As a classroom teacher, I participated in scores of staff development days, where my colleagues and I were trained in new instructional strategies or introduced to the latest textbook series to be adopted that year. With our brains overloaded with new learning and under pressure from expectations for immediate success, we would return to our classrooms to try to make it all work somehow, often with negligible support or coaching. The one exception was our training in the Structure and Style® method.
After Andrew Pudewa conducted the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style seminar for our intermediate teachers in the Rocklin Unified School District, he returned multiple times over the next several years to demonstrate lessons in our classrooms. Rather than the usual grumblings of “Well, this seems good in theory, but will it work in my classroom?” we could see the process in action with our students. Andrew’s modeling of the structural models and stylistic techniques and his follow-up sessions where teachers could ask questions greatly impacted their buy-in and our district’s success. We witnessed our students’ engagement. With Andrew’s demonstration lessons, theory became a reality. “We can do this!”
How does it work?
The Demonstration and Coaching Day supports teachers and administrators as they implement the Structure and Style methodology. This day can take place before the initial training or after the initial training—whether you choose live or video training—to model what the process looks like in the classroom. IEW’s Implementation Coach visits your school to demonstrate the writing method with your students while teachers observe. Typically the Implementation Coach can conduct four 45-minute demonstrations during one school day with a faculty question-and-answer session after school.
What are the benefits of the Demonstration and Coaching Day?
- It provides live, concrete modeling of the structural methods described in the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style seminar.
- It demonstrates how the Structure and Style methodology is applied to different grade levels. The terminology and process remain consistent, yet the expectations are tailored to each grade level.
- Teachers and administrators witness their students’ engagement.
- The demonstrations can be targeted to the individual needs of the teachers or grade levels. Teachers can request support for a specific unit, stylistic technique, or issue.
- A Demonstration and Coaching Day shows your teachers that outstanding writing instruction is important and that effective professional development is ongoing and not a one-time experience. This supports administrators’ efforts and ultimately benefits your students most of all.
- Scheduling a Demonstration and Coaching Day adds a layer of accountability for teachers to present the Structure and Style method to the best of their ability during the initial weeks or months of implementation. When teachers know that IEW’s Implementation Coach will return to their classrooms to demonstrate a lesson, they know they will be expected to have made a certain amount of progress.
- Scheduling a question-and-answer session benefits teachers because the questions and discussions are specifically geared to their students and grade levels. This provides a more focused, effective coaching experience. As a result, teachers feel encouraged, supported, and more confident in their ability to teach writing well.
- For schools in their second or subsequent year of using IEW’s method, the Implementation Coach can tailor demonstration lessons to model how to teach the Structure and Style method using alternative source texts and content area curriculum, how to encourage students to use better, more academic stylistic techniques and advanced techniques, and how to differentiate a lesson or checklist. As a result, IEW’s live coaching enhances and fine-tunes your experienced teachers’ instructional skills.
- At the end of the Demonstration and Coaching Day, the Implementation Coach consults with the administrator to provide feedback about teacher progress. Who is doing well? Who needs additional support? Which teachers are potential mentors? The Implementation Coach can recommend possible next steps.
What are the challenges to consider?
- Live professional development may be too expensive for schools with a limited budget for training. However, private schools, charter schools, and small school districts may secure funding through their local school district or county office of education or seek grant money for professional development. Consider completing the training seminar through individual streaming (or DVD) and utilizing your professional development dollars for a Demonstration and Coaching Day.
- The day requires some advanced planning, but your Implementation Coach will assist you by providing emailed instructions several weeks before the event. The Implementation Coach will coordinate with each teacher regarding the lesson to be demonstrated.
- In larger schools with multiple classrooms per grade level, a roving substitute teacher or two can cover classrooms so that other teachers can observe a demonstration. Many schools find creative ways to ensure additional teachers can observe a lesson in a colleague’s classroom.
As an administrator, when you choose a live Demonstration and Coaching Day for your school, your Implementation Coach is your partner in supporting your teachers as they learn to teach Structure and Style effectively in their classrooms. No matter where each teacher is along the pathway to becoming a stellar writing teacher, you are making a powerful investment in shepherding them on their journey.
For information and scheduling, 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.
by Jean Nichols
Explore other blogs in the Teacher Training Method Options series.
Video Training through Individual Streaming
Video Training as a Group
Virtual Teaching Writing: Structure and Style Workshop
Live On-Site Professional Development
Originally posted on 07/08/2022
