• Sale!
    Better Meetings: Structure for Success, a self-paced virtual course by the NSRF and Coltrain Group

    Better Meetings: Structure for Success

    Original price was: $99.98.Current price is: $59.98.

    Better Meetings: Structure for Success

    a self-paced* virtual course co-created by the NSRF® and Coltrain Group®

    * Start learning anytime, anywhere!

     

    Add to cart to register now!

     

    Transform your meetings from frustrating and ineffective to impactful and satisfying. Learn how to structure effective core meetings that boost your team’s productivity!

    Do you and your team find meetings to be unproductive? You don't need more meeting time, you need BETTER MEETINGS!  Enroll and start learning now:  this self-paced course shows how to run effective meetings that drive results. Create structured agendas, engage your team, use productive formats for planning and notetaking, and ensure that your meetings lead to actionable outcomes. You can start transforming your meeting culture today! As you learn proven NSRF and Coltrain Group facilitation tools and strategies, you'll reflect and recognize helpful insights driving successful meetings. Create goal-driven discussions that maximize meeting participation and outcomes!

    Explore:

    ✓ Common pitfalls of bad meetings—and how to avoid them
    ✓ Key elements of well-structured meetings, from well-planned agendas to action plans
    ✓ Better Meetings Frameworks to streamline planning, facilitation, and record-keeping
    ✓ Reflective activities to deepen your understanding and make your learning "sticky," so you can make your meetings more successful!
    In this Better Meetings course, you’ll learn the essential skills and tools to transform meetings from time and money-wasters into productive, results-driven experiences. Through reflection, discussion, and practical tools, you will:
    • Identify the problem Explore what makes meetings ineffective and why so many people dislike them.
    • Define solutions Brainstorm clear "do's and don'ts" to guide more effective meeting practices.
    • Utilize structure Learn how meeting frameworks and structure can improve focus, flow, accountability, and outcomes.
    • Develop action plans Review our tips on running better meetings to understand exactly what meeting leaders can do before, during, and after every meeting to ensure success.
    • Apply what you learn in your very next meeting!
    This course provides our ready-to-use and customizable Standard Meeting Minutes Framework, the Standard Meeting Agenda Framework, the Run Better Meetings tip-sheet, and also our BONUS Better Meetings Activity, which helps everyone on your team come together to explore, reflect, and plan how better meetings can happen for everyone. By the course's end, you will have the tools and confidence to run meetings that save time, build trust, and move work forward AND you'll earn a Certificate of Completion by the course's end to recognize your achievement. Because this course is asynchronous and self-paced, some individuals will take longer with the material than others, but in round numbers, one should be able to complete the course within a couple of hours.

    This self-paced course offers a taste of what thousands of people have learned in CFG Coaches' Training for more than 25 years. Together, let's tackle the meetings you face every week!

      Note: One registration allowed per purchase. If you need to pay with a purchase order, enroll for someone else or for a small group of learners, or if you have any additional questions concerning the course or enrollment, please reach out to the NSRF Office Team for assistance.**  

    ** Completing your purchase will auto-enroll you to the course using your BILLING EMAIL provided. You will receive email from NSRF Virtual Learning regarding login and password set-up (if you are new to NSRF Virtual Learning) as well as a direct link to your course site. 

     
    "Add to cart" to complete the purchase using "View Cart" in the top main menu. 
    Add to cart Details

  • Critical Friends Group® New Coaches’ VIRTUAL Training, February 15-18 + 22-25, 2027

    $999.00

    Critical Friends Group® Virtual Coaches' Training:

    A 26-hour training conducted within Zoom, culminating in Virtual CFG® Coaches’ Certification

     

    February 15-18, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. EST* + 22-25, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST*

    *Check your equivalent time zone here.

    Jump to the registration form

    -

    🤔 What if you had practical tools in hand to transform the way you and your colleagues or students communicate and problem-solve? 

    ✨ What if you could build more trust, reflection, and authentic collaboration in your groups?

    💫 What if your team or classroom meetings actually left people feeling energized, connected, and inspired? 

