1. Table Talk Around your table, discuss your interpretation of the definition below. PLC: Educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for all the students they serve.

2. What is a PLC? Educators committed to working collaboratively in ongoing processes of collective inquiry and action research to achieve better results for all the students they serve.

3. Four Corollary Questions for PLC’s 1. What is it we want all students to learn? 2. How will we know when each student has learned? 3. How will we respond when some students experience difficulty in their learning? 4. How will we enrich and extend the learning for students who are proficient?

4. Clarity precedes competence. Mike Schmoker - Mike Schmoker

5. Jammin’ to the Text

6. 1.Read through the entire text silently. 2.Choose a portion of the text which is of the most interest to you. This can be a paragraph or even several sentences. Circle your choice. 3.“Fast write” for 3 minutes about your choice. At no time should be just sitting there. If you get stuck within that 3 minutes, you should write, “I am stuck” or I don’t have anything else to say” until you get Unstuck or until time is called. Questions? You may begin.

7. What Does an Effective PLC.. …look like? …sound like? …feel like?

8. Members of an effective PLC… together 1. Work together to clarify what students must learn, to monitor each student’s learning on a timely basis, to provide systematic interventions which insure students receive additional time and support for learning, and to extend and enrich when students already know.

9. Members of an effective PLC… 2. Realize that all their efforts must be assessed on the basis of results rather than intentions.

10. Members of an effective PLC… in their individual teachinglearn from one another. 3. Examine assessment results to identify and address program concerns and to discover strengths and weaknesses in their individual teaching in order to learn from one another.

11. Members of an effective PLC… 4. Make public what has traditionally been private—goals, strategies, materials, pacing, questions, concerns, and results. These discussions give every teacher someone to turn to and talk to, and they are explicitly structured to improve the classroom practice of teachers— individually and collectively” (DuFour May 2004).

12. “We can no longer afford to be innocent of the fact that “collaboration” improves performance” (Schmoker 2004).

13. Activity: PLC Culture Shift Number off in your school teams ( If there are only 4 people at your table, then number off as a table group)

14. In your school teams… 1.Divide your chart paper into 2 equal halves. 2.On one half use “PLC Culture Shift Before” as your title. 3.On the other half use “PLC Culture Shift After” as your title. 4.On the “before” half, create a colorful representation of your concept of “PLC Culture Shift.” You will have 10 min.

15. Activity: Culture Shift Target Notes 1.Take notes from the 5 following slides on your Target Notes form. 2.Following each slide you and your school team will compare your notes for consistency. Questions?

16. Effective PLC’s demonstrate… A Shift in Fundamental Purpose From a focus on teaching...to a focus on learning From emphasis on what was taught..to a fixation on what students learned From coverage of content...to demonstration of proficiency From providing individual teachers with curriculum documents such as state standards and curriculum guides … to engaging collaborative teams in building shared knowledge regarding essential curriculum

17. Effective PLC’s demonstrate… A Shift in Focus From an external focus on issues outside of the school... to an internal focus on steps the staff can take to improve the school From a focus on inputs...to a focus on results From goals related to completion of project and activities... to SMART goals demanding evidence of student learning From teachers gathering data from their individually constructed tests in order to assign grades... to collaborative teams acquiring information from common assessments in order to (1) inform their individual and collective practice and (2) respond to students who need additional time and support

18. Effective PLC’s demonstrate… A Shift in Use of Assessments From infrequent summative assessmentsto frequent common formative assessments From assessments to determine which students failed to learn by the deadline... to assessments to identify students who need additional time and support From assessments used to reward and punish students... to assessments used to inform and motivate students From assessing many things infrequently...assessing a few things frequently From individual teacher assessments..to assessments developed jointly by collaborative teams From each teacher determining the criteria to be used in assessing student work... to collaborative teams clarifying the criteria and ensuring consistency among team members when assessing student work From an over-reliance on one kind of assessment... to balanced assessments From focusing on average scores... to monitoring each student’s proficiency in every essential skill

19. Effective PLC’s demonstrate… A Shift in the Response When Students Don’t Learn Effective PLC’s demonstrate… A Shift in the Response When Students Don’t Learn From individual teachers determining the appropriate response... to a systematic response that ensures support for every student From fixed time and support for learning... to time and support for learning as variables From remediation...to corrective instruction From invitational support outside of the school day... to directed (that is, required) support occurring during the school day From one opportunity to demonstrate learning... to multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning

