1. Professional Learning Communities
Gamble Rogers Middle School St. Augustine, Florida
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

2. Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017
The Unending Journey
Why PLCs?
Collaboration improves teaching and learning
PLC is a VERB, not a NOUN
Embrace the “WE”
Why now?
The landscape of education is changing, therefore
we must change
Today’s students
We have seen great success!!!
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

3. Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017
Our Process
Groups are formed
Cross-curricular, like subjects, same grade level
Our teams have common planning
Leaders are chosen
Participate in monthly leader meetings
Are expected to effectively facilitate PLC meetings
Outline
Provided and reviewed with entire staff at the beginning of the year
Expectations are clearly defined
Use of OneNote to streamline data collection and feedback
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

4. Sample Quarterly Outline
Review data, the standards for both content areas and decide on a common focus
SMARTe Goal
Create a collaborative instructional plan
Develop common assessment and scale
Assess, review data- make adjustments to plan
Meet to establish norms and assign roles
Teaching
and
Learning
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

5. Create Norms and Assign Roles
Norms should be:
Created by all members
Reviewed at the beginning of each meeting
In place to keep meetings on track
Assigning Roles:
Gives each member an important task
Divides the work
Guides teachers through the process
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

6. Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017
Create a SMARTe Goal
Percentage of ___________________________________scoring at proficiency or higher in ____________________________will increase from _____% to _____% by the end of ____________________ as measured by ___________________________ administered on _________________________.
Create a Collaborative Instructional Plan
Four Questions that guide PLCs:
What do we want the students to learn?
How will we know if they learn it?
What do we do when they don’t learn it?
What do we do when they do learn it?
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

7. Develop Common Formative Assessment(s) and Scale(s)4
Students can create a well planned piece of historical fiction that incorporates pieces of textual support from previously read texts. 3
Students can provide supporting details for an answer from a text, interview for oral history, etc., citing the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says 2
Students can correctly answer comprehension questions about text 1
Students can read and understand text
Project
Performance
Lab
Quick checks
To guide instruction
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

8. The Impact on the School Community
We have implemented STINGRAY SUCCESS
Weekly intervention and enrichment opportunities
Professional Development
TDE Days for collaboration
Kagan Structures
Best Practices
The shift from mine to ours
All students are the responsibility of the team,
rather than the teacher
Common vocabulary
Filling the Gaps
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

9. Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017
Stingray Success
30 minutes each Wednesday and Thursday
Intervention in the content areas
Some of our enrichment opportunities:
Physical Education - NJHS
Creative Writing - WEB
Media - Guidance
Computer Keyboarding skills - Drama
Art - Band
Spanish - Math Club
Environmental Science
AVID
Critical Thinking
STEM
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

10. Professional Development
Offerings have included:
Effective Utilization of the Support Facilitation teacher
AVID School-wide
FSA Writing: How EVERY Teacher Can Help
Making Words Stick: High-Yield Vocabulary Strategies
Striking Educational Gold in the Classroom: Engagement Strategies
Flip, Fold, Facilitate Learning: Hands-on learning Strategies
Learning Goals and Scales: Now What?
This year we have been using TDE Days to facilitate
collaborative learning through Kagan Structures.
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

11. Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017
What is yours is mine…
Our teachers have reported a refreshing sense of shared responsibility
Our teachers have built a high level of trust within their teams
Students see the connections between content areas- building toward greater success
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

12. Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017
Common Vocabulary
This is vital to increase student learning
Needed for multiple exposures
RACE, PEEL, Axis, graphing, DBQ’s and Essays
Filling the Gaps
This is vital to increase student learning
Multiplication facts in 6th grade
Co-teach model
Formative assessments
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

13. How do we know this is working?
Reduced % of Failures
Increase in proficiency shown on District Exams & FSA
Teacher observation of student learning
Calm, positive atmosphere among teachers
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017

14. Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017
Discussion
What questions do you have?
What resources do you need?
PLC Team Visitation
Michelle Davis, St. Johns County 2017