Professional Learning Communities Whatever it Takes!

Professional Learning CommunitiesWhatever it Takes!

The most promising strategy for sustained, substantive school improvement is developing the ability of school personnel to function as

professional learning communities.

-Richard DuFour

Essential Questions

• What is a PLC?• What are the components of a PLC?• How does a PLC address the needs of

struggling learners?• Where do we begin?

A PLC is…

• Composed of collaborative teams whose members work interdependently to achieve common goals linked to learning for all

• “The way we do things”

• “Another program”• Just a series of meetings

A PLC is NOT…

Why?

• A single, shared, fundamental purpose:– Ensuring high levels of learning for ALL STUDENTS

Why School Reform Efforts Fail

– Complex task– Misplaced focus– Lack of clarity on intended results– Lack of perseverance– Failure to appreciate and attend to the change

process

Essential Components of a PLC

1. Shared mission, vision, and values2. Collective inquiry3. Collaborative teams4. Action orientation and experimentation5. Continuous improvement6. Results orientation

Shared mission, vision, & values

• Why do we exist as an organization?• What do we want to become?

Envision our school 5 years from now. In what significant ways would you like it to be different than it is today?

Collective Inquiry

• Continuous search for best practices• Inquire about current realities and student

achievement• Question the status quo, seek new methods,

test the methods, and reflect on results• Curious and open to possibilities

Collaborative Teams• Not effective by “invitation”• Embedded into daily life• Teams = effective structure• Time to meet needs to be built into the schedule• Purpose must be made explicit• Structures to facilitate collaboration needed• Training for staff• Accept responsibilities for working together as

true colleagues to LEARN

CoBLABoration• Don’t ask: Are we collaborating?• Ask: What are we collaborating about?– What is it we want our students to learn?– How will we know if each student has learned it?– How will we respond when some students do not

learn it?– How can we extend and enrich the learning for

students who have demonstrated proficiency?

Action Orientation

• Aspirations -> Action• Visions -> Reality• Teachers collaborate to serve as a catalyst for

action• Until we “do differently” there is no reason to

expect improved results

New actions

New experiences

New awareness

Shifts in attitudes and beliefs, which, in time, transform the culture of a school

Continued Improvement

• Constantly search to do things more efficiently and effectively

• Seek to create conditions for perpetual learning

• Not a “fad diet!” – a commitment!

Results Orientation

• Assess our efforts on the basis of results rather than intentions

• Subject initiatives to ongoing assessments• Use of data/technology• Data drives action research and the

continuous improvement process

Why?We all share the same needs:•To feel successful in our work•To feel a sense of belonging•To live a life of significance by making a difference

A PLC can help address these needs in all of us: staff, teachers, community.

Critical First Steps• Curriculum updates• Develop common assessments• Strengthen assessment practices• Increase communication among staff• Build collaboration time into schedules• Build shared knowledge of the current reality– What does the data say?– What do we currently do for struggling learners?

PLCs Seek to Answer…• What do we want students to learn?• How will we know when they’ve learned it?• How will we respond when they do not learn?

*

*The answer to the third question separates learning communities from traditional

schools.

Agree or disagree?

Individual teachers working in isolation as they attempt to help all of their students achieve at high levels will eventually be overwhelmed by the tension between covering the content and

responding to the diverse needs of their students in a fixed amount of time with virtually

no external support.

Helping Struggling Learners

• HOW– Interventions provided

in a timely manner– Direct students to

participate– Students are guaranteed

to receive the support no matter who their teacher is

• WHY– Learning must be the

constant– Regard time as a tool, not

a limitation– Ask: Was it learned?

Don’t ask: Did I teach it?– Formative assessments

are pointless if we do not intervene when we discover some students aren’t learning

So what do we do about it?

• Provide a collective response in a timely, directive, and systematic way

• Create schedules that support interventions for all struggling learners

• Assess the appropriateness of daily schedules• Provide appropriate accommodations for ALL

learners• Shift the focus to learning, not teaching

Expectations for All

– Plan differentiated, small group reading instruction for ALL students, to be delivered in the regular classroom

– Non-benchmark students receive daily small group instruction in the classroom

– Plan activities for students not meeting in small groups – extending or supporting essential content

Up Next – 9:00-9:30• Grade Level Teams– Share your small group reading schedule, including time

and frequency in which you meet with each group– What are your other students doing while you meet

with small groups?– How are you including LS students (if any) into both core

instruction and small group instruction?– What instructional activities do students complete when

intervention group is not meeting? Specialists: “Adopt” an anchor work

9:30-10:00

• Cross-grade Level Groups– Share the same ideas as you discussed in your

grade level teams.– How can your colleagues in other grade levels help

you in planning for small group reading instruction?

Cross-Grade Level Groups

• GROUP 1- Audra, Kelli, Mandy, Steffany, Cristen, Laurette, and Amber (Conf. Room LH Side)

• Group 2 – Julie, Bonnie, Margaret, Donna, Heather, Karen (Conf. Room RH Side)

• Group 3 – Jena, Sharon, Kelly, Bev, Ryan, Tracy, Wendy (Library)

10:00 Session Groups

• With Liz: Jena, Bonnie, Mandy, Margaret, Ryan, Laurette, Amber, Lei (Conf. Room LH Side)

• With Greg: Kelly, Kelli, Steffany, Donna, Tracy, Karen, Sue (Conf. Room RH Side)

• With Mrs. Hilt: Audra, Sharon, Julie, Bev, Cristen, Heather, Wendy (Library)