PLC

Tom Many 4/25/11 tmany96@aol.com

High Leverage Strategies= Effective + Efficiency

-Mini-observations in 3-5 classrooms/day with follow-up conversations with the teachers - requiring teacher teams to submit common curric units AND discussing them with teachers - have teacher teams use interim assessments to improve teaching and help struggling students

Schedule requirements- time for teacheres to collaborate, time for students to get additional support

Big Ideas of PLC's focus on learning, collaborative culture, results orientation (consistently seeking evidence of the results sought- student learning)

Team Activities:

Monthly- Show and Tell each team member gives...best lesson, best idea, best strategy

Quarterly- Keep, drop, and create Bring lesson plans and curric doc Posters with Keep, Drop, and Create- post it notes Keep= yes this is important, yes I taught it (yellow) Yes it's important, no I didn't teach it- (green) create No, Yes- no it's not important, no we didn't agree to teach it, yes I taught it anyway- Drop it

Articles: Key to Success- all teams start with creating common assessments The Secret to Success- TEPSA August 2010 Vol. 67 # 4 tepsa.org

Goal for common assessments (80% students get 80% correct every 3 weeks)

May/June 2010 Vol. 67, #3- What Matters Most (power standards)

Jan/Feb 2011 Vol 68, #1- The Need for SPEED

Collaboration- is it part of your teacher evaluation plan? How much training is offered in how to be a team member, how to run effective meetings, conflict resolution...?

Common Prep- why do we allow teachers/teams to determine when they will meet? how are we monitoring this time?

Team Meeting Protocols- 1 per week (30-45 minutes) Start 5 mins- Here's what happened... 10 mins- so what? 15 mins- now what?

Loose/Tight- require protocols, train teams in multiple methods, allow them to use

How do you monitor your teams? TUFF notebooks, visits, questions

True North- Installation phase- create a "guiding coalition" Develop a 100 day plan- execute the plan regardless of feedback...accept feedback but stay focused. After the 100 days, evaluate, monitor and adjust.

Initial implementation- Why, How, and What- in that order "Ruler Test"- 12 inches between your head and your heart

Regression to the meaninless- without proper support, teachers will "marginally" implement