Protocols in the Classroom

For nearly 2 decades, Looking Together at Student Work and The Power of Protocols have sustained educators in their professional learning. Protocols in the Classroom expands the scope of those books from teachers’ professional learning to include students' learning, providing teachers with the tools they need to use discussion protocols to support students in developing crucial skills and habits as readers, writers, critical thinkers, and active participants within the classroom community. This essential guide provides detailed descriptions of protocols for four critical purposes:

• Entering into and engaging with texts of many different types.
• Sharing perspectives on questions, issues, or topics.
• Giving and receiving important feedback on works in progress.
• Exploring one’s own unique learning style.

For each protocol the authors provide a clear set of steps, tips for teachers and students in facilitating the protocol, and a story of a teacher using the protocol with students. The book is filled with resources for getting started using protocols with students, as well as for deepening the use of protocols over time. It also relates protocols to other strategies for supporting students’ learning, including Accountable Talk, Thinking Routines, and Socratic seminars. The authors describe how protocols contribute to a schoolwide culture of discussion, inquiry, and reflection.

Book Features:

• Insight from authors with decades of experience using protocols with students, teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and others.
• The perspectives of classroom teachers who are using the protocols with their students.
• Classroom vignettes and facilitation tips for effective use of protocols with students.
• Guidance and resources for choosing the best protocol for your goals and the needs of your students.
• Key practices for effectively facilitating protocols, whether you or your students do the facilitation.
• Engaging activities and strategies to prepare students for the kinds of discussions protocols entail.

David Allen is an associate professor at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York. Tina Blythe is a researcher at Harvard Project Zero and consults for schools and organizations around the world. Alan Dichter is the director of the CUNY Affinity Team, providing leadership and instructional professional development for New York City public schools. Terra Lynch is a learning specialist in Austin, Texas, and a professional development consultant for Metro Learning Communities at New York University.

"The book has something for everyone, regardless of their amount of experience in the classroom. It introduces concepts and strategies that will help facilitate classroom discussions and activities that are transparent, collaborative, and aimed at cultivating skills and knowledge that go beyond course content."

—Teachers College Record

" Protocols in the Classroom effectively describes the preparation and implementation of eleven different protocols in classroom instruction. As a handbook, it succeeds in quickly conveying the important steps in employing different protocols... a helpful introductory text"

—The Wabash Center Journal on Teaching

“If you are a teacher and you’re ready, this book will grab you. . . . The payoff, I predict, will be that your students’ learning will become more visible to you than ever before. More importantly, it will become more visible to the students themselves.”
—From the Foreword by Joseph P. McDonald, emeritus professor, New York University

“Using protocols with students has the capacity to dramatically increase student engagement and critical thinking in the classroom. The authors have provided not only the ‘why’ of using protocols but have included clear steps about how to create the conditions and implement protocols effectively with students. Excellent examples, along with multiple protocols, provide the tools to get started immediately. This book is a phenomenal resource for educators and will serve learners of all ages.”
—Kari Thierer, executive director, School Reform Initiative

Protocols are a key part of our national charge to make education equitable: They ensure that all students have a voice and are engaged to think deeply. This is the perfect guidebook for teachers to use protocols effectively in their classrooms.
—Ron Berger, chief academic officer, EL Education

“It is clear that groups perform better when guided by clear norms and protocols. Protocols in the Classroom offers an unmatched set of practical and proven process tools to guide teachers and students in productive learning interactions.”
—Jay McTighe, co-author, Understanding by Design®

"This is a blueprint for authentic relevant teaching. Read Protocols in the Classroom. It reminds us we can inspire students to be lifelong learners through their experiences in our classrooms."
—Gillian Smith, founding principal, The Facing History School, New York City

Table of Contents

Foreword by Joseph P. McDonald

Acknowledgments

Introduction
   What Is a Protocol?
   Why Use Protocols?
   How Is This Book Organized?
   How Might You Use This Book?

PART I: GETTING GOING WITH PROTOCOLS

Chapter 1. Choosing a Protocol
   How Well Do Your Students Know One Another?
   How Familiar Are Your Students with Protocols?
   What Are Your Learning Objectives for Students?
   What Habits Do You Want Students to Develop?
   What Are Your Students' Strengths and Needs?
   How Much Time Do You Have with Your Students?

Chapter 2. Facilitating the Protocol
   Preparing for the Protocol
   Introducing the Protocol
   Guiding the Protocol
   Closing the Protocol

Chapter 3. Building Buy-In and Practicing Habits
   All-Purpose Go-Round
   Connections
   Postcards
   3-2-1
   Turn & Talk (also known as Pair–Share)
   Warm & Cool

PART II: THE PROTOCOLS

Reflecting on Styles, Preferences, and Expectations

Chapter 4. Compass Points
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Compass Points in the Classroom

Chapter 5. Fears and Hopes
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Fears and Hopes in the Classroom
   Exploring Questions

Chapter 6. Microlab
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Microlab in the Classroom

Chapter 7. Chalk Talk
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Chalk Talk in the Classroom

Chapter 8. Peeling the Onion
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Peeling the Onion in the Classroom

Entering and Engaging with Texts

Chapter 9. Text Rendering Experience
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Text Rendering Experience in the Classroom

Chapter 10. Save the Last Word for Me
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Save the Last Word for Me in the Classroom

Chapter 11. Three Levels of Text
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Three Levels of Text in the Classroom

Chapter 12. Gallery Walk
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Gallery Walk in the Classroom

Giving and Receiving Feedback

Chapter 13. Ladder of Feedback
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Ladder of Feedback in the Classroom

Chapter 14. Tuning Protocol
   Purposes and Preparation
   Steps of the Protocol
   Tips for Facilitating the Protocol
   Tuning Protocol in the Classroom

PART III: GETTING BETTER WITH PROTOCOLS

Chapter 15. Getting the Most Out of the Debrief
   Questions for Debriefing Protocols
   Challenges in Debriefing Protocols

Chapter 16. Documenting and Deepening the Learning
   Documenting Student Learning in Protocols
   Using Documentation to Deepen Learning

Chapter 17. Troubleshooting During the Protocol
   Challenge: Some Students Are Talking a Lot—Others, Not at All
   Challenge: No One Is Talking
   Challenge: Sticking with a Specific Step of the Protocol
   Challenge: Offering Feedback in a Respectful Way
   Challenge: Feedback Isn't Very Substantive

Chapter 18. Relating Protocols to Other Practices
   Accountable Talk
   The Fishbowl
   The Jigsaw
   Restorative Practices: Classroom Circles
   Socratic Seminar
   Thinking Routines

Afterword: A Schoolwide Culture of Discussion, Inquiry, and Reflection

Resources
   Using Protocols in Professional Development and Meetings
   Using Protocols in the Classroom
   Related Practices

References

Index

About the Authors