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+ Small Schools and Singletons Structuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every Teacher William M. Ferriter http://wferriter.posterous.com

PLCs for Singletons and Teachers in Small Schools

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This slide deck will serve as a conversation starter in Bill Ferriter's PLCs for Singletons and Teachers in Small Schools presentations during the summer of 2011.

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Page 1: PLCs for Singletons and Teachers in Small Schools

+

Small Schools and SingletonsStructuring Meaningful Professional Learning Teams for Every Teacher

William M. Ferriter

http://wferriter.posterous.com

Page 2: PLCs for Singletons and Teachers in Small Schools
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+Session Outcomes

• To frame the specific challenges that small schools and singleton teachers face in PLCs

• To explore three possible solutions for overcoming these challenges: Skill-based teams, vertical teams, and electronic teams.

• To develop the beginnings of an action plan for incorporating singletons into the PLC process

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+Who ARE Singletons?

One of the greatest challenges in any PLC is finding meaningful learning partnerships for the singletons—art teachers, band directors, media specialists, foreign language teachers—in a building.

Teachers working in small schools or unique subject areas often struggle to find partners, too. When you’ve only got one physics—or third grade, or biology—teacher, who can he or she learn with?

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+Checking In

As a small school or singleton teacher, what challenges do you currently face in collaborating in a meaningful way?

Chart your responses at your tables.

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+Collaboration Lite

“Mere collegiality won’t cut it. Even discussions about curricular issues or popular strategies can feel good but go nowhere. The right image to embrace is of a group of teachers who meet regularly to share, refine, and assess the impact of lessons and strategies continuously to help increasing numbers of students learn at higher levels.”

—Schmoker, 2004

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+The Dilemma of Small Schools and Singletons

With few if any common-content teachers, how do we collaborate among ourselves to become members of true professional learning communities?

Our focus on learning must be reduced to common denominators so that meaningful collaboration can occur.

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+Rethinking Structures for Singletons

In many schools the structure is set up in opposition to collaboration and most people will not work in opposition to the structure.   “The truth is that the system changes individuals more often than individuals change the system.”

             —Fullan, 2005

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Teachers Teaching Similar Subjects

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+Rethinking Structures for Singletons

Answer the following questions while reading about White Pine Middle School’s work to change structures:

•What are the strengths of creating teams of teachers who are teaching the same subjects? What are the weaknesses?

•If this were an approach that you were going to implement in your building, what barriers would you need to overcome?

Addendum, Page 1

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+

Vertical and Interdisciplinary Teams

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+Rethinking Structures for Singletons

Answer the following questions while reading about White Pine High School’s work to change structures:

•What are the strengths of creating teams of teachers who are teaching the same subjects? What are the weaknesses?

•If this were an approach that you were going to implement in your building, what barriers would you need to overcome?

Addendum, Page 2

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+A Process for Vertical and Interdisciplinary Teams1. Organize teams based on what

learning goals teachers have in common.

2. Focus on those issues that are common rather than those that are not.

3. Identify the most important common outcome.

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+A Process for Vertical and Interdisciplinary Teams4. Develop a method of

assessment, a rubric, and anchors.

5. Calibrate scoring and evaluate results.

6. Come back to the table with common strategies designed

to improve performance.

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+Here’s What’s Different

Although the unit assessments are not exactly “common” from one grade level to the next, the skills often are.

By providing student performance targets in each grade level within an essential skill, vertical teams can have rich collaboration about student learning.

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+Practice in Action

Working together, kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade teachers could develop a shared rubric defining the elements of a good sentence that is used by all teachers at all grade levels.

The skills are common even when the task isn’t.

Session Handouts, Page 6

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+Practice in Action

Imagine that you are working as a member of a high school social studies team composed of world history, U.S. history, and government teachers.

What could some common outcomes for your learning team be?

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+Practice in Action

If your imaginary learning team decided to focus on critically reading and analyzing primary sources as its most important common outcome, what would your next steps be?

