PD Workshops for Teachers: Educational Rigor

Rigor Workshops for Teachers

Finally understand exactly how to help ALL your students engage in rigorous learning.



Everyone talks about rigor but do you really know what it means, what it looks like, or how to implement it in your school?

  • Do you really know what rigor means and what it looks like?
  • Do your teachers struggle to plan rigorous lessons and units?
  • Are your students falling behind with new, more rigorous standards?
  • Do you worry that your school is not ready to implement rigorous standards?
  • Do you worry that your school is not ready for more rigorous testing?

We hear you. So many of the teachers we have served have had the same concerns. They too struggle with new rigorous standards and worry that their students aren’t ready to for new rigorous assessments.

If only you had a blueprint...

What if you could give your teachers a blueprint to rigor that helped them know exactly how to build and deliver rigorous lessons without killing themselves or their students? Our Rigor Blueprint provides a simple 5-step process that makes rigorous planning finally make sense.




What if you could help your teachers…

  • Finally understand what rigor really means and what it looks like. So much out there on rigor is, well, fuzzy. It makes sense in theory perhaps, but it’s hard to apply to the day to day work of teaching and learning. What does rigor look like? How do I plan systematically for rigor? Get answers to these questions and a practical definition of rigor you can actually use on Day One. “Finally, a definition of rigor that I can use in my own teaching!” Candice Richardson, Teacher, Florida.
  • Feel confident that the lessons and units they plan will actually help students meet rigorous standards. One of the biggest reasons most students don’t think rigorously is that they weren’t taught to do so. Learn how to plan lessons and units that build students’ capacity for rigor  and master rigorous standards over time. By the end of the unit, teachers will have real proof that students have mastered the standard in a highly rigorous way.
  • Eliminate the anxiety around more rigorous standards. So many teachers are nervous about new standards. Not only don’t they fully understand the standards, they don’t know how to ensure that all their students master the standards. Give teachers confidence that they can help all their students meet or exceed the standards. No matter what standards you use, your teachers will know EXACTLY how to unpack the standards and ensure that ALL their students meet these standards.
  • Prepare students for more rigorous testing with confidence: Not longer do you have to be afraid that your students aren’t ready for rigorous testing. And, you can say goodbye forever to last-ditch cramming sessions that don’t work.
  • Learn step by step exactly how to plan lessons that will increase students’ capacity for rigorous learning. Teachers will have a blueprint to rigor that lays out exactly how to recognize, plan for, and implement rigorous instruction.
  • Immediately apply learning to actual lessons and units you teach in your school. Teachers will get the chance to immediately apply what they learn to their own materials. By the end of each session, they will walk out with materials they create themselves and that they can actually use TOMORROW in their own classroom.
  • Make learning stick through hands-on, interactive, and customized content that addresses your challenges. We've designed this training to go much deeper than one of those "off-the-shelf" workshops that get you all excited and then leave you alone to struggle your way through finding the time and the focus to get going. Sorry, we care too much to do that to you. Instead you’ll have a chance to co-create each day’s agenda with your concerns and your needs. We also study your district and or state standards and customize our content to directly address your needs.


This workshop is for you if:

  • You want a solid definition of rigor you can actually use
  • You worry that your students are not ready to meet the demands of more rigorous standards and testing
  • You want your students to think more deeply about the content
  • You are frustrated that most things you’ve learned about rigor aren’t practical or immediately applicable
  • You want a chance to work on your stuff, your way
  • You want a practical learning experience that helps you focus on your own practice, not a bunch of theories you can’t use.



Here’s just a taste of what you’ll get with the Rigor Blueprint:

  • Learn the one thing you need to do when helping students learn new information that actually sets them up for rigorous thinking. You’ll learn this secret during day one and it can dramatically increase your students’ retention of new material.
  • Know exactly when to move from learning new material to learning how to think about new material. By the end of day one, you’ll be a pro at making this move.
  • Find out the best way to sequence your formative and summative assessments. Once you learn this process, planning and writing effective assessments becomes MUCH easier.
  • Discover the secret to understanding your standards. By day two you’ll be unpacking any standard you face with ease.



What will teachers learn?

No recreating the wheel here. You'll get everything laid out so all you need to do is plug-and-play into your own curriculum. With the Rigor Blueprint, you'll be able to start using these strategies right away.

  • Day One: What is Rigor? You’ll get our easy definition for rigor and learn how to immediately apply it to your own teaching. And, we’ll break rigor down into the four essential steps so you’ll know exactly how to build rigorous thinking for your students.
  • Day Two: Rigorous Unit Planning? Now that you know what rigor is, you’ll learn our easy system for planning an entire unit based on the standards. You’ll get the secret to quickly and easily unpacking your standards and use our Rigor Blueprint to plan a rigorous unit using your own materials. You’ll walk out with 2 complete unit plans you can use immediately for your own students.
  • Day Three: Planning Rigorous Assessments Once you’ve mapped out your rigorous unit plan, you are ready to create formative and summative assessments. You’ll finish the day with all the formative and summative assessments you need for each unit you've planned and they will all be aligned with your state tests to help you reach your rigorous objectives.
  • Day Four: Planning Rigorous Lessons Now you are ready to craft your individual lesson plans. You’ll spend the day creating learning experiences that move students from acquisition, application, assimilation, and adaptation. By the end of this session, you’ll have days of daily lesson plans created using your own lesson planning format.

Hands down the Rigor Workshop Series will provide teachers with the easiest way to plan and teach rigorous units you’ve ever encountered. Teachers using these strategies routinely report that they can plan a unit from start to finish in about 30-40 minutes. And, they tell us over and over how much they LOVE teaching this way.

You can book this series for 4 consecutive days or 4 days throughout the school year.



Which Workshop is Right for Me?

We recommend that you order the entire series. It’s the best way to fully develop a rigorous instructional program. But, you can also select just one day of the series to get your team started. You won’t get the full benefit of the program but you will get valuable tools and strategies you can immediately apply in your school.

How do I order?

Ready to schedule one or more of the Rigor Workshop Series at your school? You’re just steps away. Start by clicking here and following our simple 3 step process.

 

Related Workshops:
Motivating Unmotivated Students
Supporting Under-Prepared Students in Rigorous Courses Online Course

Related Books:
How to Plan Rigorous Instruction
How to Support Struggling Students

Other Related Resources:
Rigor Resources (Free resources including webinars, templates and much more!)
How to Motivate Reluctant Learners Webinar and Handouts

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