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COLLABORATIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TEAMS Network 18 – CFN#11 – R.O.C.K.S. (Reflection, Outcomes, Collaboration, Knowledge, Standards) Session One – Professional Learning Teams Thursday 5th November 2009 Presenter: Mr. Chris Lowrey AUSSIE Literacy Consultant [email protected] Icebreaker Mnemonic Name Game My name is ________ and I like ________ Overall Professional Learning Unit 1. Collaborative professional learning 2. Facilitating collaborative professional teams 3. Supportive conditions for collaborative professional learning 4. Using data 5. Team planning and reporting 6. Assessment as professional learning 7. Classroom walk through 8. Differentiated coaching 9. Professional learning showcase Contents 1. Building the foundation of a Professional Learning Team 2. A model – Instructional Rounds 3. Creating a vision 1. Understanding our team – self evaluation 1. Learning to see --unlearning to judge 2. Descriptive note taking 3. Tuning protocols for accountability 4. Team learning scenario 5. Next steps What are Professional Learning Teams? In a structured brainstorm…what is a P.L.T.? Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) are small teams of teachers who meet together regularly to collaboratively learn, investigate, develop, and implement research-based teacher practices. What do team members do? Effective learning teams share five characteristics described by Garmston and Wellman in The Adaptive School, (1999). 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Teachers establish shared norms and values that spell out the expectations and interpersonal skills team members will practice. Team members focus collectively on student learning. The work of the learning team may include such activities as studying research-based practices in specific instructional areas, planning and implementing new strategies, examining student work, working together to modify strategies, and documenting the team's work. Team members regularly engage in reflective dialogue about instruction and how to accomplish needed results. Teachers collaborate on a regular, ongoing basis. During team meetings teachers share perspectives and expertise, and develop a feeling of mutual support and shared responsibility for effective instruction. Teachers "teach out loud." That is, they deprivatize their practice and bring it into the open. Team members visit one other's classrooms, act as peer coaches and mentors, and problem-solve together. Teams share their work and findings with other teams and interested parties. A model for Professional Learning Teams… Plan and report in teams Use data to inform teaching Believe in differentiated coaching See assessment as professional learning Successful Professional Learning Teams Celebrate their successes Get creative and make time for priorities What are instructional rounds? They are four step process: 1. 2. 3. 4. Identifying a problem of practice Observing Debriefing Focusing on the next level of work The Focus is on a problem of practice: For example ‘In reading and writing, our students seem to be doing fairly well on decoding, vocabulary and simple writing tasks, but they are not doing as well as we hoped on comprehension and open-ended response tasks. Teachers have begun using a workshop method to work with smaller groups of students, but there is no consistency in what works in those small groups.’ What are the goals of Instructional Rounds? •Understanding the purpose of the instructional core •Understanding the purpose of instructional rounds and the learning goals behind each step •Develop skills in observing teaching and learning •Develop skills in debriefing and observation protocols INSTRUCTIONAL ROUNDS IDENTIFYING A PROBLEM OF PRACTICE. FOCUSING ON THE NEXT LEVEL OF WORK TEACHER LEARNING + STUDENT LEARNING = STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT DEBRIEFING OBSERVING What other Networks have learned through this process… • Teaching matters most • An effective theory of action connects the central office and classroom • Systematic improvement is not linear • Districts need to continuously measure progress • Solutions must be adapted to local contexts • Modeling alone is not sufficient: accountability counts • Communities of practice accelerate learning • External assistance is helpful Create a vision •Use a P3T tool to… •Write a short statement that could summarize your idea of a vision, pass altogether to the right, underline key words that ‘square’ with your thinking, pass again, call out your key phrases and list on a chart. •For example….If you felt happy, proud and excited about coming to work in a years time, what would be happening to make you feel that way? • Listen to each other and share, summarize in your group • Other groups value add • Vision - are we are left with ours? • Evaluate to make certain How do we assess were we are as a PLT? Complete Emotional Intelligence survey. Share we are we at as a group within the realms of the Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Intelligences? Homework…. •Go to the following web address •Download the free Multiple Intelligence test •Complete the test •Print it out and bring to the next session. http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligenc es.htm Learning to see -- unlearning to judge Focus Questions: • What are the teachers doing and saying? • What are the students doing and saying? • What is the task? This is a skill that gets better with time and practice…analogies, muscle development, guitar playing • What evidence did you see that made you think that? Video Observation and Descriptive Note taking Using the focus questions take some descriptive notes on this Grade 4 Guided Reading lesson. Choose a Lens : • Teacher • Student • Content Debriefing – Throw the ball! • Turn and talk. • Share your observation • What's the evidence? • Continue…. How to use Tuning Protocols for accountability? • Read Chapter 24 from ‘Powerful Designs for Professional Learning’ - ‘ Tuning Protocols’ • Discuss what constitutes the tuning protocol and how it will work with us. Note Essential aspects… • With the groups permission …….We will use a similar protocol throughout our PLT sessions to organize sessions Homework 2… • Try using the Tuning Protocol (Handout 2) to conduct a meeting over the next month, bring back your results to discuss. Team learning scenario task Using the following tuning in protocol model…. • Introduction 5 minutes • Read presentation/ take notes 15 minutes • Participant discussion 5 minutes • Debriefing group sharing 5 minutes • Definition of Collaborative Professional learning 5 minutes (35 Minutes) In four groups select a reading from one of the school settings 5 Minutes • Fremont Elementary School • Peterson High School • Martin Middle School • West Grove Township school district • As you read jot down notes about the attributes of collaborative professional learning. 15 Minutes • Compare with a friend 5 Minutes • Share as a group 5 Minutes • Using your collective notes presenter types a definition of ‘Collaborative professional learning’ 5 Minutes (35 Minutes) Next steps – Making descriptive comments from classroom observations Large Grained Evidence • Lesson on the four main causes of civil war • Teacher questions students about the passage they just read • Teacher checked frequently for comprehension • Teacher made curriculum relevant to students lives • Teacher introduced the concept of fractions and had the student apply the concept in a hands on activity Fine-Grained Evidence • Teacher ‘How are volcanoes and earthquakes similar?’ • Teacher ‘Boys and girls today’s number is 30. Who can give me a string of numbers that go up to 30?’ • Prompt for student essays ‘What role did symbolism play in foreshadowing the main characters dilemma?’ • Students worked individually even though they were in groups. Each worked on own paper and didn’t talk with others. • Students made up questions about the book they’d just read. What to zoom in on in the classroom you observe: Orientation. What grade is it? Content area? How many girls? How many boys? How many adults are there? How many minutes into the class are we? Consider time. How much time is spent on what activity? Note time periodically throughout the observation as part of mapping what you see. Listen to questions. What questions are being asked? Who’s asking them? What are the responses to the questions? Look at the task. What are the students being asked to do? What are they actually doing? Patterns of interaction. Is it teacherstudent centered? Do students talk with each other? Do students initiate conversation or are they always responding to the teacher? Tips and techniques • Discomfort is okay • Be hard nosed about evidence-only right from the beginning • Discuss the why behind the description • Keep track about what you are learning about description and revisit it over time So until November 30th… Work at your descriptive note taking and remember we have just begun our journey to unlock the ‘Professional Learning Team’ member from within!