20. Effective PLC’s demonstrate… A Shift in the Work of Teachers From isolation...to a focus on learning From each teacher clarifying what students must learn... to collaborative teams building shared knowledge and understanding about essential learning From each teacher assigning priority to different learning standards... to collaborative teams establishing the priority of respective learning standards From each teacher determining the pacing of the curriculum... to collaborative teams of teachers agreeing on common pacing From individual teachers attempting to discover ways to improve results... to collaborative teams of teachers helping each other improve From privatization of practice...to open sharing of practice From decisions made on the basis of individual preferences... to decisions made collectively by building shared knowledge of best practice From “collaboration lite” on matters unrelated to student achievement... to collaboration explicitly focused on issues and questions that most impact student achievement From an assumption that these are “my kids, those are your kids”... to an assumption that these are “our kids”

21. “Only organizations that have a passion for learning will have an enduring influence.” - Covey, Merrill, & Merrill, 1996

22. How Do We Make This Thing Work? How Do We Make This Thing Work? Easy…the PLC Toolkit!

23. An effective PLC toolkit should include the following…

24. Critical Questions Teams Should Consider Critical Questions Teams Should Consider 1.Is each member of our team clear on the intended outcomes of our course in general as well as the specific outcomes for each unit? 2.Have we identified the prerequisite knowledge and skills needed to master the intended outcomes of the course and unit? 3.Have we identified strategies and created instruments to assess whether students have the prerequisite knowledge and skills? Pre and Post testing- common assessments 4.Have we agreed how to best sequence the content of the course to help students achieve the intended outcomes? 5.Have we agreed on the criteria we will use in judging the quality of student work in key areas of our course such as writing, speaking, and projects? 6.Have we taught students the criteria we will use in judging the quality of student work and provided them with examples? 7.Have we developed common assessments that help us identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual students?

25. Critical Questions Teams Should Consider 8. Have we established the proficiency level we want all students to achieve on our assessments. 9. Have we identified content and/or topics that can be eliminated so we can devote more time to essential curriculum? 10. Have we analyzed student achievement data and established measurable team goals that we are working together to achieve? 11. Have we identified team norms or protocols to guide us in working together? 12. Do we adhere to our teams norms? 13. Are we continually looking for ways to help students achieve at high levels? 14. Have we done everything we can to support student learning and achievement?

26. Agenda Template – uploaded each week Grade level and date Norms Purpose of Meeting Desired Outcomes Four Guiding Questions Smart Goal(s) What, How, Who, Time Frame, Notes (example) What to Bring Next Time (There are some examples in your Toolkit)

27. Curriculum Overview A document which shows at a glance the division of the NCSCoS throughout the 4 quarters of the instructional calendar. (Examples in your Toolkit)

28. Instruction and Assessment Calendar Monthly calendars which display instructional time allotments for each standard on the NCSCoS as well as dates for system-wide assessments. (Examples in your Toolkit)

29. North Carolina Standard Course of Study

30. Unpacking Template A template which your team has decided is the best form to use for the purpose of unpacking each standard. (Example in your Toolkit)

31. Course Indicators/Exemplars, Lesson Resource Guides, etc. These will be particular to each content area.

32. Data Charts Charted data collected from team- built common assessments, SGA’s/CA’s, etc. (Example in your Toolkit)

33. Goal Summary Reports from Previous Year’s EOG

34. Math/ELA/Science Goal Percentages on EOG (Example in your Toolkit)

35. Learning Target Teaching Outline (Example in your Toolkit)

36. Instructional Materials Those materials which will be helpful to your PLC while planning for upcoming Learning Targets

37. S.M.A.R.T Goals S – Specific M – Measurable A – Achievable R – Realistic T – Time Framed

38. SMART Goal Worksheet Things to consider: 1.What will be the timeframe for our SMART goals? 2.How many Team SMART Goals are necessary? 3.What are our strategies/action steps to address the goals? 4.Who will be responsible for the strategies/action steps? 5.What is the Timeline or Target Dates for the goal? 6.What will be the evidence of effectiveness?

39. 4 Box Synectics SeasonPencil AnimalCar Assessment for Learning is a lot like ______ because …....