Why use a protocol during meeting discussions with your team? Protocols encourage everyone to participate by providing structures that give each team member a meaningful role and an opportunity to share ideas and feedback.
Type 1: Opening/brainstorming: Use these protocols for warming up before diving into a planning session.
| Future protocol | Look into the future to imagine the best outcome for your school. Then, brainstorm steps to get there. |
| Realms of Concern and Influence | Share concerns and consider which ones your team has influence over. |
| Ping Pong Protocol | Brainstorm about an issue or problem your team members are facing. |
| Multiple Perspectives Protocol | Think about an issue from different points of view. Adapt for “What is family engagement, actually?” |
| Barriers and Bridges | Brainstorm what barriers your team faces and how those can be turned into bridges. |
| Compass Points | Use to understand group members’ preferences and how they can affect group work. |
| Chalk Talk | A silent, written protocol to reflect, generate ideas, check learning, develop projects or solve problems. |
| Common Ground Common Purpose | Use at the beginning of a meeting for participants to find similarities with each other and similarities within the topic at hand. |
Type 2: Looking at survey data: Use these protocols to look at data objectively and methodically.
| Success Analysis | Examine successful practices and reflect on what makes them so. |
| Data Driven Dialogue | Make shared meaning from data while encouraging equal voices. |
| Data Mining Protocol | For use with two complementary data sets (such as family survey data and staff survey data). |
| Looking at Data Sets | Allows for sharing of initial reactions, closer examination, feedback, multiple perspectives, and synthesis. |
Type 3: Revising and asking for feedback
| Tuning a Plan | Get feedback about a set of goals and associated activities. |
| Feedback Carousel | Get different kinds of feedback in a relatively short amount of time. |
| Equity Protocol | Examine how your plan promotes equity. (Adapt by substituting “families” for “students” in the protocol prompts.) |
| Consultancy Protocol | Present a dilemma in your plan and brainstorm solutions. |
| Charette | A protocol in architecture, used to “kick up” the level of performance. |
| Praise, Question, Suggestion | Use to offer critique and feedback. |
Type 4: Reflecting on the process
| Process of Developing Understanding | Analyze how a new understanding has developed. |
| Talking Stick Ceremony | Debrief your team’s process by using a talking stick to ensure equal voices. |
| I used to…but now I… | Each participant shares their reflections using the prompt. |
| Revisit Barriers and Bridges | After working with your team, what barriers are now bridges? |
| Reflection Prompts | Each participant shares their reflections using a prompt. |
| Say Something | To provide structure for reflecting on a portion of text. |
| Shape Reflection | To reflect on the learning experience. |
| Resources Review | To reflect on new resources and identify who they may be shared with families or other educators. |
