Summer Programming

Welcome back for our second installment of FCInsights – one that hits during an important moment of celebration, reflection, and recharge as we wind down the school year. The best school leaders, though, don’t just view the upcoming weeks as a period of close out, but as a time of gear up, invigorated by the ripe possibilities of the year ahead. As such, we’re pondering the question these school leaders are likely asking themselves at this very moment: How can I maximize the summer for myself and my team to best prepare us to advance our school next year?

One piece of this puzzle lies in maximizing a structure you’re almost certainly already leveraging with your teams: summer professional development.

Last year, FCI hosted powerful summer workshops with two preeminent development teams that earned a net promoter score of 9.8 on average. Beyond that impressive number, though, are the reflections of our participants:

• “Many teachers would like to improve their students’ experiences but don’t know how to start. This workshop built my confidence with best practices because we actually practiced the strategies.”

• “The past two days have created a paradigm shift for me…I’d strongly recommend this training to a colleague because it has led me to best practices that will have an impact on student achievement.”

How did these sessions earn such rave reviews? Research tells us: the difference between development that makes our teachers better and development that falls flat is ensuring there are opportunities for authentic practice and feedback on that practice (Cleaver, Dietrich, and Keyworth, 2020).

This summer, FCI is proud to welcome back the Teach Like A Champion team and The Leverage Leadership Institute faculty, who believe wholeheartedly in the power of practice.

Teach Like a Champion’s mission is to dramatically improve teaching by studying and codifying the practices of exceptional teachers and then coaching others in those practices. Their belief in the power of using “game footage” (live classroom instruction) as grounds for research and study was the first of its kind and resulted in the publication of Teach Like a Champion, a book of teaching taxonomies now in its third edition that has sold over 1.3 million copies. For many in the world of education, this book is something of a bible. (I, for one, count myself as part of this group. My copy of the original edition has deep creases down the spine, notes in the margins, pages earmarked, and that slight discoloration of pages that comes only from years of regular use.)

The Leverage Leadership Institute is a training program designed for high-performing principals and instructional leaders who are coached to excel in the execution of core levers of leadership and, eventually, to teach others to do the same. Those accepted to the Institute are some of the top leaders nationally, representing leaders running schools in the top 10% in their district or state and those who have led student outcomes to double-digit gains. Upon completion of the program, these leaders coach others to the same impact they’ve had.

Here’s what we’re offering from these two fabulous facilitators this summer right here in Miami:

• June 11-June 12: A two-day workshop with Leverage Leadership around frameworks for facilitating effective feedback meetings and student work analysis meetings

• July 30: A one-day workshop with Teach Like a Champion focused on establishing strong classroom cultures that pave the way for student achievement

• July 31-August 1: A two-day workshop with Teach Like a Champion on high ratio instructional practices that teachers can use to ensure students are doing the heavy cognitive lifting in their classrooms

Welcoming both Teach Like a Champion and the Leverage Leadership Institute to Miami within a six-week span is incredible. The icing on the cake is that, thanks to generous state funding, we can charge less than one-fifth of the usual cost for a seat at one of these trainings. So let’s together, alongside Teach Like a Champion and Leverage Leadership, embrace the power of practice and lay the foundation for our best school year yet! We can’t wait to see you there.

In partnership,

Kathryn Perkins

Director of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership

kperkins@flcharterinstitute.org