Training Method Options, Part 2: Group Video Training with DVDs or Streaming

Not every school has money to spend on live professional development. IEW has a few budget-friendly options to give your teachers the training they need to become great writing teachers! Why not bring Andrew Pudewa to your school on DVD or Streaming Video?

Training your teachers using the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style seminar on DVD or Forever Streaming is the most affordable way to provide professional development for your whole staff or to small groups. This training method offers lots of flexibility in scheduling and grouping, depending on your budget, timetable, and goals.

How does it work?

In small schools, principals can gather the whole faculty in one spot to train together. Complete the entire seminar in two or three in-service days, or spread the sessions out over the school year by watching one disc or video clip at a time in after-school sessions. Does your school follow a Professional Learning Community model? If so, teachers can train together in small self-led groups. These groups can be made up of teachers at the same grade level (in large schools), by grade level groupings (K–2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–12), or by content area (English teachers, history teachers, and EL or special education teachers).

What are the benefits of training by this method?

1. It is less expensive than IEW’s on-site, live training or a virtual Structure and Style Writing Workshop.

2. For some schools it may be more effective to train the whole staff at one time. Perhaps you lead a small school with one classroom per grade level or have a common mission or worldview that guides and unifies your school community. Having a common purpose or guiding principle adds a powerful layer of commitment and unity that brings everyone together and helps reduce any negativity that stands in the way of progress.

3. Larger schools that operate with a well-established culture of doing what is best for students might choose to implement Structure and Style by training the whole teaching staff at one time. It helps to have widespread agreement among teachers to improve writing instruction and a strong commitment by administration to support teachers as they learn and grow in the methodology with little, if any, negative teacher influence to stand in the way of success.

4. Group video training offers greater flexibility in scheduling. You can complete the training in several full days or break it up into shorter sessions over the course of the school year.

5. Training can be facilitated by an administrator or mentor teacher, or it can be accomplished in smaller self-led collaborative groups.

6. Teachers will have more time to complete the practicum exercises than they would be given during the live seminar.

7. As administrators and teachers engage during the practicums, crucial conversations happen that inspire the vision of shaping the culture of the school and lead to fidelity in teaching the method. It is during this time that the facilitator helps the teachers to see how dependent they are on each other to do their part and develop a culture conducive to language acquisition. The teachers solidify their understanding and gain confidence.

8. By completing the seminar by DVD or Forever Streaming, schools can choose to utilize professional development dollars for IEW’s other live training offerings, i.e., Demonstration and Coaching Day, and Observation and Coaching Day, which are designed to enhance your teachers’ understanding of the Structure and Style method and their ability to teach it well. Contact your IEW Educational Consultant or the Schools Division for more information about our professional development days at 800.856.5815.

What are the challenges to consider about this method?

1. Primary Writing with Structure and Style is not available on DVD or Streaming. K–2 teachers should view the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style seminar with the rest of the staff, but may skip Units 6, 8, and 9 as well as the Advanced Stylistic Techniques.

2. To counter negativity among staff members, administrators are advised to have a core group of teachers who are fully on-board and prepared to serve as mentors for other teachers. This can be accomplished by registering a few teachers for a summer virtual Structure and Style Writing Workshop or by purchasing a Teaching Writing: Structure and Style package with which they can train individually via video streaming.

3. This training method requires more hands-on involvement by administrators in planning the training sessions, ordering materials, setting schedules, and leading the training. However, your IEW Educational Consultant is here to help support you through the training and implementation process.

What do we need to purchase?

You will need at least one set of Teaching Writing Structure and Style, Second Edition DVDs or Forever Streaming per group and one Seminar Workbook per teacher. To maximize your teachers’ success, we strongly recommend purchasing a Premium Membership for every teacher who will be trained. This will give teachers access to the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style seminar via video streaming and the IEW Checklist GeneratorTM as well as other benefits for one year, to support them as they begin to teach the method to their students. Multiple viewings provide tremendous support to teachers as they get ready to transition from one structural unit to the next during the school year. With their own subscription, teachers are free to review any portion of the seminar at a moment’s notice as often as they need that first year and for multiple years to come. The membership can be renewed annually.

For more information about making training decisions and ordering materials, please contact your school’s educational consultant. If you don’t have one, call 800.856.5815. Ask to speak to someone in the Schools Division, or email Schools@IEW.com.

IEW Educational Consultants