Powerpoint Created By Scott Swanson, Traci Schutt And The Plc Committee

Professional Learning Communities

Powerpoint created by Scott Swanson, Traci Schutt and the PLC Committee All materials come from “Professional Learning Communities at Work” Summer Institute 2009 (Buffum, DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Erkens, Parscale)

Educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research in order to achieve better results for the students they serve.

Purpose We ensure high levels of learning for all students.

Commitment We clarify how individually we will contribute to achieving our vision.

Vision We create the structures and culture to ensure all kids learn.

Goals We have identified indicators to monitor our progress.

We don’t “do” PLCs, we BECOME

By being passionate that all kids learn at high levels By creating group norms by which to collaborate By creating learning targets in our area of focus By making goals to improve student learning By using data through formative and summative assessments By responding to student needs when they don’t learn By keeping an open-mind to new ideas

Gains in student achievement Higher quality solutions to problems Increased confidence among all staff Teachers able to support one another’s strengths and accommodate weaknesses Ability to test new ideas More support for new teachers Expanded pool of ideas, materials, and methods -Judith Warren Little (1990)

“A systematic process in which we work together, interdependently, to analyze and impact professional practice in order to improve our individual and collective results. -DuFour, DuFour, & Eaker (2002)

TEAM NORMS!

Collaboration with a FOCUS ON LEARNING.  Time for collaboration during the school day and school year.  Focus teams on CRITICAL QUESTIONS.  Make products of collaboration explicit.  Establish team norms to guide collaboration. 

Having clear norms holds everyone accountable to what they have agreed upon.

Each team establishes its own norms.  Norms are stated as commitments to act or behave in certain ways.  Norms are reviewed at the beginning and end of each meeting until internalized.  Less is more! A few key norms are better than a laundry list.  Violations of norms must be addressed. 

Are we clear on the commitments we have made to each other regarding how we will work together as a team?  Have we stated our commitments as explicit behaviors?  Have we discussed how to address the issue if we feel someone is not honoring our norms? 

We will be fully “present” at the meeting by becoming familiar with materials before we arrive and by being attentive to behaviors which affect physical and mental engagement. We will invite and welcome the contributions of every member and listen to each other. We will be involved to our individual level of comfort. Each of us is responsible for airing disagreements during the meeting rather than carrying those disagreements outside our meeting. We will operate in a collegial and friendly atmosphere. We will keep confidential our discussions, comments, and deliberations. We will be responsible for examining all points of view before a consensus is accepted.

1.Meet as an assigned team to participate in the “creating norms” activity. 2.Meet back as a staff to discuss. 3. Discuss any questions. 4. Plan for the next meeting.

Learning targets in your academic focus.

~For our next meeting, we will meet together in chosen teams to look at our curriculum and choose agreed upon learning targets. ~Are you in a team that shares curriculum? ~Discuss where you best fit.

Please sign up on a “team sheet” to show where you and others have placed yourselves to work on learning targets of shared curriculum.