Grade Level Instructional Design Meetings

• April 30, 2011, 5:11 p.m.

Best Practices for Effective Meetings

Before the meeting:

1. Review the instructional guides for the upcoming weeks-What are the student expectations for word work, reading, and writing?
   1. What will students need to know and be able to do?
   2. How will the students be assessed?
2. Make a list of ideas for differentiating instruction
   1. Readiness Level—What are the prerequisite skill for this standard? What are the next grade level standards related to this student expectation?
   2. What materials can be used on the students' independent level?
   3. Interests—How can teachers relate the student expectation to topics of interest to the students? What metaphors or analogies can be used to connect students with the objective?
   4. Learning styles—What are some activities that will allow students to process the student expectation in a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic way?
   5. Brainstorm ways to use the Marzano strategies to teach the grade level expectations.
   6. Brainstorm research-based strategies to teach the objectives. Review professional resources and the reading anthology for ideas. 

At the meeting:

1. Review the instructional guide for the upcoming weeks. Ask: What are students going to need to know and be able to do? Make sure everyone has the same understanding of what the standards demand.
   1. Ask: What are students going to need to know and be able to do?
   2. Ask: How will the students be assessed on these expectations? Discuss which assessments can serve as grades for each student.
2. Share instructional activities that address the student expectations.
   1. Share ideas for differentiating instruction. Keep it quick and take notes of all ideas.

After the meeting:

1. Follow up with the other teachers within a week.
2. If you've promised materials, make sure you deliver.
3. Keep notes on grade level planning meetings. Be sure to document issues that have come to light in the meeting and outline a plan for addressing the issues.

Remember: Seek first to understand and then to be understood. (Covey) The one who does the talking does the learning.

Ask guiding questions that gets everyone sharing the task of thinking. If one persons tells everyone else what and how to do things, some may not be able to implement the instruction effectively in the classroom. Also, other teachers may not be able to explain and justify what they did to parents and administrators.

Happy teaching,
Kelly Harmon