Making Master Teachers by Designing a Customized Professional Development Day for Your School
People love to customize things. Whether it’s selecting the best options for a new car or building the perfect burrito at Chipotlé, we have become accustomed, as the old Burger King commercials promised, to “having it our way.” Why shouldn’t teachers have the same choice with professional development? Like IEW’s Demonstration and Coaching Day and Observation and Coaching Day, a Review and Refinement Day is designed to help schools build and sustain significant progress as they implement Structure and Style in their school or school district. It is truly a one-of-a-kind seminar because the school designs the day!
How does it work?
The Review and Refinement workshop is intended for teachers with at least six months of experience teaching Structure and Style and who are ready to fine-tune their skills. One of our Educational Consultants works with you to identify and clarify your school’s specific concerns and areas of need. Once a qualified IEW Implementation Coach has been assigned to conduct your seminar, she will design a customized seminar that meets your school’s goals for teacher instruction and student progress. On the scheduled date, the implementation coach visits your school site to present the selected seminar topics, answer questions, and guide participants in a hands-on practicum.
What are the objectives of a Review and Refinement Day?
This workshop is designed to
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address the specific needs of a school as they implement Structure and Style;
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deepen teachers’ understanding of our methodology; and
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equip teachers to diagnose their students’ writing issues/problems and prescribe appropriate interventions.
Possible Topics
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Reviewing the structural models
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Adjusting the level of challenge in any lesson to meet the needs of students with varying abilities
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Incorporating writing into all subject areas
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Focusing on English language learners, special education, and delayed development
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Reinforcing the stylistic techniques with different source texts
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Reviewing decorations and the advanced stylistic techniques
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Teaching citation in stages through small, consecutive assignments
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Teacher-generated topics
See the course description on our website for more options and a sample schedule.
What are the benefits of the Review and Refinement Day?
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Our Implementation Coaches are authorized by Andrew Pudewa to teach the Structure and Style method and are accredited by IEW as Accomplished Instructors. Each has experience in teaching the Structure and Style process in the classroom.
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This seminar offers training that is not available on DVD or streaming.
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The training is interactive with time allowed throughout the seminar for questions, discussion, and clarification. This results in a more active and engaging experience for teachers and administrators as well as a close working relationship between the IEW coach and the school.
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Customized training promotes and reinforces your teachers’ fidelity to the Structure and Style process. Your Implementation Coach will explicitly model the units, stylistic techniques, or instructional strategies you have selected to be covered during the seminar and will meet your teachers at their point of need.
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A Review and Refinement Day can be scheduled each year during your school’s multi-year implementation of Structure and Style. The seminar evolves as your teachers’ and students’ skills progress and their needs change in years one, two, and three.
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Providing a Review and Refinement Day demonstrates to your teachers that outstanding writing instruction is important. Ongoing, effective professional development not only benefits your teachers, but your students as well.
What are the challenges to consider?
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Live professional development may be too expensive for small schools or those with a limited budget for training. However, private schools, charter schools, and small school districts may make use of funding through their local school district or county office of education or seek out grant money for professional development.
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The trainer’s travel expenses are not included in the seminar price; however, IEW will attempt to select implementation coaches for your school based on your training needs and with consideration of the travel expenses.
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A Review and Refinement Day requires some advanced planning and consultation with your IEW Educational Consultant and Implementation Coach to determine which topics should be presented. In some cases you may know exactly what you want to have covered. In others, you may want to discuss your teachers’ questions about the method or materials or their concerns about student progress with your consultant, who will work closely with you to design a day that best meets your needs.
As an administrator, when you choose a Review and Refinement Day for your school, your IEW Educational Consultant and Implementation Coach are your partners in supporting your teachers as they learn to teach Structure and Style effectively and confidently in their classrooms. No matter where each teacher is along the pathway to becoming a master writing teacher, you are making a powerful investment in shepherding them along the way.
Please contact your Educational Consultants for more information about Review and Refinement Days and how to schedule one for your school or school district.
Training Option 1: Video Training through Individual Streaming
Training Option 2: Group Training with DVDs or Video Streaming
Training Option 3A: Virtual Primary Writing with Structure and Style Writing Workshop
Training Option 3B: Virtual Structure and Style Writing Workshop for Teachers 3-12
Training Option 5: Live On-Site Professional Development - Demonstration and Coaching Day
Training Option 6: Live On-Site Professional Development - Observation and Coaching Day
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Jean brings 34 years of classroom experience to IEW, having taught grades 1–6 in New York, Virginia, and in California, where she taught sixth-grade language arts in the Rocklin Unified School District. She was introduced to IEW in 2001 when a colleague shared Student Writing Intensive videos at weekly school staff meetings. As a result of student progress and teacher enthusiasm at her school, RUSD brought Andrew Pudewa to Rocklin many times over the next several years to train district teachers, resulting in improved student writing and test scores district-wide. Named Rocklin’s “Elementary Teacher of the Year” in 2001, Jean was also included in the 2004 and 2005 editions of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. |
