Welcome to All Things PLC As you come in, please take a marker and add your ideas and thoughts to the charts throughout the room. Thank you!

All Things PLC Hyacinth Dunlap Lisa Mims Kari Redding

What is a PLC? It’s NOT: – A workshop – A book study – A program – A meeting

What does a PLC look like? Our school is a PLC broken into teams We have a shared mission, vision, values and goals

Collaborative teams focused on LEARNING

The BIG ideas of a PLC We accept learning as our purpose Examine all practices that are best for learning Build a collaborative culture through high performing teams Assess our effectiveness on the basis of results, not intentions Did they learn? How do we know?

Why should we Collaborate? Gains in student achievement Higher quality solutions to problems Increase confidence among all staff More peer support of strengths and accommodation of weaknesses Ability to test new ideas More support for new teachers Expanded pull of ideas, materials, and methods - Little (1990)

Collaboration “ The idea that a single teacher, working alone, can know and do everything to meet the diverse learning needs of 30 students everyday throughout the school year has rarely worked, and it certainly won’t meet the needs of learners in years to come.” - Carroll (2009), p. 13

PLC Focus on the Critical Questions of Learning 1.What do we expect them to learn? 2.How will we know when they have learned it? 3.How will we respond when they don’t learn? 4.How will we respond when they already know it?

Something to think about… “ To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe…” - Anatole France

Colonial’s PLC Plan Introduction: August 2010 ~ SMART goals, meeting 90 mins/week Currently: August- June ~ Meeting in PLC’s collaborating towards meeting SMART goal Today: March 25 th, 2011 ~ All Things PLC Presentation Future: August June 2010 ~ Video Conferences/Workshops with PLC leaders (more info to come)

Pleasantville’s Plan : We have been meeting and collaborating in Curriculum Meetings for Reading (45 mins bi- weekly with Literacy Coach) : Implementation of PLC’s ~ becoming a collaborative team focused on data (ever): To be a PLC; not just go to a PLC Meeting!

Getting Everyone on the bus and becoming a REAL PLC!

What’s Next? Is Change Necessary? “ Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result” - Albert Einstein

The Quandary

The Real Difference On the BUS Goal: Every student shall succeed Accept that change (the right change) is necessary to improve student performance Believe student interest is more important than personal interest WE FIRST! Off the BUS Goal: Maintain the status quo Reject any substainive change if it clashes with personal agenda Believes that self-interest is more important than student interest ME FIRST!

It’s not about us! It’s about them!