PLCs in Mount Airy City Schools Purpose of PLCs Collaborative meetings of educators in which data-driven decisions are made to improve teacher’s instruction leading to improved students outcomes.

PLCs in Mount Airy City Schools “Most great learning happens in groups. Collaboration is the stuff of growth.” Sir Ken Robinson, PhD

What SHAPE are you?

Turn to your neighbor and see if you can help them figure out your leadership shape. All shapes are equally important. It takes all shapes to build an effective team.

PLCs for Mount Airy City Schools Facilitator + Team + Processes = Success

PLCs in Mount Airy City Schools

Purpose of PLCs Clarity of purpose for professional learning communities is essential to team success. One must understand how this collaboration directly relates to their work. Revisiting purpose and intentionally making connections to each meeting is essential.

PLCs in Mount Airy City Schools Purpose is centered around learning from each other and the process helps keep us on track. Now that we know the four protocols understanding when to use them is critical.

Process for MACS The next piece of the puzzle is PROCESS. How do we keep our teams on track? Norms, Protocols and structured processes.

Norms Norms must be reset because it is a new year and we have new teams. Here are some examples of norms. What worked best last year in your team as far as norms?

Norms 1. Be on time 2. Start/End on time 3. Respectful/Safe environment 4. Active participation 5. Positive attitude

PLC Protocols Plan Implement AssessAnalyze Reflect

PLC Protocols Now that we have access to all protocols how do we know which ones to use based on the information just given?

PLC Protocols Unpacking a standard allows teachers to understand how to plan more effectively. This work is centered around making sure students are clear on what they are expected to know, understand, and do by helping teachers understand the standard. Which standards should teachers unpack? When should they unpack them?

PLC Protocols Unpacking a Standard

PLC Protocols Creating a Common Formative Assessment

CFA What is the purpose of creating a common formative assessment? How often should teachers create an assessment during PLCs?

PLC Protocols Data Feedback Strategy

DFS There are many times that a PLC may choose to use the DFS protocol. What are some data sources you anticipate your school will learn from using a DFS?

Standards in Practice Standards in practice was a protocol we introduced at the end of last year. This is one of the most powerful protocols and helps teachers be reflective about their practice.

PLC Protocols Standards In Practice

PLC Protocols PLCs will have the addition of Peer Observations or Observational Rounds this year. Schools may choose to do peer observations more frequently. It will be part of the PLC process in September and January.

PLC Protocols The facilitator will identify a classroom teacher that agrees to hosting the PLC group. The group will conduct the peer observation together with “look fors” decided by the team, i.e. learning target, formative assessment prompts, cooperative learning

PLC Protocols Peer Observations: The team will come back together and discuss the observation and reflect on the learning.

Role of the Facilitator What is the role of the facilitator? Turn and talk to your partner about what you view as the role of the PLC facilitator.

Role of Facilitator Clarity of communication is crucial for the facilitator. Team members must understand the purpose for the meeting each time they are in a PLC.

Facilitator’s Role  Start meeting on time  Recap last meeting  Plan and review agenda

Facilitator’s Role  Utilize time appropriately  Prepare content/data in advance  Utilize probing questions to develop essential ideas and increase involvement of participants

Facilitator’s Role Use appropriate protocols Focus discussions on student achievement

Role of Facilitator Our role as facilitator is to have productive conversations about learning through questioning. Our role is primarily to get the conversation going again when it gets stuck.

Role of Facilitator Who does most of the talking? Who has the answer- me or we?

Leading Questions A type of question that contains or implies its own answer. Example: Do you progress monitor every two weeks? Example: Do you group your students according to ability?

Leading Questions Cont. In leading questions, your key words are going to be agreement or disagreement words/phrases, such as… – Surely – Of course – Right? – Don’t you think? – We all agree (disagree) that…

Clarifying Questions A type of question intended to solicit brief, factual answer without providing new thoughts. Example: How much time do you expect the intervention to take? Example: What resources have you used to teach this unit in the past?

Clarifying Questions cont. Allow the facilitator to clear up any misunderstandings, so probing questions can be asked later. If the participant has to think for any length of time before answering, the question is almost certainly a probing question.

Probing Questions A type of question intended to help one think more deeply about the issue at hand. Example: How will you determine progress toward this standard? Example: How might you sequence your lessons for this unit? Why?

Probing Questions cont. Probing questions are not asked with the “right” answer in mind. Probing questions: – Don’t place blame on anyone. – Allow for multiple responses. – Help create a paradigm shift. – Empower the person with the dilemma to solve his/her own problem. – Elicit a slow response (make use of wait time). – Move thinking from reaction to reflection.

Sort You have been given several question cards at your table. Discuss, with your table, whether each question is A Leading Question A Facilitating Question Sort the cards according to question type

Effective PLCs Let’s take a look at a PLC that occurred in our district last year. Take note of the role of the facilitator. See if you can find any “aha” moments for the teachers involved. PLC Video

Effective Implementation Let’s discuss some possible scenarios and how to use questioning to reach the desired outcomes. There are some scenarios near you as examples. Find a partner and discuss the scenarios.

Monitoring of PLCs How do we ensure that PLCs are the most productive they can be? Talk with someone from your school about steps we can take to make PLCs effective time for teachers.

Monitoring of PLCs One of the key conditions of a successful PLC is the facilitator. Discuss the monitoring form as an expectation of how the facilitator should guide the PLC.

Monitoring of PLCs Agenda pages are a record of what occurs during a PLC. The district will once again collect these throughout the year to monitor progress. These are a good way to look for trends and make sure the teams are using all of the protocols.

Summary 3 new things you learned in the training. 2 questions you still have about PLCs. 1 thing you are really excited about concerning PLCs.