PD Options
There are a number of ways you can use the services of a literacy or maths consultant from Cue Learning. Our consultants are not researchers or professors from a university. They have no attachment to any university or any publishing company. The vast majority of their day-to-day work happens in schools, in classrooms – with the kids. At a guess, about 75% of their time is teaching in classrooms. The other 25% of their time is made up of planning effectively for literacy or maths with teachers, providing feedback after observing teachers delivering lessons and presenting professional development days on maths/literacy and maths/literacy planning.
Options for maths/literacy professional development include:
Options for maths/literacy professional development include:
- after school pd presentations
- half-day pd presentations
- full day curriculum days
- modelling or presenting demonstration lessons in classrooms (particularly as a follow-up to a pd day or after school sessions – critical to ‘walk the talk’ and for teachers to see the theory or notion in action)
- working directly with specific teachers within a school to develop teaching strategies and content knowledge in maths
- planning sessions focusing on developing sensible, highly effective term/yearly planners
- planning sessions focusing on developing units of work based on term/yearly planning
- any combinations of the above, for example – 2 or 3 after school sessions to be the equivalent of a curriculum day and then possible demo lessons in classrooms with follow-up debriefs; targeted pd with staff/teams; planning/developing units of work
So our consultants are committed to working side by side with administrators, coordinators, coaches and teachers from a host school to improve the quality of literacy education for all students. We will work with you to tailor an onsite consulting plan specifically for your school. Based on your school’s needs this may include a strategic combination of the following: (see below)
For evidence of success in our 'gradual release of responsibility' approach see the following OECD report on the work of our fellow consultants in Victoria (thanks to Diane Snowball for providing this):
For evidence of success in our 'gradual release of responsibility' approach see the following OECD report on the work of our fellow consultants in Victoria (thanks to Diane Snowball for providing this):
| school_improvement_at_scale.pdf |
Coaching days 1:1
During 1:1 coaching days the school sets up a schedule for the consultant to visit selected classroom teachers during literacy lessons to provide individualised feedback and coaching to establish exemplary literacy classroom teaching and improve student outcomes. The consultant may meet with teachers individually prior to a lesson to co-plan the lesson and again after the lesson to review student work and plan next instructional steps.
Planning days
During planning days teachers meet with the consultant in year level or vertical planning teams to plan an upcoming unit of work. These sessions may be used to write or revise curriculum maps and to further develop teachers' literacy content and pedagogical knowledge.
Leadership days
During Leadership PD or Planning days the consultant may do learning walks/instructional rounds with administrators and learning coaches to support the administrative team in further developing their understanding of best practices for literacy teaching and learning. During this time the consultant may also meet with the leadership team to look at student work or year level/school wide data to guide and support leaders in the creation and implementation of a clearly defined action plan for literacy improvement based on an analysis of data and an audit of the literacy environment, practices, resources and policies. It is also a time to develop powerful literacy frameworks and agreements for the school.