Protocols in the Classroom: Tools to Help Students Read, Write, Think, and Collaborate

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.