Episode Details

This is a teaser for the Transformative Leadership Summit. Amy Fast describes how her school changed its professional development for teachers, moving from lab classrooms, where volunteer teachers try a strategy on behalf of their peers, to a three-session cycle that teachers own.

Fast explains why the first model fell short: the lab teachers did not cover every content area, and a music or art teacher watching a math class got less from it. Her fix is a cycle of teaching a strategy, observing it, then planning lessons together, with administrator drop-ins the next week.

What you'll learn

• Ask teachers to volunteer as lab classrooms that try a strategy for their peers, and debrief together on what worked.
• Recruit volunteers from every content area and elective so each teacher sees the strategy in a room like theirs.
• Follow a teacher-led session with observations, shared lesson planning, and administrator drop-ins the following week.

Chapters

• 0:00 How lab classrooms work
• 1:12 Flaws in the first lab classroom model
• 1:50 A three-session cycle teachers own

Times are for the episode without ads. Your player may be off by the length of any ads.

Questions this episode answers

What is a lab classroom in teacher professional development?
Fast describes lab classrooms as rooms where teachers volunteer to try a strategy on behalf of their peers. They are not model classrooms run by experts. Colleagues observe each week, then debrief with the teacher and the administrators who facilitate.

How can a school make professional development more useful for teachers?
Fast's school uses a cycle of three sessions. A teacher leader presents a strategy, teachers choose where to observe and debrief, then they plan lessons using the strategy. Administrators drop in the next week. Teachers feel ownership and are encouraged to take risks.

Links and resources

• Learn more about the Summit

Working on this at your school? Get a free preview of a 10-week leadership pathway built from episodes like this one at transformativeprincipal.com/start.

Thanks to our Sponsor Broadcast Made Easy who help you start a news broadcast at your school by having everything you need in one easy-to-download place. Check it out today and get your kids creating. 

We’re proud to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.