    -

    Our Critical Friends Group New Coaches Open training has the tools and methods you need! Become a CFG COACH and change the way people experience meetings, collaboration, and professional learning.

     

    JOIN US for this upcoming New CFG Coaches’ Virtual Training, a dynamic, highly interactive experience designed for professionals who are ready to build stronger teams and lead groups and classrooms through action-oriented conversations with greater confidence, clarity, and purpose! 

     
    Read More about our Open Virtual Trainings
     

    This training is highly interactive, providing opportunities to learn by doing, reflect with colleagues, and apply new skills to real-world challenges.

    During this immersive online training, participants will:

      • Experience and practice NSRF's powerful protocols and unique facilitation strategies in real time.

      • Learn how to lead engaging conversations that promote reflection, trust, creativity, and productive problem-solving.

      • Strengthen skills in collaborative leadership, communication, feedback, and group facilitation.

      • Bring real challenges, questions, and dilemmas to the training and receive support from colleagues using structured processes.

      • Discover and practice structured protocols for:

        • Refining projects, plans, lessons, and initiatives,

        • Generating creative ideas and actionable next steps,

        • Analyzing data to uncover insights and inform decisions,

        • Examining student work to better understanding and improve support for learners.

    Finish this training with CFG Coach Certification and a collection of practical tools and immediately applicable strategies that can transform your meetings, strengthen team culture, enhance professional learning, improve coaching conversations, and increase engagement and connections in classrooms and organizations.

    Walk away ready to facilitate conversations that matter, creating results that last.

     

    Whether you are a teacher, coach, administrator, consultant, or team leader, new CFG Coaches gain renewed inspiration, a supportive professional network, and the confidence to create more thoughtful, connected, and human-centered spaces wherever they work! 

    Certified CFG Coaches know how to:

        • create meaningful dialogue and navigate difficult conversations,

        • create trust and belonging in groups where people feel hesitant to speak up, and

        • create settings that guide teams toward deeper reflection, authentic connections, better collaboration, and action plans.

    Skills gained through CFG work extend far beyond facilitation and into leadership, coaching, communication, relationship-building, and the everyday work of helping people feel seen, heard, and valued.

     

    Your $999 training investment includes:

        • 26+ live online training hours across 8 engaging sessions and access to a virtual course alongside with further guidance, insights, and bonus material;

        • lifetime CFG Coach Certification;

        • a one-year NSRF Coaches’ Membership;

        • access to the online Coaches’ Protocol Library, searchable and filled with exclusive resources;

        • the full Handbook for Virtual CFG Coaches (packed with usable activities, protocols, insights and a Guide to Tech Hosting);

        • ongoing support from your NSRF facilitators and the NSRF Office Team.

     

    Seating is limited so act quickly!

    To preserve the highly collaborative nature of the experience, a maximum of 20 people will benefit from this training opportunity! If interested, register today to hold your seat! This training requires a minimum of ten participants, so stay tuned for confirmation along with preparatory materials 7-14 days before the training begins. 

    Discounts available!

    Because CFG work is best implemented and sustained through community, we encourage participants to attend with a colleague or professional partner whenever possible. Bring a friend or colleague and receive a $75 discount each! (Discount is limited to 2 participants. One organizational discount per training.) Reach out to NSRF@NSRFharmony.org for your custom discount code.

    Questions? Let us answer them! Please email us at nsrf@nsrfharmony.org or call 812-330-2702.

      Refund policy: NSRF works hard to keep our prices low and to make each class an especially high-value training opportunity. Because of this, refunds are only available with cancellations at least two weeks before this event. If you register but are unable to attend, please try to find a colleague who can take your seat and contact NSRF@NSRFharmony.org to transfer your registration. If we should cancel this training due to lack of participation or other circumstances, you will be notified immediately via email and fully refunded. By submitting your registration you are agreeing to these terms. Paying with a Purchase Order or check? Please email NSRF@NSRFharmony.org to make arrangements. Please note: this training requires payment in full BEFORE the training begins.  

    Are you READY to lead more meaningful conversations, strengthen professional relationships, and bring NEW ENERGY to the groups you serve?

