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On-Site Support and Coaching

Grade-Level Meetings, Demonstration Lessons, and Coaching

According to Joyce and Showers (1995) and Collins (1997),
coaching is the most powerful model for creating learning that has a significant and enduring impact.

Grade-Level Meetings give teachers who have been trained in The Write Tools a chance to ask questions, share student samples, and review particular strategies. It is also a great opportunity to brainstorm instructional bumps they may have encountered, as well as to do lesson planning. These meetings provide a perfect opportunity to match strategies with grade-level state standards and district expectations.

Demonstration Lessons offer teachers an opportunity to observe a strategy being taught in a classroom by one of our professional trainers. Usually all teachers at that grade level attend. As important as the lesson is the debriefing session that follows. During that time, the sequence of the lesson is analyzed and follow-up lessons are planned.

Coaching is the third tier of on-site support. Teachers plan a lesson with their grade-level peers, then deliver the lesson to students while peers and one of our professional trainers observe. Following the lesson, a debriefing session occurs during which teachers process the sequence of the lesson, analyze student performance, and plan future instruction.

All of these support days can be scheduled during student contact days. These on-site support days cement the concepts learned in the workshops. One school commented that they were “what made staff development stick.”