1. Critical FriendsWI DPI EETT ARRA Grant MeetingJan.5, 2010 Mary Lou Ley mley@charter.net Tammy Stephens tstephens@thestephensgroup.com

2. Critical Friends Overview What is the critical friends process? How is this different from lesson sharing? What are the steps in doing this process? Model process What should you tell your team ahead of time? What are some common mistakes or frequently asked questions? What are the real benefits of this process? Facilitator Tips Construction/Sharing of your own Protocols

3. Sound Familiar? XXX will be qualified to use technology as a tool for teaching and learning and will increase their use of technology as a tool to support student academic achievement. XXX will demonstrate an increase in their proficiency in the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning. XXX increase their proficiency in the use of technology as a tool for learning and in the use of information inquiry for solving 21st century problems

4. You said, or will say, XXXXXXX will increase from a baseline of <insert number>percent to <insert number>percent by June 30, What’s the evidence?

5. The Search for Evidence of 4 Cs of 21st Century Literacy Connect/ Communicate Collaborate Create Contribute

6. Evidence Based Professional Development What’s the evidence? What changes? What’s the product?To Know, Develop Skills, & Apply to Classroom Practice

7. What’s the hard part? Making it your own Crafting knowledge of new skills and practices to fit the personal styles and values of practitioners in their applied settings Requires reinforcing evidence-based skill development and application of desired skills in the form of teaching practices with children (Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005).

8. Change of Practice Transfer of learning to the work setting is not achieved without some ongoing support following training (Davis, 1995; Joyce & Showers, 2002).

9. Meta Analysis of Research The general consensus from research reviews and summaries is that teachers’ implementation of new skills occurs primarily when specific training is combined with on-the-job coaching. Use of consultants/coaches for feedback on observed performance, supervision of systematic plan development and implementation, and support for ongoing challenges and decision-making appears necessary for changes in teachers’ performance (Ager & O’May, 2001; Joyce & Showers, 2002).

10. Research on Impact of PD on Practice Joyce, B., & Showers, B.

11. Project FocusGoals & Objectives Critical Friends Discussions What are your project goals? What will change baseline to post? What will be evidence of that change? What feedback/support will help participants to make it “their own”?

12. Effective Elements of PD Programs

13. Inside the Classroom a Study of K12 Mathematics & Science Education in the United States (Horizon Research, 2003) Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence recommends that teachers need opportunities for examining their own practice, engaging in lesson study conducted with skilled, knowledgeable facilitators to provide teachers with helpful learning opportunities to improve their practice.

14. Critical Friends Protocol –Based Discussions of Lessons and Student Work

16. Provides concrete evidence of what the teacher intended and student learned

17. Offers a baseline for improvement of teaching and learning

18. And more….Why student work?

19. Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence How is the Critical Friends process different than Sharing? It yields meaningful discussion focused on Variables you want to see evidence of change "conversations that get to the essence of what happens in classrooms. Samples of student work are concrete demonstrations of what is known and what is not known“ Evans, S.C. (1993, February). When teachers look at student work. Educational Leadership, 50(5), 2.

20. Critical Friends Collaborative Discussions Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Protocol Driven discussions focused on effective elements Teachers “listen in” Feedback is specific and supportive “Ah ha” Identify areas of their lessons that could improve Transfers to future lessons

21. Lessons learned

22. Creating a Professional Learning Community Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Requires a deep shift in teacher relations. Teachers are now asked to peel away facades, admit vulnerabilities, share precious insights, ask tough questions, compromise, and give colleagues real help. Creating a safe and productive environment for these discussions is a new challenge for many principals and other school leaders (Pappano, 2007)

23. Effective Collaboration/Reflection Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Barriers to meaningful collaboration Two kinds of collaborative practices2006 study by W. David Stevens at the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago

24. 1. Supportive practices Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence include teachers offering advice, suggesting approaches to tasks or concerns, and generally helping one another with daily classroom work. These typically occur informally and affect only one or a few teachers

25. 2. Developmental practices Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Are interactions that spur improvements in overall instruction and change classroom practices. These require collective and structured efforts.

