Click here to see our Collaborative Model Protocol.
Protocol is just a fancy word to mean “the system we put in place for our daily team meetings to ensure we work efficiently”.
The Reception team (three teachers and two assistants) meets every day from 15:15 to 16:00.
At the beginning of the school year, the Reception team agrees upon the protocol for the year. Once the protocol is in place, it’s pretty inflexible. We do our best to stick to it.
I have to admit, in the days before we used a meeting protocol, we did not work as effectively or efficiently. We would waste up to ten minutes each day just agreeing upon what we would do that day. Or, worse yet, we would collapse in our chairs around the table and begin complaining about everything that didn’t go well that day. What a waste of time that was!
Meeting Protocol Explained
Our daily team meetings last only 45 minutes. We don’t have much time so we get started promptly.
* Daily meetings open with each person sharing an observation of a child made that day and recording it in Evernote.
We begin every day with a brief go-around in which each adult shares an observation of a child. If they haven’t had time to record their observation in Evernote, it’s done then. We have a strict policy that no one talks when someone else is speaking. Interrupting others is a really bad habit. It wastes a lot of time when everyone talks at once.
Monday: Open Business and reading Evernote.
“Open Business” is time for us to work independently or in our smaller teams (outdoor learning team, indoor learning team). We use Evernote to record our observational notes of the children. It’s important to schedule time for reading and discussing the observations of other team members.
Tuesday: Forward plans for PYP Planners: Read and use the PYP Planners and reflection documents to plan learning experiences.
We are in International Baccalaureate World School. We use the Primary Years Programme as our curricular framework. We have scheduled time to read our past and current PYP planners and reflection documents to aid us in our forward planning for current units of inquiry.
Wednesday: Open Business and reading Evernote. 16:00-17:00 (Video of Students) Using one of the Student Learning Protocols, examine and analyze student learning to identify next steps in learning.
We regularly video the children playing. On Wednesday afternoons, we choose a video to watch in our team meetings. We analyze the children’s play to identify their current knowledge, behaviors and skills. From this data, we plan the children’s next steps in learning. I’ll be sharing more about our process of analyzing student learning using video evidence, including the protocols we use, in the future.
Thursday: Working on portfolios and/or classroom blog.
We schedule time to work on the children’s portfolios and our classroom blog to ensure we get this work done efficiently.
Friday: Setting up the indoor and outdoor learning environments for the next week.
Based on the children’s identified next steps in learning, we have planned the provocations, learning experiences and necessary resources. However, we don’t only wait until Friday to adapt the learning environments to meet the children’s needs and interests. We’re flexible and responsive every day. However, we do often use Friday afternoon to keep learning exciting or change things up for the following week.
Monday: Using the Four “A’s” Text Protocol, read and discuss a text.
Once every ten days we find an article to read for professional development. For example, if we’re feeling challenged by tattling behavior in our students, we read an article about tattling. Everyone takes a turn finding texts from magazines, books or the internet for the team to read. We refine our practical knowledge and challenge our philosophical standpoints with these readings. I’ll share our Four “A’s Text Protocol” in the future.
Tuesday: (Teacher Best Practice Video) Using the Success Analysis Protocol, model and discuss instructional practices and strategies used to introduce and develop understanding in all areas of learning.
Oh, yes, there’s yet another protocol. We love protocols at my school. At first, I rolled my eyes as each new protocol was developed. Now, I wouldn’t want to live without them. Protocols really do keep our meetings on track and productive.
Teacher Best Practice Video. This professional development strategy is probably the most effective and controversial practice we do. You are either going to like it, or HATE it. We video ourselves working with, teaching or playing with the children. We do this by setting an iPad in a holder, or getting a co-worker to video us. Then once every ten days, one of us shares their video with the team. The goal is for the team members to identify everything the presenting teacher did well in their teaching practice. I won’t spend time convincing you to make this a part of your teaching development now. I’ll be sharing more about our process of analyzing our best practice videos, including the protocol we use, in the future.
Wednesday: Open Business and reading Evernote. 16:00-17:00 (Video of Students) Using one of the Student Learning Protocols, examine and analyze student learning to identify next steps in learning.
Every Wednesday is the same. See above for the explanation.
Thursday: Reflect on the Units of Inquiry. Record reflections in ManageBac: develop, analyze and adjust formative and performance-based assessments.
ManageBac is the system we use to record our PYP planning and reflections. We have scheduled time to reflect on our teaching and the children’s learning and to record it in ManageBac. This is certainly not the only time we reflect on our teaching and the children’s learning, but we have found it very useful to set time for reflections. Reflecting is an important part of the teaching/learning process. Unfortunately, it often gets overlooked if time isn’t scheduled to do it.
Friday: Setting up the indoor and outdoor learning environments for the next week.
Every Friday is the same. See above for the explanation.
