Professional Learning 2019-2020

Curriculum Agnostic Training Opportunities

TEKS 7-Strands Alignment

One day training for all Texas ELA teachers.
Focuses on providing teachers with strategies to meaningfully embed and align the newly revised TEKS standards within any literacy curriculum.

Support and Amplifications for ELLs*

One day training for all educators.
Capitalizes on the assets ELLs bring to any classroom. Teachers gain pragmatic and hands-on experience in supporting ELLs in the classroom across a variety of proficiency levels—from newcomer to advanced, as well as for long-term English Learners. Appropriate for any curriculum and any discipline.
*$40 fee per teacher for materials to support the implementation of this training.

Genre-Specific Writing Support*

One to two-day training for teachers. One genre (argument, informational, or narrative) per day.
Trains teachers to support and guide students in writing within specific genres using modeling and exemplars, as well as to provide effective and constructive feedback for revision. Teacher materials include guidebooks, checklists for students, and comprehensive, grade-specific and genre-specific rubrics for assessment and feedback. This training includes use of Inquiry By Design’s Targeted Writing Resources, mini-lessons that can be used individually, in small groups or with a whole class to directly address indicated needs in student writing.
*$60 fee per teacher for materials to support the implementation of this training.

Independent Reading: A Framework for Effective Implementation

One day training.
Focuses on routines, rituals, and rationales for launching and sustaining an effective independent reading program. Topics include setting up classroom libraries, rules for independent reading, book selection, debriefing the independent reading experience, making book recommendations, and setting goals for independent reading.

Dealing With Difficulty: Strategies for Tackling Complex Texts

One-day training.
Focuses on training teachers to help students develop the stamina, tenacity, attitude, and disposition required to read difficult texts by first recognizing that difficult texts are difficult and helping students view that difficulty as places to dig in rather than impossibilities to ignore. Teachers learn to effectively engage students in both the comprehension and interpretation of complex texts and to participate in collaborative discussion to build on ideas.

IBD Curriculum Focused Selections

Curriculum Institutes

Three days total (2 days prior to school start and 1 day in the first 8 weeks). Required.
Focuses on the routines and strategies needed to successfully implement Inquiry By Design curriculum.Teachers and coaches leave with a collaborative understanding of how instructional design, inquiry-based pedagogy, task sequencing, and structured discussion supports rigorous academic work and a student-focused, inquiry-based classroom.

Administrator Institute

One-day training for administrators. Required.
Focuses on ensuring a successful and sustainable curriculum launch at the school and district level by providing observational tools to assess implementation, as well as concrete and constructive options for feedback regarding necessary shifts in practice and needs for coaching.

Peer Learning Labs

Available as half-day sessions (2 per day). Recommended.
Facilitates a collaborative and supportive teaching culture driven by student needs by giving teachers the opportunity to observe each other’s best practices and discuss solutions for persistent classroom difficulties. A pre-observation conference with the host teacher and participants outlines protocol to ensure a productive, positive, and respectful environment.

Student Work Study

May be used in multiple professional learning community sessions. Recommended.
Focuses on calibrating the assessment, grading, and constructive feedback of student writing by focusing on a single writing task and common rubric. This training is most effective in grade-level groups.

Shoulder-to-Shoulder Coaching

Up to4 sessions per day (1-1). Recommended.
Teachers or coaches receive one-on-one support from an Inquiry ByDesign expert in the form of coaching, classroom observation, modeling, planning, and debrief. Coaching is one of the most effective methods for ensuring teacher success with a new curriculum.

Support and Amplifications for ELLs*

One day training for all educators. Recommended.
Focuses on increasing language proficiency by highlighting the instructional supports and scaffolds embedded in the Inquiry By Design curriculum, as additional, optional amplifications for ELLs across a variety of proficiency levels. Through demonstration, video, activities, and opportunities for practice, educators leave with pragmatic, grade-appropriate methods for supporting ELLs in the classroom. This training is also appropriate for dependent readers, as well as a wide range of students needing additional support.*$40 materials fee per teacher.