26. Facilitator Presenting Teacher Discussion Participants Critical Friends Process

27. Facilitator Facilitates the Protocol Based Process

28. Presents a Lesson Presenting Teacher

29. Critical friends are…. Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Peers Someone who meets you on the same level regardless of status or experience; Someone who is sincere and willing to learn collaboratively; An advocate; and An emotional support.

30. Critical friends agree to…. Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence provide constructive feedback which will lead to improvement. provide specific feedback give feedback with respect for the person hearing it give feedback in order that this work has a better chance of being successful.

31. Critical friends….. Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Listen well. Don't step on other's talk. Watch their air time—both in terms of how often they speak, and in terms of how much they say when they speak. Ask questions, not make statements Generate thinking - rather than make judgments. Support each other and improve their teaching, by questioning each other and themselves Ask probing questions, not leading questions; don't jump to solutions Ask probing questions in order to understand what they observe and clarify the context in which the lesson or unit took place.. Ask probing questions to encourage reflection on the student work from different perspectives Reflect on the questions raised by others Build on what others say.

32. Critical friends avoid….. Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Being negative- they are an advocate, not a critic. Being arbitrarily judgmental. Directing- they are there to provide support. Imposing their ideas

33. How to Ask Reflective Questions Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Framing Questions

34. Framing Questions for Reflection Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Questions should be worded so that they help the presenting teacher clarify and expand his/her thinking Did you consider….. What could you do differently….. What would happen if …. How would….

35. Framing Questions for Reflection Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence AVOID Those that can be answered yes or no Those that begin with "why" Those that could be too easily misinterpreted Those that are too narrow or too broad Those for which you already know the answer

36. Build your Protocol Questions around Project Goals Framing Questions

37. Process for Sharing and Reflecting How much time does it take? Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence What is your focus? What are your grant objectives that you want to “see” evidence of change in? The first time takes the longest. Not all groups will finish at the same time. Schedule around a break, lunch or other activity, so slower groups have time to finish. Analyze lesson/ Assignment Student work Assessment of student work Reflection /revision

38. Q & A What should you tell your team ahead of time? Take the risk it is worth it. State facts, ask probing questions. What are some common mistakes or frequently asked questions? Not honoring the process (devoting ongoing time to it, doing the protocols, not listening etc.)

39. Facilitator Tips Communicate expectations in advance. Take your time for discussions it’s worth it. The process will feel very contrived at first because it is new and most teachers have not experienced this type of exchange. Don’t let discussions become “show and tell” keep to protocol. Use timer. Sit in on groups. “Where are you at on the protocol?” Make sure presenting teacher “listens” and does not interrupt discussion to explain, clarify or justify. Allow “quiet” thinking time, don’t fill the space with talk. If team is struggling with finding evidence – there simply may not be any. State it and move on. Find a way to require participants to bring a lesson and student work or submit online prior to workshop. Monitor for balance between “critical” and “friends” – intervene when you hear evaluative, judgmental statements Acknowledge that this will be an uncomfortable process at first Solicit Testimonials

40. Directions for Teams Teachers should sit in teams of 3-5 teachers. One teacher should volunteer to go first Another teacher in the group should volunteer to be the facilitator. The teacher that volunteered to be peer reviewed should hand out the copies of the lesson plan and work samples to the other teachers in the group. Next the teacher should give a brief synopsis of the lesson plan to the group. The facilitator should have the teachers answer the questions on the peer review form. The teacher who brought the lesson plan should just listen.

41. Protocol Based Discussion

42. E2E Critical Friends Discussion Protocol Mary Lou Ley OOAK Consulting

43. Step 1 Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence How clear was the language? Does the assignment provide students an opportunity to work with significant ideas and relationships that are included in the district’s standards? How does technology enhance the lesson? What technology is being used by the teacher? Student? Could the task be completed without technology? How does the assignment actively engage students in constructing their own knowledge? How does the assignment stimulate higher order thinking and discussion? What evidence would you use to determine if the student understood the content of the lesson?

44. The Lesson

45. Discussion of the lesson

47. How does the student connect the concepts they were learning to the real world?

48. What is the cognitive level (higher order thinking) of the work the student produced/performed?

49. What is the evidence that the student achieved the goal of the lesson?

52. How does the assessment format match the cognitive challenge of the task?

53. How does it assess the essential learnings?

54. 21st century skills?

