How Primary Schools often work with Karen…
There are many ways in which to have Karen come to your school and work with your teachers, students and parents. Outlined below are some of the ways that Karen builds capacity, provokes thinking and maximises the potential in your staffroom and classrooms while working closely with your goals as a leader.
One Off Team Meetings
Not the most effective way to make change – however if you are just looking at ways to up skill with content Karen can present a 1 hour to 2 day staff meeting/training session.
Series of Team Meetings
Perhaps once a term have Karen come and add more value each time with ideas and strategies teachers can use straight away in their classrooms.
Model Lessons
A really powerful way to see the strategies in action. Karen will work with up to 30 students while the teachers ‘fish bowl’ and watch from the back of the room. Generally this is a 40-50 minute lesson with a feedback & Q&A session with teachers for the next 20 minutes.
Scaffolding Knowledge and Skills (more in depth model lessons) **POPULAR**
Starting at the top of your school year level, Karen teaches a concept or skill and then teaches each of the class levels below in a systematic fashion, using the backwards mapping process. This culminates in a detailed plan on how to scaffold the learning throughout your school. Examples include, Thinking Dispositions such as persistence; goal setting; learning how to learn; questioning techniques.
Please let us know what you would like to scaffold throughout the school and we will let you know what is possible!
Please Note: A combination of the above proves to be very powerful. When Karen has had 1-2 days in your school working with and teaching your students, she is able to personalise a staff meeting to meet the exact needs of your team. This might look like 1-2 days with the students and a 1 day Teacher Only Day.
Live Online Seminars
Karen also offers team meetings via Webinar – these are live and she has facilitated these all over the globe (Greece to Canada and many places in between) from her office. Discussion time and activities are part of the experience as well as handouts if applicable.
Follow up sessions
These can be via webinar or Skype and are ideal with faculties, syndicates or year levels. These may be 30 mins – 1 hour once or twice a term. These sessions may also be used for 1-1 coaching.
1-1 Coaching Sessions
Teachers have an option to invite Karen into their classroom and she will watch them teach and give detailed feedback on the prearranged goals and strategies. Karen can either demonstrate alternative methods with the class or give the teacher the feedback to do it again and practice the skills with the friendly, positive support of Karen in the room.