8 STEPS TO A PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITY Goodyear Departmental Meetings

Successful PLCS become.. Embedded in school culture From “I’m responsible for mine only” to “We are responsible for ours” From “Find something and stick to it” to “Schools are living things, progress begins with new ideas”

Successful PLC’s focus on.. Learning at the heart of the process Realizing that the teacher is the most important factor influencing education Setting clear goals Data driven decision making Accountability to each other Not being afraid to try new things !

Successful PLCs are rooted in.. Value Support Sense of urgency Mentoring Change

Step 1: Value of a PLC.. They why the heck do this? Tool 1.2 Where are we right now in our PLC process? - Already have this one ! - we need improvement !

Tool 1.3: Checklist: Checkmark every box you agree with that we need in our building. Take a minute and discuss what you came up with at your table.

Oh my…. Blue cards You are members of a design team hired to work with Goodyear Middle School. Your job is to come up with a list of things you think the school will need to have successful PLC’s. (where, materials, time, attitudes, etc) Brainstorm with your table and write your list on the blue cards.

There’s a spy! Yellow cards….. You are a Professional Sabotage Team. You are hired to list as many ways that you can to insure a PLC in a building will not work. Brainstorm with the people at your table and write your ideas down on the back of your card.

Step 2: The Process The biggest foe to a PLC is : Teacher isolation! Years of ingrained culture that you work alone, plan alone, manage alone and struggle alone.

Common Elements to all PLC’s Ongoing focus on instruction Goals are determined by data of the students they work with Regular meetings Questioning, assessing, reflecting Team members rotate roles Document and publicly share information

Progress of collaboration… Informal – hallway and lunchroom converations. Individual – go ask your friend for help Group Sharing – small groups, no formal procedures. May share student work, lessons, strategies they use as individuals. Has a facilitator. Joint Work – we rely on each other’s expertise. Expectations of collaboration, high level engagement.

Step 2: Process Setting up your team! Read over 2.2 and 2.3 and 2.5 with your team. Discuss with your team. What questions do you have that need to be answered?

Step 3: Organize! Teams should be organized in a way that will produce the BEST RESULTS for students. Departmental Meeting Teams (DMT) – Expertise in your area of teaching

Understand what the needs are… Goodyear Building Needs: Reading and Math Curriculum: Needs for content area

Organizational Piece What materials will you need? Who is on your team? What roles will each person do? (these rotate!) When will you meet ? Establish your norms with your group. What can we all agree to?

Steps 5-10 Step 5: Analyzing student data Step 6: Goals, plan and action

Step 7: Conduct successful meetings with documentation Remember there are stages to developing! Forming: Anticipation, optimism, suspicion, anxiety Storming: Realizing this is hard work. May get argumentative, impassient, defensive! Norming: Begin to develop team spirit and trust Performing: Trusting, sharing, cohesiveness, more concrete , more action.

Step 8:Maintaining Momentum! Step 9: Assessing your progress. (not principal initiated) Step 10: Being the facilitator of a meeting