ADAPT Meetings: A Model for Great PD Training
Using structured discussion to embed strategies that work in your classroom context
📚 Catch Up on the Series
Missed a part? Here’s what we’ve covered so far:
💡 Let’s Get Stuck In
Tom Sherrington’s ADAPT model is a brilliant way to move beyond the “Here’s a great strategy, now off you go!” approach to CPD.
But in my school, we’ve taken the idea a step further. After delivering a Get It, See It, Name It, Do It session, here’s how we help teams make it stick.
We use ADAPT as a departmental meeting framework, built into our PD cycle, to help teams rehearse, refine, and rework strategies based on their year group, subject, and learner needs. Because, while codified strategies offer clarity and consistency, how they’re embedded must be contextual.
A vocabulary strategy in Year 1 will naturally look different to one in Year 6. A Cold Call routine might feel very different in Art than in Science. So, rather than one-size-fits-all CPD, we treat strategy implementation as a shared, developmental process and the ADAPT meeting is the scaffold that makes it stick.
🧱 Why We Built This
🧠 Because teachers need more than an idea or strategy. They need motivation, time to embed and opportunities to rehearse.
👥 Because teams need time to co-construct how a strategy fits their classroom reality.
🔁 Because implementation doesn’t happen in a single training session. It’s refined over time.
Our version of ADAPT gives structure without rigidity. It lets teams dig into the how, not just the what and reflect on how they are embedding strategies.
🛠 Try It Like This: The ADAPT Meeting Flow
Here’s how our leaders run it typically within a 30–50 minute slot:
🔁 A – ATTEMPTS
“How did it go?”
Start with reflections. What did it look like when teachers first tried the strategy? Be honest: What landed well? What fell flat?
👀 An Example: One teacher shares, “I only used Cold Calling once and it felt clunky. I panicked after that.” That leads to a whole-group reflection on culture and confidence-building.
🛠 D – DEVELOP
“What do we need to sharpen?”
Zoom in on the detail. Rewatch a clip. Read back through the key strategy steps aloud as a team. Identify the key ingredients and discuss what’s working, what’s not, and where there’s confusion.
👀 An Example: After watching a model video, a teacher realises their use of wait time was half a second. Just naming it as a key part of the strategy allowed them to set that as their next step for implementing the strategy.
🧩 A – ADAPT
“What does this look like for us?”
This is where subject and phase matter. Year 2 might need simpler language and more visuals. Year 6 might embed it into longer tasks. Subject teams tweak routines to suit disciplinary demands.
👀 An Example: In English, My Turn, Your Turn becomes a fluency warm-up. In Science, it turns into vocabulary practice before an experiment write-up. Same thing, different context.
🎭 P – PRACTICE
“Let’s rehearse it.”
Rehearsal is a fundamental aspect to embed and practice some strategies. It’s not role-play, it’s purposeful, low-stakes rehearsal. Rehearse the strategy with a teaching partner or script the teacher talk. Map out decision making in the moment with what options you have after a Check for Understanding. Laugh a bit. It’s the most powerful bit of the meeting.
👀 An Example: One teacher tries narrating their Cold Call and consciously counts the wait time. She scripts how she would bounce the answer around to include more children in the process.
🧪 T – TRIAL & TEST
“Where will this live in the week?”
Agree on a low-stakes, high-impact place to try the refined version. Slot it into lesson plans for the week so the trials and tests are ready to go. Plan the moment. Draft a script that can be used as a scaffold. Make it doable.
👀 An Example: One year group chooses to trial a retrieval strategy as a maths starter, only for that week, which gives themselves a clear goal for visible change that is easy to implement. They map it into their weekly lesson plans for maths and agree on a template to use each day.
🔄 Follow-Up Conversations
Keep the strategy alive after the meeting.
This is where departmental leads, or team members, continue the dialogue after the meeting. It might happen in the next planning session, a quick check-in before assembly, or just walking down the corridor. What matters is that the conversation doesn’t end when the meeting does.
These informal moments give staff space to share what’s working and, equally as important, what’s not. When teachers are confident to talk about what flopped and problem-solve together, that’s when you know you’ve got a culture of meaningful change.
👀 An Example: One teacher mentions in passing, “Tried that Cold Call thing and felt a bit clunky with my lot.” Another chips in, “Yeah, same here. I tweaked it but introducing lollipop sticks, and they have started to get used to it.” The teacher takes the advice and adopts lollipop sticks, too. Quick chat. Small change. Made all the difference.
🧠 The Bits That Stick
✅ Codified strategies need contextual shaping, that’s where ADAPT comes in
✅ Build rehearsal into your meetings, not just discussion
✅ Let teachers talk, try, tweak, and revisit — it’s what embedding looks like
✅ Follow-up, whether it’s a quick corridor chat, a shared planning session, or a supportive drop-in, keeps the momentum going
In a bit,
Coops 😎
🔒 Ready for More?
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📚 References & Influences
Sherrington, T. (2020). The ADAPT approach to implementing teaching ideas. Retrieved from https://teacherhead.com/2020/07/14/the-adapt-approach-to-implementing-teaching-ideas/