    Become our newest Critical Friend and a certified CFG Coach!

     
    Select options Details
  • CFG New Coaches' Virtual Training Oct 12-15 + 19-22, 2026, Morning Cohort

    Critical Friends Group® New Coaches’ VIRTUAL Training, October 12-15 + 19-22, 2026

    $999.00

    Critical Friends Group® Virtual Coaches' Training:

    A 26-hour training conducted within Zoom, culminating in Virtual CFG® Coaches’ Certification

     

    October 12-15, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. EDT* + 19-22, 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EDT*

    *Check your equivalent time zone here.

    Jump to the registration form

    -

    🤔 What if you had practical tools in hand to transform the way you and your colleagues or students communicate and problem-solve? 

    ✨ What if you could build more trust, reflection, and authentic collaboration in your groups?

    💫 What if your team or classroom meetings actually left people feeling energized, connected, and inspired? 

    -

    Our Critical Friends Group New Coaches Open training has the tools and methods you need! Become a CFG COACH and change the way people experience meetings, collaboration, and professional learning.

     

    JOIN US for this upcoming New CFG Coaches’ Virtual Training, a dynamic, highly interactive experience designed for professionals who are ready to build stronger teams and lead groups and classrooms through action-oriented conversations with greater confidence, clarity, and purpose! 

     
    Read More about our Open Virtual Trainings
     

    This training is highly interactive, providing opportunities to learn by doing, reflect with colleagues, and apply new skills to real-world challenges.

    During this immersive online training, participants will:

      • Experience and practice NSRF's powerful protocols and unique facilitation strategies in real time.

      • Learn how to lead engaging conversations that promote reflection, trust, creativity, and productive problem-solving.

      • Strengthen skills in collaborative leadership, communication, feedback, and group facilitation.

      • Bring real challenges, questions, and dilemmas to the training and receive support from colleagues using structured processes.

      • Discover and practice structured protocols for:

        • Refining projects, plans, lessons, and initiatives,

        • Generating creative ideas and actionable next steps,

        • Analyzing data to uncover insights and inform decisions,

        • Examining student work to better understanding and improve support for learners.

    Finish this training with CFG Coach Certification and a collection of practical tools and immediately applicable strategies that can transform your meetings, strengthen team culture, enhance professional learning, improve coaching conversations, and increase engagement and connections in classrooms and organizations.

    Walk away ready to facilitate conversations that matter, creating results that last.

     

    Whether you are a teacher, coach, administrator, consultant, or team leader, new CFG Coaches gain renewed inspiration, a supportive professional network, and the confidence to create more thoughtful, connected, and human-centered spaces wherever they work! 

    Certified CFG Coaches know how to:

        • create meaningful dialogue and navigate difficult conversations,

        • create trust and belonging in groups where people feel hesitant to speak up, and

        • create settings that guide teams toward deeper reflection, authentic connections, better collaboration, and action plans.

    Skills gained through CFG work extend far beyond facilitation and into leadership, coaching, communication, relationship-building, and the everyday work of helping people feel seen, heard, and valued.

     

    Your $999 training investment includes:

        • 26+ live online training hours across 8 engaging sessions and access to a virtual course alongside with further guidance, insights, and bonus material;

        • lifetime CFG Coach Certification;

        • a one-year NSRF Coaches’ Membership;

        • access to the online Coaches’ Protocol Library, searchable and filled with exclusive resources;

        • the full Handbook for Virtual CFG Coaches (packed with usable activities, protocols, insights and a Guide to Tech Hosting);

        • ongoing support from your NSRF facilitators and the NSRF Office Team.

     

    Seating is limited so act quickly!

    To preserve the highly collaborative nature of the experience, a maximum of 20 people will benefit from this training opportunity! If interested, register today to hold your seat! This training requires a minimum of ten participants, so stay tuned for confirmation along with preparatory materials 7-14 days before the training begins. 

    Discounts available!

    Because CFG work is best implemented and sustained through community, we encourage participants to attend with a colleague or professional partner whenever possible. Bring a friend or colleague and receive a $75 discount each! (Discount is limited to 2 participants. One organizational discount per training.) Reach out to NSRF@NSRFharmony.org for your custom discount code.

