Finding enough time to train your teachers in a group setting can be a challenge. Administrators’ schedules are busier than ever, and teachers have plenty to do in their classrooms without requiring them to attend another in-service after school or give up part of their summer break for live professional development. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to provide professional development for your teachers in the comfort of their homes or classrooms with the click of a mouse? IEW can make that happen!
The Teaching Writing: Structure and Style® package includes fourteen hours of video instruction via streaming activated in teachers’ individual IEW accounts, a Seminar Workbook, and a one-year Premium Membership. The seminar package is also available with a DVD option. This training method offers flexibility in scheduling, allowing teachers to watch the videos on their own and join with others to work through the practicum assignments. Video training through individual streaming is also ideal to train one teacher, a small mentor group, or new teachers who join the staff in subsequent years.
How does it work?
To use the video training through individual streaming option, purchase a Teaching Writing: Structure and Style package for each teacher who is responsible for writing instruction. Consider including your middle and high school humanities, history, and science teachers for consistency in writing across the curriculum.
Video training through individual streaming is recommended for schools that do not have adequate time for teachers to train together on-site or schools where an administrator or mentor teacher has some prior experience with the Structure and Style method. Teachers watch the videos individually at their own pace during the summer or during the school year, one unit at a time following a prescribed schedule. Ideally, administrators will want to begin the planning process during the school year prior to implementing Structure and Style in order to begin teacher training in the spring or summer.
How does this training option work with the flipped classroom model?
Individual training works well following a flipped classroom model where teachers view each seminar session on their own and then come together with an administrator or mentor teacher to complete the practicum assignment for that session’s unit. Meeting together provides an opportunity for teachers to discuss questions they may have and helps them solidify their understanding and gain confidence. This promotes fidelity in teaching the method to their students.
What are the benefits of training by the individual streaming method?
1. For small schools, individual streaming is a less expensive option than live, on-site professional development or registering your teachers for a Virtual Teaching Writing: Structure and Style writing workshop.
2. It offers great flexibility in scheduling and location. Teachers can complete the training at home at a time of their choosing and may review any portion of the seminar as often as they need to throughout the school year.
3. Teachers have more time to complete the practicum assignments than they would during a live seminar.
What are the challenges to consider about this training method?
1. Individual video training can be challenging in schools with a large staff. An effective way to introduce the method is to first train the teachers who are most likely to support your efforts and can serve as solid role models for others. This builds teachers’ interest organically from within and gives administrators a smaller group of teachers to support in the first year of implementation as well as an in-house team of mentor teachers as more teachers become trained.
2. This training option requires more hands-on involvement by administrators to bring teachers on board, plan the training, order materials, and set deadlines to complete each unit. Our Educational Consultant team is available to guide you through the process and is ready to provide training resources to help you along the way.
As you make decisions about IEW’s training options for your teachers and find that you have questions or need more information, contact your school's Educational Consultant. If your school has not yet been assigned an Educational Consultant, please contact Schools@IEW.com or call 800.856.5815 and ask to speak to someone in the Schools Department.
If you are interested in live on-site professional development for your school, contact IEW’s Implementation Coach Jeff Nease (JeffN@IEW.com or 800.856.5815 x5501) to discuss the details or to request a quote.
by Jean Nichols
Originally posted on 5/03/2022
