facilitating professional learning teams

Summer 2013Riverview Elementary School

FACILITATING PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TEAMS

As the facilitator of your team, you are the person the rest of your team looks to for direction. You set the agenda, keep everyone on track, and make sure everyone participates fully. Before all of that, though, you need to set the table…

You help your team create the world in which you all will do your work. • Establish norms• Set the agenda• 4 questions• Team cycle

You also protect your team’s time, space, and information.

The 4 Questions

What do we want our students to know?

How will we know when they’ve learned it?

What will we do if they

haven’t learned it?

What will we do if they have learned it?

The 4 Questions should be used to guide your team’s discussions and decisions. Each lesson should be designed by answering these questions.

The 4 Questions

The PLC Process

Step 1: FocusUsing data,

the team creates a

lesson plan and a

common assessment, agreeing on

the criteria for proficiency.

Step 2: InstructionTeachers teach the lesson, using the strategies identified by the team.

Step 3: Assessment &

Analysis of DataThe team reviews

assessment results together;

re-groups students as

needed.

Step 4: ResponseRe-teach or enrich learning in groups. Re-assess students still not at proficiency.

The PLC Process should be used by all teams every week. The value of PLCs is in the process. Schools whose teams are faithful to the process see the most growth.

The PLC Process

Team in action

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

STRATEGICDescribe what you’re working toward

precisely. Who? What? How? When?Be strategic and specific.

MEASURABLEDecide how you will measure proficiency. Make sure your goal is being measured with an instrument

you all understand and can use with fidelity.

Be sure that your goal is within your reach. Do we truly believe that it can be done? What resources will we need to do it?

ATTAINABLE

Be sure that your goal will make a difference. Will the students be challenged? Will accomplishing the goal help the school reach its goals?Will it help the students?

RESULTS-ORIENTED

TIME-BOUNDDon’t let your goal last beyond one school year. Be sure that it is something you could accomplish during the course of the 2013-14 school year.

PRACTICE with S.M.A.R.T. Goals

ASSIGN ROLESBe sure that there is someone taking minutes at each meeting, using the form designated by your principal. Before the meeting ends, each member should know what she will be responsible for doing by the time of the next meeting.

DATA WALLKeep your data visible and in front of you at all times. Be sure you are using the information you have about what your students have learned to make decisions about what you will do next.