Building the Collaborative Culture of a PLC Collaboration: Session 1 PLC Professional Development for Teams Learning Council, Elementary Leadership Teams, and Secondary Leadership Teams

CRCSD Strategic Plan Guiding Document LEARNING COLLABORATION RESULTS

Why Collaboration? “a collection of teachers does not truly become a team until they must rely on one another( and need one another) to accomplish a goal that none could achieve individually” “co-laboring” to benefit students “in a PLC the reason teachers are organized into teams, the reason they are provided with time to work together, the reason they are asked to focus on certain topics and complete specific tasks, is so that when they return to their classrooms they will possess and UTILIZE an expanded repertoire of skills, strategies, materials, and ideas IN ORDER to impact student achievement in a positive way.” -capable and talented teachers -when we look at the skills and challenges our students face, it is a job that requires more than individual work, need team DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006.

Why Collaboration? “Individuals on effective teams learn to acknowledge mistakes, weaknesses, failures, and the need for help. They also learn to recognize and value the strengths of other members of the team and are willing to learn from one another.” Before showing slide discuss with partner ways teams unravel or are ineffective DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006.

Five Dysfunctions of a Team Lencioni, Patrick. Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Team Norm Activity In your small group develop team norms by: Completing Developing Norms from direction sheet, write your norms on the norms template write proposed norms for each of the 6 areas of consideration If your team has already written group norms: Do your norms cover some of the common challenges that occur in teams? Do you need to add anything after looking at the norms template page? -norms = ground rules -schools and teams at different places -if your team has already created norms, we suggest reviewing them using the norms to consider template : time, listening, confidentiality, decision making, participation, and expectations. These are common areas that challenges often appear. DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006. (p. 210-211)

Additional Tips for Creating Norms Each team creates its own norms Stated as commitments to act or behave in certain ways rather than as beliefs Reviewed at the beginning and end of each meeting for at least 6 months Teams formally evaluate effectiveness at least twice a year Teams focus on a few essential norms rather than extensive laundry list. Violations of team norms must be addressed DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006. (p.106)

Are you looking in the mirror or out the window? Seven Norms of Collaboration Paying attention to self and others Presuming positive intentions Pursuing a balance between advocacy and inquiry Pausing Paraphrasing Probing for specificity Putting ideas on the table Handout of page 105 to give to partipcants Are you looking in the mirror or out the window? DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006. (p. 104)

Balance Between Advocacy and Inquiry Protocols for Effective Advocacy Protocols for Effective Inquiry DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006. (p. 105)

Seven Factors to Influencing Reluctant Staff Connecting to the person’s intuition so that the proposal “feels right” Appealing to rational thinking and decision making Changing the way the information is presented (e.g. using analogies) Presenting real world examples where the idea has been applied successfully Providing people with incentives to embrace an idea Building shared knowledge of the research base supporting a position “resistance must be identified and dealt with rather than ignored” Reason Research Resonance Representational Re-descriptions Resources and Reward Real-World Events The greatest opportunity for change comes from the first six factors. 7. Confrontation Gardner, Howard. Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Our Own and Other People’s Minds. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2004. DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006. (p. 173)

Video clip Overcoming barriers to effective communication

Building the Collaborative Culture of a PLC Collaboration: Session 2 PLC Professional Development for Teams Learning Council, Elementary Leadership Teams, and Secondary Leadership Teams

Small Group Discussion Isolation Collaboration Brainstorm: What are the rewards / benefits of working in isolation? Collaboration? Write one idea per sticky note. 20 Share Points- Share sticky notes, add to whole group chart

Defining PLC Collaboration Isolation Collaboration PLC Collaboration “The traditional school often functions as a collection of independent contractors united by a common parking lot.” Eaker, Results Now, p 23 “Congeniality, focus on building groups camaraderie” “Consensus on operational procedures” “Committees to oversee different facets of school operation” “…a systematic process in which teachers work together to analyze and improve their classroom practice.” “Teachers work in teams, engaging in an ongoing cycle of questions that promote deep team learning.” “…leads to higher levels of student achievement.” What is a “Professional Learning Community”? Educational Leadership, May 2004

Partner Discussion Jigsaw Activity: 5 Keys To a Successful Meeting – highlight the big ideas for one of the following: Behaviors and Relationships Focus Roles and Responsibilities Structure Process Have participants read one section, do as a jigsaw, number off, each group reads, highlights and reports out to the large group: Pages 33-54 of Collaborative Teacher Share Points- Share the key’s big ideas with the whole group Erkens, Cassandra, et. al. The Collaborative Teacher. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2008. (p. 33-54)

Comparison With those sitting around you, discuss how your line compares with that of organizational change

First and Second order change First order change: Small changes with “existing knowledge and skills of the staff” Small steps within existing paradigm Second order change: BIG changes…a “dramatic departure from the expected and familiar”… “Perceived as a break from the past… may require new knowledge, new skills” Large group open share of examples DuFour, Richard, et. al. Learning by Doing. Bloomington: Solution Tree, 2006. (p. 186, 215, & 218)

Don’t Judge too Quickly

PLC: Professional Learning Communities 4 Crucial Questions What do we want each student to learn, know, or be able to do? Student Learning Expectations What evidence do we have of the learning? Formative Assessment How will we respond when some students don’t learn? Pyramid Of Intervention How will we respond to those who have already learned?