

Imagine Schools. (2018, October 17). Collaborative planning: Empowering teachers [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Pn4zd-1cc

Feelings Count: Emotions and Learning

Summary
This video and additional resources introduce viewers to ways in which teachers can create an emotionally safe classroom to foster learning, and ways in which they can deal with emotions and conflicts that can be an obstacle to learning. Fifth grade teacher Kristin Bijur at San Francisco Community School, San Francisco, California, is featured, as well as eighth grade band teacher, Nancy Flanagan at Hartland Middle School, Hartland, Michigan. Daniel B. Goleman, Ph.D., author of the book Emotional Intelligence, and Yale University Professor James P. Comer offer expert commentary on the subject.

Annenberg Foundation. (2023). The Learning Classroom: Theory into Practice. Feelings Count: Emotions and Learning. https://www.learner.org/series/the-learning-classroom-theory-into-practice/feelings-count-emotions-and-learning/

The Peril of Teacher Collaboration

Summary
This video demonstrates what can happen when teachers have collaboration time without the knowledge, skills, and clear expectations for how to use the time productively to impact the learning in the classroom.

  • This video could be used by a building leader to illustrate what might happen if expectations are not set for the use of collaborative time. The building leader could use the provided prompt for teachers to individually respond and then discuss as a whole group. This could be used as a precursor to the building leader setting expectations for collaborative time in their building.

Distance Learning Up Close:
Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting

Summary
The authors of The Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12: Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting, present strategies for teachers to use in their online classroom to engage their students. John Hattie says, “We have to remember it's not the medium that matters. It's the methods we use that matter. Distance is just a means to an end.”

Presented by: John Hattie, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey [56:57]

Hattie, J., Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2020, July 23). Distance learning up close: Teaching for engagement and impact in any setting [Webinar]. Corwin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzHTAfjjlU0