PURPOSE

Teachers respond as critical friends to a colleague’s Reading Apprenticeship case—a lesson, an issue, or a particular success—in the classroom implementation of Reading Apprenticeship. (A total of fifteen to twenty minutes may be sufficient for a consultancy; sometimes thirty minutes or more is ideal.)

PROCEDURE: ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES

1. Presenter lays out the situation: Five minutes
   Presenter distributes lesson materials and describes the lesson or situation in terms of the following questions, referring to the Reading Apprenticeship Framework graphic (Appendix A) or the Reading Apprenticeship Student Learning Goals (Appendix C) to anchor the discussion:
   • What was the context for what the presenter was trying to accomplish?
   • What happened?
   • What were the presenter’s initial understandings?
   
   Team members are silent.
2. Team members clarify what they do and do not understand and try to develop a shared understanding of the lesson, problem, or success and its complexity: Five minutes
   Team members speak in terms of these questions:
   • What did you hear?
   • What do you need to know more about?
   
   Presenter is silent.
3. Presenter responds to clarifying questions: Four minutes
4. Team members refer to the dimensions graphic or student goals and ask probing questions to elicit presenter’s thinking: Four minutes
   • Questions go deeper into the described successes or challenges.
   • Questions do not attempt to come up with solutions or ideas.
   
   Presenter is silent.
5. Presenter responds to probing questions: Four minutes
6. Team members brainstorm possible next steps for presenter: Four minutes
   Team members offer their suggestions reflexively:
   • What might happen if. . .
   • One thing I might consider/try/do. . .
   
   Presenter is silent.
7. Presenter reflects on concrete steps to try—if only first steps: Two minutes
   Team members are silent.
8. Presenter and then the team debrief: Four minutes
   • What was it like going through these steps?
   • What was most useful/interesting about this consultancy?