Protocols in the Classroom – Creating a Reflective Learning Community for Students
When I first started SRI work around collaborative and reflective practice I was working in an alternative high school. One of my colleagues had gone to some ‘training’ and learned all about these great protocols that we could use as staff during our meetings. One challenge, our staff didn’t really trust one another, so our start-up with using protocols for adult work was slow and very, very messy. However, each protocol I learned and read helped me to think differently about my classroom practice, and I immediately started incorporating these tools into my teaching practice.
That was almost 20 years ago, and I continue to use protocols in all of my instructional practice with students and adults. For me, utilizing the protocols in the classroom with students solidified my understanding of the protocols as tools to help achieve different parts of developing a reflective learning community. From setting agreements to utilizing text and tuning protocols, there are very few protocols I have not used at some point in my teaching practice.
The work of SRI was originally designed to develop small communities of practice, reflective learning communities, that work in harmony, to support the learning of students. That is what I want my classroom to be – a learning community where all members are working together to support one another. The SRI tools help to provide structure and intentionally build community through thoughtful scaffolding, allowing students to be in community with one another to support their, and their peers, learning.
SRI Learning Events
Using Protocols in the Classroom – Creating a Reflective Learning Community for Students
This two-day session is designed specifically for classroom teachers who are interested in utilizing SRI tools and practices to create a classroom reflective learning community. We will focus on how to create the conditions for community to flourish, while also utilizing and focusing on how to introduce and regularly use protocols to support holistic student learning. Please Join Kari Thierer August 15-16, 2019 in Olympia, WA. Each participant will receive a copy of the SRI Resource and Protocol Book, along with a copy of Protocols in the Classroom. Early-bird registration is $500 before June 30th, regular rate is $575.
SRI Leadership Academy – Two Weeks Left to Join the Inaugural Cohort
Applications for the inaugural cohort of SRI Leadership Academy Fellows are open now, and close June 7th. Please consider joining this unique learning experience that will help you design and implement the changes needed to ensure that all students are successful. You will meet both in-person and virtually with your fellow cohort members in a customized reflective learning community. We will learn together, utilizing an improvement science framework combined with the SRI Educational Equity and Excellence Learning framework. Not only will you grow your leadership, but you will design and implement new practices that move your school or organization into specific action to disrupt student inequities.
Leading SRI Reflective Learning Communities Institute – July 29-31 San Antionio
This three-day institute is designed for educators who are often called upon to facilitate meetings or deliver professional development and need support in designing, implementing and supporting adult learning. Using research-based tools and strategies, participants learn how to nurture ongoing conversations designed to improve teaching and learning. The Institute provides in-depth study of protocols; introduces adult learning theory; builds explicit connections between adult learning and student success; supports participants to ask for and receive feedback critical to their success; and enables participants to design action plans that facilitate the improvement of teaching and learning through the lens of educational equity and excellence.
Fall Meeting 2019 Boston
Fall Meeting 2019 – November 7-9
SRI Fall Meeting 2019 is an educational conference like no other; a conference where educators create a community of learners who share their professional practice and learn from its close, public examination. Come to Fall Meeting to practice the skills, habits, and dispositions of professional collaboration and reflective discourse using SRI protocols and resources. Please join us in Boston, MA, November 7-9, 2019.
Fall Meeting 2019 Pre-Conferences – November 6, 2019
Fall Meeting Pre-conferences will be offered the day before Fall Meeting, and are open to all participants. Please consider registering for a pre-conference this year! Sessions include facilitating through a lens of equity; and an introduction to SRI tools, practices, and resources for participants new to the work of SRI or Fall Meeting.
Do you have news to share? Interesting things happening in your area? Please let us know so we can share with our community! Email Chris Jones, chris@schoolreforminitiative.org.
Thank you,
Deirdre Williams, Kari Thierer, and Chris Jones
On behalf of School Reform Initiative
