The 4 P’s of Effective Collaborative Planning

Collaborative planning is a strategy whereby teachers sit together to develop cohesive, aligned lesson plans for all subject areas. Schools utilize this process in various ways which impacts the results. When expectations differ among school sites, the effectiveness of the developed lesson plans differ within the same district. Over time, poor collaborative planning habits create…

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CH Bonus: Collaborative Planning Teams

Planning as a team is essential. Many times, though, we find that time to plan is not on our side. Listen in on this Clubhouse Chat as we discuss how to structure collaborative planning teams with teachers! Quotable Sometimes conversations need more time. Splitting up that time throughout the week allows for those deeper conversations.…

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Powerful Lesson Planning

Graphics created by Alina Veja, Aileen Miracle, Teacher Laura, and Glitter Meets Glue   Planning is the foundation of a successful lesson. But it has gotten a pretty bad rap lately as administrators and state regulators clamp down on teacher freedom to instruct students. Despite its decrease in favoritism, planning can be creative and joyful…

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Long-Range Planning

The latest fad in my school district is providing teachers with a “Quarterly Planning” day. Substitutes take over the classroom for the day while the team of teachers meet together in a central location and plan for the quarter. The belief is that by allowing teachers time to plan effective lessons, students will become more…

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No Planning Week

Are you productive when your team comes together for planning or all-staff professional development meeting? For me, I generally am productive. However, there are particular times in a teacher’s schedule when everything comes to a close and you about lose your mind trying to tie all the loose ends together. This generally happens at the…

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5 Tips for Creating Effective Staff Surveys

Creating staff surveys is a great way to collect information from those you lead. Honest answers provide specifics that can be used when making decisions that affect them. However, many challenges exist when it comes to the creation of the survey and the collection of the information. Sometimes the surveys come too often or are…

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Lesson Design Professional Development Options

Providing professional development on lesson design can be quite fruitful for teachers. Lesson design is a deliberate practice where teachers plan on a macro and micro level, meaning they zoom in and out to ensure all lessons are aligned and thorough. The skill of designing lessons can be hard to master, but consistent practice builds…

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