Hillsborough Points of Learning Debbie Burns – Woodfern Elementary School Kelly Owens – Auten Road Intermediate School Karen Mammino – Auten Road Intermediate School Debbie Gross – Hillsborough Middle School Lucille Titus – Hillsborough High School Kim Feltre – Science Supervisor

Thinking About the Past: Learning Establishing PLCs K-12; expanded numbers of teachers/students who benefitted from them BIT – looking at big ideas through vertical and horizontal articulations Learning Progressions

Thinking About the Past: Successes Connecting to each other through BIT and vertical articulations Completed Train the Trainers and developed BILD workshop (formerly mini- BIM) Summer Science Institute Continuing Education Units

Thinking About the Past: Works In Progress Common science assessments for all K-12 units Dabble in data analysis – technological capability not in place to drill down to individual students at this time

Thinking About the Past: Obstacles Limited backing of building administration Lack of time available to work in PLCs Struggle with buy-in and resistors to change Administrative lack of awareness of PLCs Need to build teacher awareness of connecting big ideas

Imprint PLCs promoting change; teachers understand their impact on student learning because of their collaborative work Mindful of the experiences teachers are providing for students Importance of collecting and analyzing data to identify the best practices that maximize student learning Taking time to make connections; making it real for students; reflecting on connections and ensuring we make students aware of them – changing the way we teach

Impact District initiative to implement PLCs for all content areas HEA contract reflects time for PLCs 25 administrators attending DuFours’ Professional Learning Communities at Work Institute in August School administrators scheduling time for PLCs PLCs – see curriculum and standards through other people’s eyes – benefit from others’ perspectives Deeper understanding of content No longer an island

Envisioning the Future BILD workshop (formerly mini-BIM) to expose more teachers to BIT and making connections More vertical articulation Develop curriculum that reflects learning progressions Common assessments that reflect BIT Build in time for teachers to talk about how they build and administer assessments for valid results Change communication with parents (online grading) and focus on assessment data Analyze and use data to modify and improve instructional strategies and learning experiences as a means to meet students’ needs Summer Science/PLC Institute

Making a Difference! Adding to our toolbox so that we are Making a difference – one learner at a time “...every teacher is a change agent, helping students learn and grow over the course of the school year.” Evans, 1996, p. 24

Reference Evans, R. (1996). The human side of change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass.