Overview

Personalize your instruction with BetterLesson!

The AVI CHAI Foundation is expanding its partnership with BetterLesson and will be offering more BetterLesson Coaching to support Jewish day school teachers to personalize student learning in their classrooms. Coaching is also now available for instructional coaches via BetterLesson’s Coach the Coach model. Day schools throughout North America are invited to apply for up to 10 educators in their school to receive a year of 1:1 personalized coaching from blended learning experts, and incorporate new blended learning strategies into their practice.

While The AVI CHAI Foundation will cover the participation costs for these teachers, schools accepted to participate in this opportunity will be asked to cover the transportation costs for their teachers to attend a two-day Design Studio (AVI CHAI will cover food and lodging). Teachers in grades 1-12, across all subjects, are welcome to apply and participants must be available to attend the two-day Design Studio as well as the follow-up ongoing virtual coaching that will take place every two weeks (2 meetings each month). Please see below for additional details on this opportunity.

How does it work?

BetterLesson Coaching is 1:1 professional development that is tailored to meet each educator’s specific needs, whether you’re a classroom teacher or an instructional coach supporting other teachers.  

Teachers who participate in BetterLesson Coaching will work with their coach to innovate their blended and personalized learning practice in areas like:

  • Using formative data to personalize instruction
  • Differentiation by skill and ability
  • Facilitating productive, and effective academic collaboration among students
  • Supporting students to master skills at their own pace
  • Working with students to develop and reflect on personalized learning goals
  • Supporting students to demonstrate mastery of learning objectives in multiple ways

Instructional coaches who participate in BetterLesson Coaching will work with their coach in areas like:

  • Implementing a system of frequent, low-stakes observations to support teacher growth
  • Providing teachers with focused, actionable feedback on their practice.
  • Supporting teachers to reflect on their successes and growth areas.
  • Supporting teachers to share best practices, grow, and plan through collaborative Professional Learning Communities

 

Design Studio

Participants will begin their BetterLesson Coaching experience at the summer Design Studio. The Design Studio is an in-person, 2-day, immersive and highly personalized design experience that empowers educators to imagine, design and implement meaningful shifts in their practice. Participants will work with a team of BetterLesson Coaches to think concretely about what they want to accomplish in the upcoming year, and develop a Design Plan that outlines the areas in which they hope to grow.

 

 

ACF Design Studio

Virtual Coaching

After the Design Studio, participants will engage in 1:1 virtual coaching from September 2018 to May 2019. Participants will meet with their coach for 30-minute virtual meetings every two weeks (twice a month). During these meetings, participants will share their teaching and learning goals with their coach, discuss high-quality strategies, and reflect on how strategy implementation is going. Throughout this learn-by-doing cycle of continuous improvement, BetterLesson Coaches will support participants to capture evidence of their progress over time.

  

Coach Call

BetterLesson Lab and Portfolio

Throughout their BetterLesson Coaching experience, participants will have access to:

  • thousands of high quality teaching strategies in the BetterLesson Lab
  • tools for tracking your progress and your students' growth
  • a digital portfolio that showcases what you’ve been working on and how you’ve grown.

 

 

Lab

How to Apply

Schools interested in joining this program must apply as a team, meaning that the Head of School and all educators interested in being coached must submit an application. For your school's application to be considered complete, (1) the Head of School must submit the School Leader Application, and (2) all educators who wish to receive coaching must complete the Participant Application. The application deadline has been extended and we are now accepting applications on a rolling basis. Please submit your application as soon as possible if you wish to be considered for this program. 

 

What are the Requirements for Participating?

Schools will be asked to cover the travel costs for teachers to attend a Design Studio this summer, while AVI CHAI will cover the costs of lodging and meals for all participants. Before having teachers submit an application, please note:

  • Applicants should currently be implementing (or be interested in implementing) blended and personalized learning in their classroom.
  • Teachers in grades 1-12, across all subjects, are welcome to apply. Teachers must at least be in their second year of teaching and be classroom teachers (first year teachers, paraprofessionals, and interventionists are not eligible to apply).
  • All new participants must be available to attend a Design Studio. For returning participants, we highly encourage that they attend the Design Studio but it is not required.
  • All participants must be able to commit to meeting twice each month with their BetterLesson coach during the 2018-19 school year (30 minutes each meeting).
  • Each school can apply to have up to 10 new participants join the 2018-19 cohort, and AVI CHAI will cover the participation costs for these new participants.
    • Please note, in order for the foundation to cover the full costs of up to 10 new participants, all schools that have had two or more participants in the past must have a minimum of two returning participants.
  • Returning schools that have previously participated in this partnership will be asked to cover 50% of the participation costs for their returning participants ($1,125 per participant).
  • Schools will be asked to cover the travel costs for participants to attend a Design Studio this summer, while AVI CHAI will cover the costs of lodging and meals for all participants.