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+Practice in Action

• Do all students take the exact same assessment?

• Is there a different primary source for each content area?

• Is the common assessment multiple choice or constructed response?

(There are no right or wrong answers!)

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+

Synchronous and Asynchronous Tools

for Singletons

Note: All tutorials and materials for this portion of the presentation can be found online at:

http://bit.ly/twitterforsingletons

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+Rethinking Structures for Singletons

Answer the following questions while reading about Cody Mothershead’s work to connect with peers electronically:

•What are the strengths of creating teams of teachers who are teaching the same subjects? What are the weaknesses?

•If this were an approach that you were going to implement in your building, what barriers would you need to overcome?

Addendum, Page 3

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+Lowering Barriers

“Now the barriers are low enough that any of us can publicly seek and join with like-minded souls. The means for harnessing our cognitive surplus are the new tools that we have been given, tools that both enable and reward participation.”

—Shirky, 2010

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+Twitter As an Electronic Starting Point

“I struggle to find time for PD in my already crowded day. With Twitter, I can learn easily and from anywhere. Whenever I have a few minutes to spare—between classes, on lunch duty, waiting for flights at the airport, just before going to bed—I’m checking the messages posted by my Twitter network.”

—Bill Ferriter

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+Exploring Twitter

Tutorial 1: The Twitter Homepagehttp://screenr.com/FJq

(1:42)

Tutorial 2: Posting Messages to Twitterhttp://screenr.com/oJq

(3:23)

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+Finding Potential Partners in Twitter“ ‘Where do I even begin?’

educators new to Twitter wonder…. What resources can help me find teachers and principals with the same interests and passions as mine?”

—Ferriter, Ramsden, & Sheninger, 2011

Session Handouts, Page 27

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+Finding Potential Partners in Twitter

Tutorial 3: Finding Peers to Learn Withhttp://screenr.com/sQq

(3:19)

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+Following Twitter Hashtags

One of the best ways to connect with potential colleagues is to explore ongoing Twitter conversations organized by hashtags—short identifiers starting with “#” that users add to the end of specific posts to sort them into easily searchable categories.

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+Following Twitter Hashtags

Tutorial 4: Using Hashtags to Find Peershttp://screenr.com/0Qq

(4:23)

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+Sources for Extended Conversations

“There is no one right way to build—or right collection of tools for developing—a 21st century PLN. Most educators start their own learning networks by finding peers in Twitter, Facebook, Ning, Diigo, and LinkedIn.”

—Ferriter, Ramsden, & Sheninger, 2011

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+Sources for Extended Conversations

Tutorial 5: Extended Conversations in Digital Forumshttp://screenr.com/qQq

(4:34)

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+Tools for Developing Teams

“The core work of electronic learning teams is the same as the core work of teams who meet in person: investigating practice, developing common assessments, looking at student learning data.

“Digital tools just make it possible for that work to be done from remote locations.”

—Bill Ferriter

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+Tools for Developing Teams

Tutorial 6: Tools for Developing Teamshttp://bit.ly/hYv1ZP

(Several videos here)

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+

The Role of the Central Office

in Supporting PLCs for Singletons

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+Three Key Ideas

• Why should district administrators be involved in the development of districtwide PLCs?

• What should administrators know about the development and implementation of nontraditional PLCs?

• How do schools bring it all together?

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+Leadership Matters

“When district leaders are carrying out their leadership responsibilities effectively, student achievement across the district is positively affected.”

—Marzano & Waters, 2009

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+Leadership Matters

“Even the best initiatives will fail without leadership focus and deep implementation.”

—Reeves, 2010

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+Leadership Matters

“One of the great ironies in education is that it takes strong and effective educational leaders to create truly empowered people who are capable of sustaining improvement after the leader has gone.”

—Eaker, DuFour, & DuFour, 2007

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What Should Administrators Know

About the Development and

Implementation of Nontraditional

PLCs?

