Building Professional Learning Communities: An Overview Halifax County Schools August 10, 2012 Presenter: LaWanna McClease

Overview Introductions Purpose Norms True Colors Components of a Professional Learning Community Article—”What is a Professional Learning Community?” Text Protocol Data Discussion Next Steps

Purpose The driving engine of a PLC is the collaborative team, on which members work interdependently to achieve a common goal for which each team member is mutually accountable. -Dufour, Dufour, Eaker

Norms Norms are…  positive commitments by each team to guide working together.  a way to clarify expectations about how the team will work together.

Our Norms Embrace collaboration. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Be engaged. Start on time, end early.

True Colors The “rules” for True Colors—4 Corners Take the True Colors Inventory to determine your color Find your corner that represents your color Discuss your “color” with the team. How does this affect the way you interact with others and/or your students?

Question to Ponder What might a school look like if it is functioning as a professional learning community? Write your response in your Math Journal.

What is a Professional Learning Community(PLC)? “The PLC conceptual framework can be grouped into three major themes: 1)a solid foundation consisting of collaboratively developed and widely shared mission, vision, values, and goals, 2)collaborative teams that work interdependently to achieve common goals, 3)a focus on results as evidenced by a commitment to continuous improvement.” --DuFour, DuFour, Eaker

Cultural Shifts for Effective PLCs Traditional SchoolsProfessional Learning Communities 1.Primarily focus on teaching 2.Each teacher independently decides what to teach. 3.Decision about improvement strategies are made by “averaging opinions.” 4.Administrators are viewed as being in leadership positions while teachers are viewed as “implementors” or followers. 1.Primarily focus on learning 2.Collaboratively agreed upon curriculum focuses on what students are expected to learn. 3.Decisions are research-based with collaborative teams of teachers seeking out “best practices” 4.Administrators are viewed as leaders of leaders. Teachers are viewed as transformational leaders. --DuFour, DuFour, Eaker

“What is a Professional Learning Community”?—Text Protocol Read the article--”What is a Professional Learning Community”?—Pages 1-4 Think about the following questions as you read. 1) What do you AGREE with in the text. 2) What parts of the text do you want to ASPIRE to? Be prepared to share your thoughts with your team.

Text Protocol--Rules In a round, each person will share his/her thoughts regarding the article. You have 30 seconds to answer each question. While you are speaking, your team members will listen, jot down notes, but will not respond. If you do not use all 30 seconds, your team sits in silence until the time is called. In Round 1, respond to question # 1, What do you AGREE with in the text? In Round 2, respond to question # 2, What parts of the text do you want to ASPIRE to?

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Getting Started Establish norms. Develop an agenda and commit to items on the agenda. Focus on student learning. What do we expect students to learn? How will we know students have learned? How will we respond to students who aren’t learning? How will we respond when students have learned?

Areas of Focus this Year Assessments Rigor - ensuring that the different levels of RBT (Revised Blooms Taxonomy) are incorporated into all lessons Evidence-based/Argumentative writing

Credits Parts of this presentation were adapted from the work of Professional Learning Communities at Work by Dufour, Dufour, and Eaker (2006). Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities by DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker (2002).