55. technology literacy skills?

56. How does the assessment provide opportunity for meaningful feedback to the student for improvement?

59. How could technology be used to add value to the learning?

61. Reflection

62. What are the real benefits of this process?

63. Teacher Comments about the Process Schools are not structured for collaboration. This process allows for that to occur. It was very valuable to hear reviews from educators who were not in my subject area. They had questions and ideas about my lesson that I hadn't though of. It was good to get different perspectives. Other teachers can provide unique ideas to sculpt lesson plans making them more user friendly, better adapted to different learning styles and levels and helping to provide different ways of delivering lessons It was great to look at different subject areas and know that we have the same goals in mind no matter if it is Art, Language Arts, or Social Studies

65. 85% Assessing the level of cognitive challenge.

66. 83% Assessing the level of technology use in my teaching and learning.

67. 76% Analyzing lessons and students work using "critical friends" discussions.

68. 76% Integrating technology resources into classroom instruction - Thinkfinity.

70. Improvement in Quality of Lessons

71. Lesson, student work samples, assessments, and protocols can be found at: http://criticalfriendsprocess.pbworks.com Council for Basic Education Evidence 2 Excellence Practice

72. E2E Critical Friends Discussion Protocol Mary Lou Ley OOAK Consulting

73. I Tunes and Garage Band Book Club Project Step 1 Analyze Task

74. Student Podcasts Step 2 Analyze Student Work

75. Assessment Podcast Rubric Step 3 Assessment of Student Work

76. Reflection Step 4 Teacher and Team reflect on Feedback & Lesson Improvement

77. Debrief in your groups Your thoughts on the process--- What key things did you notice from Steps 1-4? How could this process work in your project?

78. Critical Friends in Your Project What goals/objectives lend themselves to evidence based discussions? Target areas of emphasis for teacher change. Develop protocol questions. Use Reflection journals after sessions to capture “change” Directions for lesson submission/collection Logistics

79. Customizing Protocols for Your Project 1

80. A Guide to Probing Questions: Key to Critical Friends Discussions Mary Lou Ley Based on material from the Southern Maine Partnership www.nsrfharmony.org

82. rather than questions clearly for the benefit of the presenter.Probing Questions are Tricky

83. The quality of a Probing Question is determined by: Its impact on the receiver What makes a probing question a good one?

85. Deepen and expand thinking and conversation

86. Sustain thinking beyond the moment

87. Are relevant and important to the receiver

88. Keep learning at the center

89. Help foster a sense that participants are a community of learners

90. Are concise

91. Elicit a slow, reflective response

92. Are exploratory - they do not contain explicit recommendations or directives

93. Are non-judgmental - neutral rather than positive or negativeAttributes

94. Judgments are expressed in a variety of ways: word choice, “tone” of voice, and body language. We choose when and how we express our judgments.

95. Guard against asking probing questions that: contain an expression of negative judgment, e.g. “Why, in heaven’s name, did you do that?”, or “Don’t you think you should at least try to…?” Judgments cause people to shut down

96. When a negative judgment is made: another participant or the facilitator should address it it can often be addressed with a simple, “I’m sorry,” followed by moving on. Expression of negative judgments puts people in the “Danger Zone”

97. When constructing a probing question --- Assume that the receiver intends well in their work as an educator. Think of yourself as an advocate for the success of the receiver. Prepare your question carefully before you ask it. Internally check your question for relevance to the receiver’s original questions and focus.

98. Don’t avoid discomfort and risk Honor trust level of group

100. What sort of impact would there be if you…?

101. What would it look like if you…?

102. What might you see happening if you…?

103. What would have to change in order for…?

104. What would happen if…?Examples of suggestive but still probing questions:

105. What could you do that might cause x to…? Have you considered/explored/looked into/thought about…? Would it be possible to…? Is there a way to…? How would it work if you…? Do you think there needs to be…? Examples of probing questions:

106. a. What criteria did you use to…? b. How did you decide/conclude that…? c. How was __________ different from __________? d. What’s your hunch about…? e. What do you think the connection is between ___________ and ___________? Examples of good exploratory probing questions: