Planning Conferences

Planning conferences are a great time to discuss the data teachers want to collect and what they want to gain from the data. According to Paula Rutherford, these conferences can be done in two different ways: Stand-Alone and Prior to an Observation.

Stand -Alone Planning Conferences

The purpose of these conferences may be simply to plan a lesson or unit. Such conferences can be done with just a mentor and candidate or with PLCs or other teams.

Prior-to-an-Observation Planning Conferences

As its name suggests, these conferences take place prior to a mentor's observation or an administrator's observation. Here is information to discuss with new teachers during these conferences:

• What students are supposed to know and be able to do as a result of the learning experiences to be observed

• How those outcomes relate to district standards, benchmarks, and indicators

• How student learning will be assessed in both formative and summative ways

• How the learning experiences in which students will be participating are related to what they are supposed to learn, to prior lessons, and to the bigger picture of the unit and the year

• The sequence of the lesson

• How data has been used to determine the best course of action

• What learning difficulties have been and are anticipated

• What plans will be in place for dealing with those difficulties

• Any other contextual information

• Any special areas of focus and the rationale for that focus