What It Means to be a Professional Learning Community

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What It Means to be a Professional Learning
Community

• Kelly Gillespie,
• Southwest Plains Regional
• Service Center

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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 teacher-learning occurs

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PLCs Ask Four Critical Questions

• What do we expect students to learn?
• How will we know when they have learned it?
• How will we respond when kids dont learn?
• 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 dont learn?

• Schools 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 anothers 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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Im Intrigued

• Now what
• Complete Book list
• http//www.solution-tree.com/Public/Media.aspx?nod
  eallbooksListProductstrueProductTypebooks
• 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 Dont 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
• Dont forget to set team norms and have teams
  turn in a product

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SWPRSC

• Helping districts improve student learning!