Session A · Rehearsing the session routine (facilitator guide)
60 minutes · Week 1 · Prerequisites: Modules 1–2 complete · 6–14 participants · Materials: role-play cards, printed session plan template, timers, the observation rubric (one per observer)
Objective
By the end of the session, every participant has run the five-block routine (warm-up → review → guided practice → independent try → exit ticket) at least twice as the tutor, with observers timing each block and scoring rubric Domain 2. Tutors leave with one timed, rehearsed first-3-minutes script.
Why role-play and not discussion
Reading about a routine does not make the routine happen at minute 7 when a student asks an off-topic question. The routine is a performance skill — it transfers only through timed rehearsal with observation. This design follows the same logic as the annotated transcripts: name the observable behavior, rehearse it, observe it, debrief it.
Room setup
- Groups of 3: tutor / student / observer. Rotate roles every round (cards in role-play cards; print and cut).
- One 30-minute “session” is compressed into a 12-minute rehearsal (timer ×2.5). Facilitator calls “minute 5” transitions out loud so time pressure is felt, not described.
- Groups sit apart; observers hold the checklist and a phone timer.
- Whiteboard or flip chart per group for the “warm-up on the board.”
Agenda (60 minutes)
| Minutes | Block | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 | Frame | Objective; why rehearsal; show the five blocks on the board; connect to T1 (“this is what minute 3 sounds like”) and T5 (“this is what happens without the timer”). |
| 5–12 | Round 1 · full routine, slow | Tutor runs all five blocks on the printed plan; student plays a cooperative Grade 7; observer times each block, ticks S1–S4, notes drift. No interruptions. |
| 12–20 | Debrief round 1 | Trios: what stole time? Observers report block timings first (data before impressions). Facilitator harvests one pattern per group onto the board. |
| 20–30 | Round 2 · full routine, harder | New tutor; the role-play card now includes one disruption (“I lost my sheet”, side conversation, fast finisher). Observer also scores Domain 1 (names, reference). |
| 30–38 | Debrief round 2 + micro-teach | Facilitator picks the two most common drifts and models the fix live (60 seconds each): the “block boundary” sentence (“Two minutes left — land this one”) and the disruption redirect. |
| 38–50 | Round 3 · first 3 minutes, three reps | Each member runs ONLY the first three minutes (greeting + reference + warm-up launch) twice, with instant observer feedback between reps. This is the highest-frequency, lowest-stakes skill — highest reps. |
| 50–58 | Whole-group debrief | See questions below. Each tutor says one thing they will do in their real first session. Facilitator records commitments (they resurface in observation #1 debriefs). |
| 58–60 | Close | Point to tutor self-reflection (5 minutes, tonight) and Session B. |
Observer checklist (Domain 2 + Domain 1) — print per round
| Look for | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greeted each student by name in the first minute | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| One specific reference to previous work | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Warm-up launched within 2 “minutes” | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Review block read from the (pretend) ticket, topic said out loud | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Guided practice: tutor asked before explained | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Independent try happened and tutor stayed silent | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Exit ticket administered and “collected” — even mid-thought | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Block timings (actual vs. plan) |
Facilitators: collect these. They are the first calibration data for the rubric and feed the Week-3 observation baselines in the measurement plan.
Debrief questions (pick 3–4)
- Which block vanished first, and what did it take with it? (In every cohort: exit ticket. Name the data cost out loud.)
- What did the disruption in Round 2 cost — and what recovered it?
- Observers: what did you see that tutors didn’t feel? (Time perception. Tutors believe they ran 3-minute blocks; timers disagree.)
- What will you do differently in your first real session — one thing only?
Online delivery variant
- Breakout rooms of 3 (same roles); facilitator rotates with a shared timing sheet.
- Materials in advance (cards, checklist, template) — never distributed mid-session; that eats rehearsal time and excludes anyone on a slow connection.
- Captions on (platform auto-captions acceptable for practice); agenda and links posted in chat at minute 0.
- The “board” is a shared slide or document per group; the observer keeps the timer and posts block timings in the room chat as they happen (keeps observers engaged and creates the debrief data automatically).
- Camera-on during the tutor’s first 3 minutes if bandwidth allows — the greeting is partly visual; state this as an option, not a requirement (bandwidth and background equity).
Facilitator notes
- Protect Round 3. If the session runs long, cut Round 2 debrief, not the first-3-minutes reps — the greeting routine is the skill with the highest transfer-to-real-sessions per minute of rehearsal.
- Do not correct tutoring content (the math) in this session — that’s Session B’s territory and mixing them overloads novices.
- The fictional students on the cards have real misconception profiles from the exit-ticket bank — keep the fiction consistent if you improvise.