    Questions? Let us answer them! Please email us at nsrf@nsrfharmony.org or call 812-330-2702.

      Refund policy: NSRF works hard to keep our prices low and to make each class an especially high-value training opportunity. Because of this, refunds are only available with cancellations at least two weeks before this event. If you register but are unable to attend, please try to find a colleague who can take your seat and contact NSRF@NSRFharmony.org to transfer your registration. If we should cancel this training due to lack of participation or other circumstances, you will be notified immediately via email and fully refunded. By submitting your registration you are agreeing to these terms. Paying with a Purchase Order or check? Please email NSRF@NSRFharmony.org to make arrangements. Please note: this training requires payment in full BEFORE the training begins.  

    Are you READY to lead more meaningful conversations, strengthen professional relationships, and bring NEW ENERGY to the groups you serve?

    Become our newest Critical Friend and a certified CFG Coach!

     
    Select options Details
  • Protocols for All

    Protocols for All: 50 practical structures to ensure engagement, deepen learning, and improve facilitation skills*

    $43.00

    Protocols* For ALL:

    50 practical structures to ensure engagement, deepen learning, and improve facilitation skills

    by Michele Mattoon & Luci Englert McKean

    * Protocols, activities, and exercises from the National School Reform Faculty, originator of protocols for educators since 1994.

    Buy Paperback or Kindle on Amazon!
     
    Add a Spiral-bound copy to your cart now
      Use this book to put an end to meetings where “nothing ever happens!” NSRF protocols and activities frame a wide variety of professional conversations to solicit feedback, diverse insights, and action-oriented solutions. Written and designed for individuals with little to no experience structuring conversations in meetings and classrooms, each item includes specific steps, scripts, time considerations, and suggestions for appropriate ages of participants, as well as supporting worksheets and graphic organizers. Less a textbook than a workbook, full of tools you can put to good use immediately.
    • Develop skills and use NSRF activities to increase a true sense of belonging between participants.
    • Build a toolkit of structured conversations that lift all voices in a room.
    • Use protocols and your own texts and other media to collaboratively construct meaning, investigate implications, and give every participant equal opportunity to share.
    • Begin and end meetings and classes with effective ways to bring everyone “here and now” to the work at hand, increasing efficacy and connection.
    • Incorporate fun ways to engage students and adult groups actively on their feet, then in debrief, thinking differently about communication and collaboration as a result.

    NEW SPIRAL-BOUND copies! 

    Do you prefer a higher quality print workbook that will lay open and flat as you work? Our best professional facilitators do! Order a spiral bound version of our newest book straight from the NSRF Office Team for $43 + Shipping & Handling (Ships USPS Priority Mail - arrives in 2-3 days).
    Add a spiral bound copy your cart now
        Go to Amazon for our Paperback version for $40 AND/OR Kindle version for $38. 
    Buy Now on Amazon!
      “NSRF protocols are transformative in fostering collaboration, reflection, and meaningful dialogue among educators. These tools, in my experience, not only deepen professional growth but also strengthen learning communities, ensuring a positive and lasting impact on teaching and learning.” – Carmen S. Concepción Ed.D., Dean of the School of Education, Miami-Dade College “The structured conversations provided by protocols help participants discover that the answer to any inquiry can be found within each of them! Engaging in a scaffolded process slows thinking to create space to listen before engaging in the fast thinking that leads to action. As a result, actions are more purposeful and taken only after they have been considered and well thought out.” – Christina Botbyl, Ed.D., Facilitator, Co-Author, Finding Your Path as a Woman in School Leadership “Here is the secret to productive, equitable collaboration: intentionally structured meetings and discussions. This collection of time-tested protocols and activities will ensure every member of your team, class, or group is heard and included, while decisions are made and issues are resolved efficiently.” – Winifred Hunsburger, Ed.D., Educational Consultant and Facilitator
    Buy Now on Amazon!
    Add to cart Details

  • Regular Annual Membership (Non-Certified)

    $25.00 / year

    Here you may pay or renew your Membership Fee in order to initiate or continue your Member-level access with the National School Reform Faculty. A paid membership* also includes subscription to our publication, Connections, which offers you tips on using our protocols and activities effectively, facilitation tips, media reviews, and much more. With your membership, you are also helping lead the effort to fulfill our mission: empowering educators to create meaningful learning experiences for all, by collaborating effectively in reflective democratic communities that foster educational equity and social justice.

