Delivering Workshops

The success of your offerings depend on the structure of the professional learning and the preparedness of the facilitator and host.

1. Structure of Professional Learning

Equity-Minded Instruction

Equity-minded professional learning instruction that corresponds with a culturally relevant curriculum is instrumental in delivering a high quality workshop. To find resources for understanding culturally responsive and sustaining computer science education, see the resources developed by the Kapor Center. Another useful resource is the TEC Rubric is designed to examine teacher accessibility, equity, and content within introductory computing curricula.

QPLS

Ensure that the workshop being offered is aligned with the Quality Professional Learning Standards. These research-backed standards are:

1. Rooted in student and educator needs demonstrated through data

2. Focused on content and pedagogy

3. Designed to ensure equitable outcomes

4. Designed and structured to be ongoing, intensive, and embedded in practice

5. Collaborative with an emphasis on shared accountability

6. Supported by adequate resources

7. Coherent and aligned with other standards, policies, and programs

The provider you are working with should become familiar with these standards, if they aren’t already, and should be able to point to how they meet each of these standards in the workshop they are delivering.

California CS Standards

The professional learning should make clear connections to where students are going to meet the California Computer Science Standards. Facilitators should explain how the activity meets the standards and how to differentiate instruction so that all students are meeting the standards.

CSTA Rubric

As an overview, CSTA developed standards implementation rubrics which are designed to support PD providers as they self-assess how well their programs align with their Standards for Computer Science Teachers and key principles of effective PD. This tool can be useful

2. Preparedness of Room Host and Facilitator

Room Host

It’s important that the room host and the facilitator are not the same people. There are too many moving parts for the room host to also simultaneously be a facilitator of a workshop. The room host is responsible for making sure that the venue is appropriately equipped with technology and other supplies for the effective delivery of the workshop. They take attendance, provide technical assistance, and ensure the evaluation is administered to everyone.

This slide deck provides a more in-depth overview of what the room host does. This opening/closing script can be edited to be used at the start and end of the workshop alongside the Welcome/Overview slide deck.

Facilitator

The facilitator is responsible for delivering the workshop.

Typically, workshops have a capacity of 32 with 2 facilitators to provide space for engagement and questions.This format allows for groups of 4, if need be.

The role of facilitator changes slightly, depending on whether the delivery of the workshop is online, in-person, or in-person with a virtual facilitator. More information can be found at seasonsofcs.org/facilitator.