 

Watch a video about BetterLesson Coaching!

 

 

 

 

Meet some BetterLesson Coaches!

 

Romain Bertrand

Romain Bertrand

One of Romain's greatest passions is supporting educators to build sustainable coaching models in their schools. In his 15+ years as an educator, Romain served as a math facilitator, Multi-Classroom Leader, and instructional coach. In addition to building capacity as a high impact coach, Romain created an innovative self-paced curriculum and was a key leader in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' nationally heralded shift to blended instruction.

Daniel

Daniel Guerrero

Daniel started his career as an elementary educator in Miami, Florida. During his tenure, he was both a Rookie Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the TFA Alumni Teaching Award. His work using blended learning to personalize instruction for his 4th and 5th graders is featured in BetterLesson's Master Teacher Project.

Jessi

Jessi Anderson

Montana's 2016 Teacher of the Year is known for her self-paced, gamified approach to instruction. Jessi's investment in personalized learning has earned her a slew of additional accolades including: PBS Lead Digital Innovator (top 30 in the nation), NEA Teaching Excellence Award, and the 7-12 Montana Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. Strategies for her classroom are shared in BetterLesson's Blended Master Teacher Project. 

Impact

What have BetterLesson and AVI CHAI accomplished together?

AVI CHAI supports the adoption of blended learning to improve the quality of day school education by increasing personalized data-based instruction and enabling students to develop skills and ways of thinking needed in the 21st century. Since partnering with BetterLesson in 2015, AVI CHAI and BetterLesson have collaborated to support 391 teachers from 77 different Jewish day schools to personalize learning in their classrooms.

Year 1 ACF
ACF Year 2
Year 3 ACF

 

2017-18 Mid-Year Survey Data

Here's what participants had to say about their BetterLesson experience in our mid-year feedback survey:

ACF Coach Satisfaction

How satisfied have you been so far with the support you've received from your coach? (1 = Not Satisfied, 4 = Very Satisfied)

ACF Student Impact

BetterLesson Coaching is having a positive impact on students. (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)

 

ACF Alignment

The work with my coach aligns with what I'm already asked to do by my administrators.  (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)

 

Why would you recommend BetterLesson Coaching to a colleague?

“I was reluctant to sign up for Better Lesson and up until the [Design Studio] itself, I was not too keen about attending. However, the Design Studio was first-rate, and the on-going coaching has been great, in part, because it keeps me on track. I know that every 2 weeks or so, I have to talk about what I am doing, which encourages me to think about what I want to do and explore the possibilities.”

Barry Chesler High School Judaic Studies Teacher, Schechter School of Long Island, NY

“In year 1 of coaching I saw my students’ reading comp skills improve; in year 2 I saw my students' Hebrew speaking skills improve and in year 3 of coaching we're working on improving writing skills. I'm already noticing a difference!! Throughout I've been supported by [my coach] and he has guided me to turn my classroom from a traditional classroom to one with Blended Learning rotations. This has been a game changer for me as a teacher and has had a huge impact on my students.”

Chava Traurig Elementary Judaic Studies Teacher, Yeshivat Noam, NJ

I was literally afraid of technology before BL. I came from an era in teaching in which it was just being introduced and was seen as an all or nothing type of plan. Working with [my coach], I have learned that technology in the classroom can be tailored to fit the needs of the teacher and the students. And most importantly, it doesn't replace strong teaching!

Joanne Ketcham High School ELA Teacher, Fuchs Mizrachi, OH

The intentional planning of every piece of the Design Studio was so impressive, and I truly walked away feeling like I had grown professionally and was motivated to do more. Personalized PD is the perfect name for it -- I wish I had a coach like this for every other aspect of my life!

Amanda Pransky Elementary General Studies Teacher, Yeshivat He'Atid, NJ

Participant Application

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so please submit yours as soon as possible. Teachers and instructional coaches should submit this application. If you are the Head of School or School Leader, please submit the other application below this one.

School Leader Application

School leaders should submit this application, and should ensure that teachers or coaches who are interested in participating complete the participant application above. Teacher applications will be considered incomplete if their school leader has not completed the School Leader Application.

 

Have a burning question?

Email Okello Carter at okello.carter@betterlesson.com with any questions or comments.