Transcript What It Means to be a Professional Learning Community

What It Means to be a Professional
Learning Community
Kelly Gillespie,
Southwest Plains Regional
Service Center
PLC defined…
• Educators committed to
working collaboratively in
an ongoing process of
collective inquiry and
action research in order to
raise student achievement.
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PLC Key
• Assumes student learning
will improve when
embedded teacherlearning occurs
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PLCs Ask Four Critical Questions
1) What do we expect students
to learn?
2) How will we know when they
have learned it?
3) How will we respond when
kids don’t learn?
4) How will we respond when
they already know it?
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Characteristics of PLCs
• 1. Shared
– Mission
• Why do we exist?
– Vision
• What do we hope to become?
– Value
• How must we behave to get
there?
– Goals
• What steps do we need to take
and when?
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Characteristics
• 2. Collaborative Teams
Focused on Learning
– Cultural shift from teaching
to learning
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Characteristics
• 3. Collective Inquiry into…
– “Best Practice” and
– “Current Reality”
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Characteristics
• 4. Commitment to
Continuous Improvement
with Results
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First Big Idea of PLC
• Focus on Learning
– We expect high levels of
learning for all students. And
are willing to examine all
practices and their impact
on learning
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What happens when kids don’t
learn?
• School’s Response
– Directive
– Timely
– Systematic
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Second Big Idea of PLCs
• A Collaborative Culture
– We can achieve high levels
of learning for all students
only if we work together
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Advantages of Teachers Working
in Collaborative Teams
• 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, methods
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Highly Effective Collaborative
Teams
• Collaborate on routine
tasks
– Time for collaboration is built
into the school day and
school calendar
– Products of collaboration are
made explicit
– Team norms guide
collaboration
– Teams pursue specific and
measurable performance
goals
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Collaboration
• Collaborate on…
– Curriculum
– Instruction
– Assessment
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What is collaboration?
• A systematic process in
which we work together,
interdependently, to
analyze and impact
professional practice in
order to improve our
individual and collective
results.
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Third Big Idea of PLCs
• Focus on Results
– We assess our effectiveness
on the basis of RESULTS not
intentions
• 4 common assessments
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School Results Focus On…
• Meaningful teamwork
• Clear and measurable
goals
• Regular collection and
analysis of performance
data
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PLC Focus
• In a PLC, we look at:
– Each individual student
– Each individual indicator
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I’m Intrigued…
• Now what
– Complete Book list
• http://www.solutiontree.com/Public/Media.aspx?n
ode=allbooks&ListProducts=true
&ProductType=books
– Book study
– Solution Tree
• www.solution-tree.com
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Books at SWPRSC
• Professional Learning
Communities: Best Practices for
Enhancing Student
Achievement
• Whatever It Takes: How
Professional Learning
Communities Respond When
Kids Don’t Learn
• Learning By Doing: A
Handbook for Professional
Learning Communities At Work
• Professional Learning
Communities At Work – Plan
Book
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Dr. Rick and Becky DuFour
•
•
•
•
PLC Training hosted by SWPRSC
April 23-24, 2006
Wichita Airport Hilton
$325/person or $275/person for
teams of 4 or more for SWPRSC
members
• $400/person or $350/person for
teams of 4 or more for non
members
• Seating is limited to first 400
registrants
• Hotel room block available at
reduced rates at Airport Hilton
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Now What?
• Brainstorm about finding
time
• Begin to put together
horizontal and vertical
teams
• Begin with curriculum
conversations or
assessment analysis
• Don’t forget to set team
norms and have teams
turn in a product
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SWPRSC…
•Helping districts
improve student
learning!
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