Transforming Our Teaching Series: Virtual Learning
Expert professional learning – Connecting resources with on-site and online Professional Development options to make a real and lasting impact on teaching and learning!
Founded on four decades of mentoring, demonstration teaching, coaching, and leading in diverse classrooms and schools in the U.S. and Canada, Regie Routman has created a groundbreaking video-based literacy series to empower teachers, coaches, and leaders at the classroom, school and district levels to effectively and equitably teach reading, writing, speaking, and listening to all learners in all disciplines. Her Transforming Our Teaching series expertly provides you the demonstrations, guidance, and resources you need to raise and sustain literacy engagement, achievement, and enjoyment for all learners.
The Transforming Our Teaching series is designed to be a virtual companion and explicit, easy-to-use guide for principals, coaches, and teachers seeking to embed ongoing school-wide professional development focused on excellent literacy practices, classroom-based assessment, and implementation of Standards.
Two new additions to this series include a single-session on-demand course – Transforming Our Teaching Through Reading-Writing Connections, Grades K-1 and a four-session, on-demand mini-course – Transforming Our Teaching Through Reading to Understand, Grades K- 6.
Transforming Our Teaching: Virtual Learning
The Transforming Our Teaching series is a literacy and video-based professional development series whose goal is to accelerate literacy achievement, engagement, and enjoyment for all learners. The videos are from diverse classrooms and schools with large numbers of under-performing students, English language learners, and students who struggle.
In Reading/Writing Connections, participants learn a way of teaching and assessing that works across the curriculum. Using an Optimal Learning Model, teachers become adept at maximizing demonstrations and shared experiences before handing over responsibility to students through guided practice and independent work. As a result, teachers gain confidence and expertise in using authentic, relevant literary and informational texts. They’ll be ready to teach word work, reading, report writing, free verse, and much more.
Over the course of a year with Writing for Audience and Purpose, teachers learn a process for teaching writing that can be applied to any curriculum area. They also learn how to embed the traits of writing within a meaningful framework, how to teach and assess the most important qualities for writing achievement, and how to evaluate student writing with an eye to seeing the next steps for each learner.
Professional Development Notebooks
These Professional Development Notebooks are highly recommended for participants in the Regie Routman in Residence professional development program.
The PD Notebook correlates to the sessions of their respective Transforming our Teaching program and includes session agendas, essential professional readings, point-by-point analysis of the video sessions, and room for notes. It also provides supplemental information found only in the Notebooks and lists of further resources for independent professional learning.
Online PD
Foster Reading for Enjoyment, Meaning, and Learning In this video-based mini-course, you will learn how to use an informal reading conference as an efficient and effective tool for comprehensive reading assessment. Through conducting a one-on-one reading conference, you will be able to ensure all your students are self-selecting books for enjoyment and deep understanding and are not just moving through texts. Observe how Regie guides students in a diverse classroom to become self-monitoring readers through building on their strengths, strategically teaching what skills and strategies the student needs next to move forward, identifying goals with the student, and raising expectations for quality and quantity of reading.
Transforming Our Teaching Through Reading-Writing Connections, Grades K-1
Access the Power of the Reading-Writing Connection in Your K–1 Literacy Approach In this single-session course, learn how master teacher and best-selling author Regie Routman demonstrates what kindergarten students are capable of as independent readers, writers, and thinkers. Observe on video how Regie uses stories from the children’s lives as a springboard for leading scaffolded conversations to personally engage students and extend their language skills, to model concepts about print and teach skills in context, and to raise literacy expectations. Observe also how it’s possible, as one teacher, to conduct one-on-one roving, writing conferences with every student in the classroom.
Implementation of Transforming our Teaching
Schools and their leadership teams will be able to implement the projects independently. The online series has been written to be flexibly implemented without additional, outside support and, therefore, includes clear, explicit and detailed implementation guidelines. Each of the three, video-based projects comes with a downloadable Getting Started Guide and a separate Facilitator’s Guide for each of the 14 sessions.The detailed Agenda for every session in each of the three projects follows the same protocol 1. Engage, Reflect, Assess 2. Discuss Professional Reading 3. Set Goals 4. Introduce the Video 5. View Video and Take Notes 6. Respond to the Video 7. Achieve a Deeper Understanding 8.Try It/Apply It in the Classroom. 9. Wrap-Up. Any session can be spread out over one or more meetings.
The first 4 sessions are meant to be done in order as they are foundational for developing a strong literacy culture, for example: 1. Welcome 2. Applying an Optimal Learning Model to Your Teaching 3. Examining Our Beliefs About Literacy 4. Setting Up the Classroom for Independent Readers and Writers. After completing those 4 sessions, pick and choose whatever topic suits the interests and needs of your staff.
It is highly recommended that the physical, Professional Development Notebooks, which accompany each project, be purchased for every staff member. These PD Notebooks are treasured by participants as a place to record their thinking and to receive a wealth of additional information, including the detailed Deeper Understanding pages which are designed to help participants observe and analyze the videos more intentionally so they can effectively and responsively teach and assess all students. As well, and very important, each project in the series includes access to a password-protected website containing numerous videos, downloadable professional articles, resources, student work samples, and lesson plans.