Modified for Columbia County Middle School Writing Facilitators

Administrators And Teachers Working Together To… give students the best of the best encourage each other to achieve more professionally ensure that ALL students are successful in writing share knowledge and teaching strategies look at the data to make instructional decisions increase student successes Increase writing in the schools maximize their efforts in all content areas bring out the best in ALL children 2

Professional Learning Communities….. Have the support of their administrators Have clear and common goals Have a regular agreed-upon meeting time Use data to drive instruction Work collaboratively to plan and revise lessons 3

Professional Learning Communities….. Ensure that students learn Focus on results Create a culture of collaboration (and actually collaborate) DuFour, Richard “What Is A Professional Learning Community?” 4

A Professional Learning Community Is NOT…… just one more thing to add to our already-busy schedule. a book-of-the-month club or study program. 5

A Professional Learning Community Is NOT…… one more program from the district or state that they want us to implement. “Here we go again!” a sure-fire system that worked at a school somewhere else. a bandwagon program that will go away. 6

The Traditional School Structure Still today, many teachers are dispersed into isolated classrooms Room 412 Room 414 Room 416 Room 413 Room 415 Room 417 7

The Pseudo PLC Structure Individual classrooms organized into isolated groups on an infrequent basis. Team 6 Team 5 Team 4 Team 3 Team 2 Team 1 pseu-do: adjective, 1.not actually but having the appearance of; pretend; false; sham. 2.almost, approaching, or trying to be. 8

The PLC Structure A cohesive school organized into Interdependent Collaborative Teams. Team 6 Team 5 Team 4 Team 3 Team 2 Team 1 Vertical Dialogue Horizontal Dialogue 9

It’s A Shift, 10

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12 Tiger Woods He works in a foursome, but he is truly independent. No matter which foursome he is with, he does not collaborate, help or encourage them. Tiger wants to get all the glory. Room 417

13 Michael Jordan In the pros, Michael earned many individual accolades including league MVP. But of all those accolades, his greatest desire was to win the World Championship. It wasn’t until he began to collaborate with his teammates that the ultimate goal was attained.

Forming Collaborative Groups (PLCs) 14

Creation Of Collaborative Teams The fundamental question in organizing the team is: Do the people on this team have a shared responsibility for responding to the learning of their students? What is your shared responsibility on this writing initiative? How do all the participants share in ownership? Step 1 15

CC Writing Team Structures: All teachers teaching the same grade level—Your noted grade level writing PLCs (core content teachers) Vertical teams—Once a month with all grade levels (Vital components of your PLCs are common writing standards and the 4 critical questions. To maximize effectiveness, groupings of teachers need to be teaching the same standards to create common strategies and goals and have focused discussion on standards. ) 16

Team Facilitators You are: 17 An Encourager Positive The Trail Guide A Celebrator A Listener Looking Ahead A Team Member A Team Builder and No Pressure!!!!

Administrators should be in constant communication with facilitators to provide the following in order to guide the group: - suggested agenda items - occasional relevant research article for teams to discuss - supporting the “people” issues “Is your team coming to consensus?” “Is everyone arriving on time and coming prepared?” “Is the team seeing results from collaboration?” “How can we (administration) support you?” 18

Step 2 Develop Team Norms The Standards Of Behavior by Which We Agree To Operate While We Are In This Group (Refer to NORM reproducibles) 19 Effective teams review the norms as their first agenda item at each meeting. (1 min.)

Step 3 Teams Develop SMART Goals Establish a SMART Goal: S Strategic and Specific M Measurable A Attainable R Results-oriented T Time-bound 20 (Refer to SMART Goals reproducibles)

At the end of each nine weeks, teams should begin the next phase of writing SMART Goals. (i.e.At the end of the second nine weeks, 80% of our 6 th graders will have written at least one timed writing.) Even more important than setting the goal…How will we accomplish this goal? Small groups, focused-writing groups… 21

22 (Refer to reproducible #133)

1.What is the instructional focus ? 2.What are the instructional strategies? 3.How will we know when they have learned it? 4.How will we respond when they need remediation or enrichment? 23

PLC Meets Focus Using the standards, the team creates a topic or focus for the next PLC. Strategies Teacher instructs using effective strategies from the team’s focus Meeting. PLC Meets Assessment /Feedback The team discusses feedback and how they measure growth in writing. Response /Next steps Teacher remediates or enriches based on the information gathered in the PLC. The Team Cycle for Writing PLC 24

n-formative-assessment n-formative-assessment 25

My PLC experience provides the knowledge and tools necessary for a professional educator. By participating in the meetings I gained a solid foundation in pedagogy and instructional strategies that enable me to enter the classroom with skills and confidence I need to be as a successful teacher. The professional educator is on an endless journey of looking for new and better ideas, new information and improved skills to succeed with the students. 26

A professional is someone who without supervision or regulations is a responsible person, has continuing growth, plans to achieve competence and strives continuously to raise the level of each student. Our mission is to teach students the important skills, knowledge, and values necessary to succeed in tomorrow's world. The vision of the PLC is to promote a model for continuous lifelong learning, teaching excellence and supporting an educational community, this is my goal as a teacher. Sincerely, Jacqueline Harris Middle School Math Teacher Celebration K-8 School 27

If we continue to take in information as we have always taken in information, Then we will continue to think as we have always thought. If we continue to think as we have always thought, Then we will continue to believe as we have always believed. If we continue to believe as we have always believed, Then we will continue to act as we have always acted, Then we will continue to get what we have always gotten. An Act Of Futility 28

Writing Achievement Teamwork Shared Knowledge College-Career Ready students We Can All Make A Difference In The Life Of A Child 29

Please look at your RESA consultant support and contact any of us if you need additional documents, research, etc. Mary Stout Cathy Sligh Kelly Flanders Laura Hooven Patty Bradshaw Original Source of Slides: The School District Of Osceola County, Florida Some slides have been modified to fit the CC PLC initiative. Contact Information 30