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+Guiding Questions:Philosophy

1. During the initial stages of implementation, which teachers will be involved in vertical versus districtwide teams?

2. What role will district versus building leaders play in organizing, leading, and monitoring districtwide PLCs?

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+Guiding Questions:Parameters

3. What priorities should district PLCs align their goals and efforts with?

4. What artifacts will districtwide PLCs need to produce?

5. How will you evaluate the effectiveness of your districtwide PLCs?

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+Guiding Questions:Support

6. How often/when are teachers expected to meet?

7. What tools will be available to support teacher collaboration?

8. Who will serve as the lead administrator or district resource person?

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How Do Schools Bring It All Together?

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+Practice Into Action

In the Schaumberg School District 54, singleton teachers are expected to collaborate with teachers in their schools and around the district. Location:Schaumburg, ILNumber of Schools:27 elementary and junior high schoolsStudent Enrollment: 14,231

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+Schaumburg School District 54

Goals, parameters, and results:

• The goal is to ensure that teachers are having meaningful dialogue focused on specific outcomes.

• The focus is on band and art teachers.

• Teachers are expected to complete six common assessments and submit meeting minutes on a regular basis.

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+Schaumburg School District 54

Time for collaboration and support:

• Early release Wednesdays (90 minutes) and institute days

• Contractual stipulations: The school principal could designate 90 minutes per week.

• A district administrator serves as

the group leader.

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+Music Common Assessment

Session Handouts, Page 16

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+Practice Into Action

In the Wake County Public Schools, the Board of Education has required that every school develop a Professional Learning Team Implementation Plan and schedule. Location:Raleigh, NCNumber of Schools:163 elementary, middle, and high schoolsStudent Enrollment: 139,599

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+PLT Action Record

Session Handouts, Page 18

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+Wake County Public Schools

Time and Support

Understanding the importance of providing regular time for collaboration, the school board passed an early dismissal policy in the fall of 2009.

Under this policy, all schools dismissed 1 hour early on Wednesdays to create time for PLCs to meet.

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+Practice Into Action

St. Mary’s County Public Schools values data as a tool for making instructional decisions. The district also values collaboration across schools and content areas. Location:Leonardtown, MDNumber of Schools:27 elementary, middle, and high schoolsStudent Enrollment: 17,217

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+St. Mary’s County Schools

Video 1: Technologyhttp://bit.ly/stmarystech

Dr. Jeff Maher—director of Professional and Organizational Development—talks about the role that technology plays in efforts to support singleton teachers.

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+St. Mary’s County Schools

Video 2: Artifactshttp://bit.ly/stmarysartifacts

Dr. Jeff Maher—director of Professional and Organizational Development—talks about the role that artifacts play in efforts to support singleton teachers.

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+Monthly Action Plan

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+Additional Sources of Help

Small schools and singletons should also look to their local universities and regional education centers for support in finding collaborative partners.

You can also find support from:

National Rural Education Associationhttp://www.nrea.net/

Center for the Study of Rural/Small Schools

http://cssrs.ou.edu/

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+This Session Developed Collaboratively By:

Bill FerriterSolution Tree [email protected](North Carolina)

Hector GarciaSolution Tree [email protected](Illinois)

Aaron HansenSolution Tree [email protected].

us (Nevada)

Adam YoungSolution Tree [email protected].

us(Nevada)

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The Tempered Radicalhttp://snipurl.com/temperedradical

Twitter Username: @plugusinEmail: [email protected]

Bill Ferriter has about a dozen titles—Solution Tree PLC author and associate, ASCD columnist, senior fellow of the Teacher Leaders Network—but he checks them all at the door each morning when he walks into his sixth-grade classroom!

Bill Ferriter

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+Bill Ferriter Author and Teacher

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+Thank You!

To schedule professional development, contact Solution

Tree at (800) 733-6786.