These events are run through FariaPD. If you have an idea for an event you would like to run, please email coaching@minipd.com!
Event Format
Logistics and Set up
Before the Event:
- Create the event description and a draft of the session topics
- Optional: Include survey questions to get to know participants
- Create the slide deck that will be used to facilitate each session
- The slides will need to be branded as MiniPD. You can create the slides in our template
- Be sure to plan to get people talking to each other early and often (more information can be found in the “During the Event” section below).
- Share slides with the MiniPD team for review prior to the session
- Ensure all resources are ready to be shared with participants (via Padlet, or whatever platform is being used)
- Schedule a planning call with your MiniPD moderator to test technology, answer general questions, and talk through how we can best support you during the sessions
During the Event:
- Join the Zoom meeting 15-20 minutes before each session to ensure technology is ready and working. Please dress professionally as you would for an in-person event.
- At the beginning of the presentation we will welcome the group, share any announcements, and introduce you. At that point, we’ll turn everything over to you
- Lead the content during the session, including facilitating engaging breakout room conversations
- Get people talking! One way to ensure everyone is involved and invested in the group’s success is to use breakout rooms. Tips for facilitating breakout rooms are below.
- We suggest providing a feedback form after each session
After the Event:
- Review feedback between sessions and make changes to session topics as needed based on the feedback
- Schedule additional planning calls with your MiniPD moderator, as needed
Best Practices for Content Creation
Content Duration:
- Because these events are designed to be collaborative, we want to ensure there is plenty of time for participants to interact. For a standard 2 hour event, we generally recommend about 25 slides of content per session, plus a few slides of announcements and logistics that will be added by the MiniPD team.
- In general, we typically strive for about 50% content delivered by the facilitator and 50% conversation between participants.
- Because these sessions might have weeks between them, make sure to consider a quick recap at the beginning and at the end, and be sure to add the focus of the next session. These connections will help keep the thread and main objectives clear.
- Know your audience: Is this group new to the topic, or is this topic focusing on something already familiar to the participants? If that is the case, how can you support a more in-depth discussion and capitalize on their collective knowledge and expertise?
- You want to make sure that you provide adequate background information, but re-iterating information/resources that are already known to participants quickly loses credibility and engagement.
- If the audience is include a mix of grade level/ subject area teachers, try to include a variety of examples
Utilize Feedback: MiniPD will create a survey for feedback after each session. If you have any specific questions you would like to include, please let us know! We can also send out a survey prior to the start of the event if there is information you are hoping to learn