    *Please note that, once purchased, an annual paid membership with NSRF is non-transferrable as well as non-refundable. For purchasing multiple memberships or a single membership that spans multiple years, please each out to the NSRF Office Team for help.

    Are you a trained CFG Coach? If so, then you should renew your CFG Coaches' Membership* instead!

    *Be sure to be logged in to your account with your applied coaches' status in order to see the Coaches' Membership as a product in the store. Need help logging in? Call our office or email us for assistance.

    Interested in becoming a trained CFG Coach? We would love to have you at one of our upcoming Open Trainings, or NSRF can come to your school for an On-Site Training!

      NEW! The NSRF now offers an auto-renewable subscription for your purchased membership!* You will receive a notification to confirm your autorenewal three days prior. You can turn this off at any time by clicking "My Subscriptions" on your My Account Dashboard accessible through My Account / Login linked on the main site menu once your membership account has been created.  *Your payment information is stored with the site's Stripe WooPayments secure processor and NOT within any data stored by our office. Also NEW! By choosing to "gift" a membership to someone else, you can purchase a regular membership for an administrator, colleague, or friend by simply entering their email! Note: If you need to purchase a Coach Membership renewal, reach out to the NSRF Office Team. Coach Memberships can only be viewed/purchased when logged in as a certified coach on the site.
    Add to cart Details

  • Collaborative Cue Cards — 12 pack

    $41.25
    Collaborative Cue Cards assist participants engaged in CFG work with several key skills, adding to the efficiency and effectiveness of the NSRF protocols.
    Add to cart Details

  • Collaborative Cue Cards — 15 pack

    $44.50
    Collaborative Cue Cards assist participants engaged in CFG work with several key skills, adding to the efficiency and effectiveness of the NSRF protocols.
    Add to cart Details

  • At What Cost?: Defending Adolescent Development in Fiercely Competitive Schools

    $18.00
    Anxiety, depression, and their dangerous manifestations-substance abuse, eating disorders, self-injury and suicide- are increasing student conditions at many competitive high schools. Paradoxically, most of these schools promote themselves as being committed to students' holistic development in academics, athletics and the arts, and in their personal, social, and emotional growth. So why are so many students struggling? Dr. Gleason has investigated these concerns in competitive high schools throughout the United States and around the world, and has found almost complete unanimity in how educators and parents have responded to his interviews. In sum, these caring and dedicated adults fully admit to overscheduling, overworking and, at times, overwhelming their students and teenaged children. This conflict - adults wanting to educate and parent adolescents in healthy and balanced ways, but simultaneously, overscheduling, overworking and, at times, overwhelming them - is at the heart of this book. In At What Cost?, Dr. David Gleason recruits educators and parents to more empathic ways of operating that not only respect adolescent's true developmental capacities but also don't interfere with their growth trajectories or threaten their mental health.
    Add to cart Details
  • Out of stock

    Facilitator’s Guide: Courageous Conversations About Race

    $16.00
    This companion volume to the Courageous Conversations About Race provides chapter summaries and activities, writing prompts, and artwork for overheads and handouts. Positively reviewed in the November 2014 issue of Connections.
    Details
  • Out of stock

    Courageous Conversations About Race

    $27.00
    This companion volume to the Courageous Conversations About Race provides chapter summaries and activities, writing prompts, and artwork for overheads and handouts. Positively reviewed in the November 2014 issue of Connections.
    Details

  • More Courageous Conversations About Race

    $34.00
    Sequel to the 2006 Courageous Conversations About Race book (also available via this website), this 2013 edition expands the discussion of equity and social justice in schools.
    Add to cart Details
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Critical Friends Group® is a registered trademark of the NSRF®
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812.330.2702
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